Model Arab League is a two day conference hosted by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Students involved are on a committee for a country and act as a delegate for that country as they debate issues with other delegates from different schools. The goal of the conference is to come up with resolutions for the Arab world to follow. Students have to write a paper establishing their country’s position on the topics and research information in order to prepare.

“I’m on the social affairs committee for Algeria,” senior Shelby Jones said. “You really have to immerse yourself into the culture. Once you do that, you’ll be prepared to best represent the culture that you are studying.”

Each high school that participates has a different set of countries for each committee.

“I am United Arab Emirates for economic affairs,” junior Julia Kovarovic said. “I love meeting all the people and getting to see all the cultures that they bring out in the conferences.”

This year, senior John Mark Junkins will be chairing the social affairs committee at the conference, which means that he will oversee and keep the delegates in line.

“To be the chair of a committee, you are in charge of insuring that the committee functions in an expedient manner, all of the delegates behave properly, and that the business of the committee is conducted properly through the rules of parliamentary procedure,” Junkins said. “I’m looking forward to having a position that will shed light on how a council is run.”

This will be a first time experience for some, like Jones. The smaller rooms at this conference contrast with the large rooms at Model United Nations, which will be a new experience for students who have yet to give speeches and converse in a smaller, more intimate environment.

“It’s a learning experience,” Jones said. “You speak a lot on the behalf of your country and how they want to improve socially, but it’s also you kind of trying to formulate what best would work for everybody involved.”