Will Masferrer Wins Outstanding Delegate Award

Duxbury, Mass.— Out of a pool of 200 Model U.N. students from nine different schools, a freshman from Catholic Memorial School stole the show this February in Duxbury.

Freshman Will Masferrer, a Milton resident, won the Outstanding Delegate Award at the Duxbury Model U.N. Conference after representing Russia in the mock General Assembly segment of the conference this past month.

In the General Assembly, Will discussed the impact of gene-editing CRISPR technology and its ramifications on the global community.

“I’m really interested in biology, so this topic got me excited about the event,” said Will, who won the General Excellence Award last year for recording the highest GPA in his class.

“I’m not the best with [history], but when looking at biology it helps me connect how Model U.N. applies to all subjects in general.”

Will called the debate topic his favorite to date. He researched speeches by Russian President Vladimir Putin to prepare for the discussion. Will said the intersection that existed between history and science in his topic amazed him.

“I was really surprised to learn how many speeches there were about CRISPR,” said Will.

“I had thought it was a fairly new thing and not a lot of news around it. By looking at their speeches, I really got to learn the power of speech and how greatly this topic has influenced the world.”

Last year, Will’s brother, Alex ’19, encouraged him to join the Model U.N. program. According to Will, Alex told him the program gave students at CM opportunities to debate, perform, and think about world issues in a whole new light.

“At CM, with the sheer number of clubs and the interaction with teachers who push you to try things new, I’ve learned just how powerful speech and my own interests can be,” said Will.

Will debuted at the BC High Model U.N. Conference as an 8^th grader. During that conference, he described himself as “shy” at first. But, after collaborating with several delegates from different schools, Will broke out of his comfort zone.

“I was talking to them as a person and then I actually created a cool friendship with them,” he said.

For the rest of the year, Will built off this performance. Mr. Bradley, the Moderator of the Model U.N. program, encouraged him along the way.

“[Mr. Bradley] pushed me to just speak,” said Will.

“He told me, ‘Trust me, you’ll be really nervous now, but once you just take a few minutes to speak, then you’ll have more control of the room than you ever realized.’"

According to Mr. Bradley, Will's improvement set an example for his fellow teammates.

“[Will is] very confident, very focused,” said Mr. Bradley.

“He’s very much a leader and socially aware. He’s made a lot of friends on the team. So, he’s done a great job in a short time. He’s one of these kids this year who took on a leadership role because he had been doing Model U.N. since the 8th Grade.”

Of course, Will took Mr. Bradley’s advice to heart.

“Just by saying those few words, [Mr. Bradley] really pushed me to where I am today-- winning something I never thought I would win.”