Round Square Americas Conference 2013: Pushing Limits

As we arrived in New Brunswick for the Regional Round Square conference at Rothesay Netherwood School, we wondered what would come of a six-night adventure in the Maritimes. After having a delicious warm meal, we settled into tents and played games to break the ice with the delegates. The experience was extremely valuable and was made much easier as everyone seemed to be in the same boat. Right off the bat, we were pushed out of our comfort zone and were forced to tent with complete strangers. Although this was scary at first, it was a great way to make friends for the rest of the conference. None of us really knew what we were getting into, but were more than pleased to discover that there were delegates from literally all over the world.

When we woke up it was an unbelievable feeling hearing people speak Spanish, English, French, Mandarin and other languages. It was a perfect intro to our first day which included a small but educational Model United Nations. This conference was more like an introductory to Model UN that everyone seemed to enjoy. All delegates were separated into four different subcommittees. Each delegate was exposed to some of our global issues and how the UN works to solve them.

That night, we were pleased to find ourselves in tents with two to four other people that we could officially call our friends. The next morning we quickly packed up our tents and went off to YMCA’s Camp Glenburn. Camp Glenburn has a unique rustic feel and all the delegates were in awe of the incredible landscape. As soon as we got off the bus, Round Square once again pushed our boundaries as we participated in high ropes, low ropes and team challenge courses. All of these activities made us trust our fellow delegates as our hands were really in theirs. We also played a number of games to expand our horizons.

All in all, Camp Glenburn has been extremely fun and exhilarating and we look forward to the rest of the conference. – Matthew Kaspy ’14