Y-Moments: A Reflection
Students who attend the Kentucky United Nations Assembly experience the conference in a myriad of ways. From Security Council to the International Court of Justice to the nearly eighty resolutions being debated in committees, summits, and in front of the General Assembly, delegates are able to be fully immersed in the ways of the United Nations.
For some, this KUNA is the first of many Y conferences, but for others, this is their last. And as the conference draws to a close, many students reflect on the impact that the YMCA and this conference, in particular, have had on them, and upon many of their most memorable Y-moments.
For Allison Miller, her KUNA conference in seventh grade was not only her first but her school’s first as well. The experience was memorable not only for Miller but for the students she met during the conference. “I dressed up like Kate Middleton and carried a baby doll around, and everyone thought it was a real baby…I really liked confusing people with my baby doll,” she said. The conference was also memorable for a more concrete reason. “Our delegation won the best global village display, which was super hype because we’d never gone before, and we had so much stress over our stupid building thing,” she laughed.
For Haley Buchanan, KUNA may be one of her favorite conferences because of the confluence of cultures and ambassadors from all over the world, but the experience she has gained has proved invaluable to her personal growth. “Before I joined the Y, I was a very timid and quiet person; I did not like to speak in front of groups,” Buchanan said. When asked what advice she would give to herself at her first KUNA, Buchanan said, “Speak up more. Seriously. This is the place to do it. I sometimes worry, you know, about how people might feel, because sometimes you have those opposing arguments, and you don’t want to seem off-putting, but I’ve now seen that when people give negative or positive feedback, it really does just advance the whole conference, and it really helps people see things in a new perspective.”
For Sam Showalter, the Y has been a place of warmth and welcoming. “At my seventh grade KUNA, I was eating dinner with two of my friends, when I realized that I couldn’t lie anymore,” he said. “I came out of the closet that day.” He spoke of the anxiety he felt in that moment, as well as the homophobia and backlash he faced in the aftermath. However, for him, “the fact that I stated that within the YMCA in a space that is safe and is accepting and receptive of differences” was what made his Y-moment special. “I had these all these amazing people standing by my side, and I was able to overcome,” Showalter said.
For Allison, Haley, Sam, and countless other students the Y has left an impact on, the adjournment of KUNA may signal the end of the conference, but it is most certainly not the end. As alumni of the Y travel across the borders of counties, states, and countries, they spread not only the Y’s core values but the lessons they’ve picked up from their countless Y conferences as well. And while the immediate experiences and memories of KUNA may fade, the Y moments had by the innumerable ambassadors that attend these conferences will last and inspire for a lifetime.
