In this first installment featuring the diverse array of non-athletic competitive teams at Lincoln, we will be covering three groups: Model United Nations, Future Business Leaders of America and Future Health Professionals.
Model United Nations
Model United Nations (Model UN) is a club at Lincoln that focuses on exploring and solving international issues in a way that replicates the actual United Nations. Each year, schools are given a country (or countries) to explore the policy of. This year, Lincoln’s team will research France. Students spend the year researching specific topics as they relate to those nations, and in the spring, they meet at a statewide conference in Eugene, Oregon.
At the conference, students are split into nine different committees, based on the issues they spent the year preparing. At Lincoln, members of the team each write a paper regarding the specific topic they are assigned before the conference. Once in their respective committees, the floor is open to debate. Students, in the role of their assigned country, are able to introduce, edit and vote on resolutions.
Senior Chloe Gilmore, a Model UN co-leader, explains that Model UN is not focused on competition.
“In general, I think it’s trying to encourage a less competitive atmosphere and more of an atmosphere of allowing students to voice their opinions in a platform where everyone’s listening to them,” she said. “The competitive nature comes in when we do delegate awards. There’s always a best speaker award, and we’ve also had a school award for whichever school represents themselves the best and has the most influential presence at the conference.”
For Cowell-Shah, Model UN has offered an opportunity to learn about different cultures.
“I’ve always been interested in geography and cultures. I was role-playing as Afghanistan last year, so I had to learn [a lot] about Afghan culture and policies,” he said.
Gilmore enjoys learning about and analyzing international issues.
“My favorite part about Model UN is getting to meet people who care about global issues, hearing different perspectives on different international issues, and [coming up with] creative and innovative solutions,” she said. “It’s given me a great opportunity to be more up to date about what’s happening in the world.”
Future Business Leaders of America
Business Club, a student group at Lincoln that provides experiences and resources for those interested in business, encourages its members to compete in Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). FBLA hosts two different types of events: objective testing and speaking events. An objective test is an online exam, and competing students are ranked based on the number of questions they get right. Speaking events, on the other hand, offer competitors a chance to present on their chosen subject to a panel of judges.
Within these two categories, there are many specific events one can choose to compete in. Riley Yoo, a senior at Lincoln and president of Business Club, offers some examples.
“I’ve competed in mainly objective test events. I did a financial math one, I’ve done business communication, business law, and also a couple miscellaneous ones,” he said. “Last year a couple of people presented sports business. There have been people in all facets [of the competition, including] business ethics and business terminology.”
Senior Angela Zhang, another member of FBLA, competed in website design as a junior, and plans to try other events in the coming year.
“This year I’m thinking of doing some new events, just trying them out, because there’s so many different things you can do,” she said.
Zhang placed first in her category at the state competition last year, which qualified her for the national competition.
“Last year we did really really well. I think everyone who competed at state got either first or second place and everyone qualified for nationals. The people who compete do a really good job,” she said.
Future Health Professionals
Founded in 2022, Cards in Medicine is a Lincoln club that provides opportunities and resources for students interested in the healthcare field. In addition, the club encourages its members to compete for Future Health Professionals, which was previously called Health Occupations Students of America.
The competitions have a wide range of events, from test taking to presentations for judges to simulated emergency scenarios.
Cherry Chen, a senior who has been involved in the club from the beginning, appreciates the diverse array of choices there are when it comes to events.
“There are people who [presented on] behavioral health, and development and nutrition, and someone was going to do medical photography,” she said. “We also don’t want all of it to be focused on just competition, so we have field trips and speaker events.”
Senior Elise Yu loves the opportunities that the club brings its members.
“I really really like the guest speaker sessions since [they provide] connections that you wouldn’t be able to make outside [the club],” Yu said. “And while a lot of the time you could reach out, it’s way harder to get in contact with these professionals.”
Chen values the community the club brought her.
“Being the first healthcare related club at Lincoln is special, and I think we’ve created a great community of people who want to go into the healthcare field,” Chen said. “I’m able to surround myself with so many people who are interested in the same things as I am.”
