The dining hall at Virginia Wesleyan University was abuzz with anxious high school students and parents alike this past Wednesday night, but they weren’t there for the food. They were attending the Model Challenge, an annual competition hosted by The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, globally known as NATO. The 29 student participants were selected by their school to model the North Atlantic Council, the governing body of ambassadors within NATO who meet to discuss various issues facing the world. The student who performed the best will win a college scholarship and an internship at the NATO headquarters. 

Olivia Williams, a high school senior and one of the participants, found the experience invaluable. 

“[I’ve learned] a lot of information about things that I didn’t even know were going on around the world,” she said. “It’s the most informative thing I’ve been to in a while.” 

The event has also inspired her to join Model United Nations, an academic simulation that allows students to learn about international relations when she goes to college.

Vincent Callahan, one of the organizers of the event, is still especially impressed by the group of students who participated this year.  

“The students are really engaged,” he said. “They really seem to have done their homework. They have a lot of good ideas to bring to the table [that could solve] the problems that NATO has to solve today, and their ambassador skills are really showing. Hopefully in the future they may find a job or role in politics to help solve tomorrow’s problems, because they are tomorrow’s leaders”

The event kicked off this year’s Norfolk NATO Festival and drew over 150 attendees.