Photo Courtesy of @hofstramodelun on Instagram

“I joined this club by accident in high school,” said Mike Roller, a junior political science and public policy and public service major. “I had a friend that forced me on the club because she was going to feel lonely.”

While he may not have joined Model United Nations (UN) on purpose, Roller ended up loving it, serving as club president at his high school two years in a row. He is now the president of Hofstra’s Model UN club.

During a typical semester, the club goes out and debates with other colleges. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, things needed to shift this semester. According to Roller, instead of debating with students from other schools, the club divides into two teams and debates among themselves, changing topics every week or two.

“It’s turned into a really neat little community of some pretty solid debaters,” Roller said. “It’s always nice to see what kinds of ideas we can come up with … regardless of what we’re debating.”

During this particularly tumultuous time, Roller said they have pushed some of the current global topics to the forefront of their debates.

“Throughout the semester, we were talking about changes in security council [and] how the United States could have handled COVID-19,” Roller said. “It’s always really interesting to see what our club members come up with … especially in terms of international law when looking at the UN.”

Roller believes that Model UN is based off the principle of Occam’s razor, which he says suggests that the simplest answer is usually the right one.

“You can see that in action when you look at Model UN debates,” Roller said. “We will usually put something out that the real guys are putting out as well.”

Despite the pandemic, there are two events currently up in the air for the Hofstra Model UN. One of them is a debate with New York University’s Model UN in April, but Roller is almost positive that will be moved online. The second is the Hofstra University Model United Nations Conference, held every spring, where Model UN high schoolers come to Hofstra to debate. At this event, members of the Hofstra Model UN have the opportunity to facilitate these debates.

“We have as many high school students as we can come to Hofstra to debate,” Roller said. “This year they won’t be coming to campus. Instead we’re going to try to keep it online.”

Roller said that even though the pandemic has altered the way the club runs, they are still able to have fun because in the end, what he enjoys most about Model UN is the community.

“We are the coolest group of kids,” Roller said. “We always have fun, engaging – not always intelligent – but good conversations.”

Model UN has positively impacted Roller in a myriad of ways, opening his mind to a whole world of possibilities.

“I used to hate public speaking. I used to hate talking to people in general,” Roller said. “Model UN pushed me to learn how to speak to people, problem solve and now I’m looking to go to law school after this.”

After graduating, Roller plans to attend law school, study business law, become a patent lawyer and maybe even one day the president of the United States.

“I want to solve problems as a job,” Roller said. “ I would have never wanted to do that without Model UN.”

Model UN has changed Roller’s life and even through COVID-19, he is able to enjoy and appreciate the community, friends and passions he has developed through the Hofstra Model UN.