James Hanafee ’22, the former President of CC’s Model UN Club, nearly tackles me in the hotel restaurant. The hug is warm and familiar. Zack Weiss ’22, another old friend who also spent four years involved with the club, accompanies Hanafee. Weiss and I had reunited briefly over the summer in Tbilisi, Georgia, but our embrace still comes too long after our last. Nick Cleveland-Stout ’22, the third of the leadership team from that year and a friend I first met over Zoom in the fall of 2020, flashes me his classic grin. I haven’t seen him in two years, during which time he completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Brazil. He looks a little older and a bit more traveled. He has a new haircut but the same radiant yet curious expression.
“It’s good to see you,” he says.
It’s the current team’s fourth night in D.C. Earlier in the day, the eight students representing CC had spent almost nine hours in Model UN committee sessions at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. As a recent alum acting as the team’s chaperone and photographer, I am done for the day as well. This is the fourth conference I’ve traveled for. In my first three, Hanafee, Weiss, and Cleveland-Stout were mentors.
Our team’s overlap with the three older alums in D.C. is entirely serendipitous. Jobs, fellowships, and educational opportunities brought them all to the nation’s capital for the upcoming summer. Now, well past 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday night, a familiar comfort washes over the cohort of students and alumni.
Even during the packed days, breaks were used to step away from the conference and experience downtown D.C. Along the National Mall, we spread time between Smithsonians. We begin with the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of American History. From there we find our way into the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Then to the National Gallery of Art.
Throughout it all, I photograph our experience. From conference to museum to lunches on the National Mall, I blend with ease into the background. I’m reminded of my very first trip with the Model UN team. As a sophomore on the travel team, competing at a conference hosted by University of California Los Angeles, I played the role of reporter for the various committees, breaking news stories about the simulated world.
I am again behind the lens. Again, I’m watching Hanafee, Weiss, and Cleveland-Stout. They tell us about each of their travels – locations ranged from Colombia to Georgia to Vietnam. It is a privilege to see three generations share a meal and a conversation. To hear the group’s diverse interests and aspirations. The stories they share about life after leaving CC remind the team why we enjoy traveling for conferences. It’s a taste of something new, different, and exhilarating – an on-the-ground application of a liberal arts philosophy. From the halls of museums to conference committee rooms to the casual conversations at hotel breakfasts, the energy never drags. All fourteen of us, from freshman to alum, maintain long bucket lists. Listening to questions and answers, I don’t think any of us will complete them. But I know none of us will stop expanding them.