Hello stakeholders of Arizona Model United Nations 51st annual high school conference, It is my honor and pleasure to be your Secretary General for the upcoming conference. As a former participant, it is my pleasure to culminate my Model UN career with serving in this role. Arizona Model UN has come a long way as an organization and we will continue trying to grow and improve with each year. We continue to have delegates, advisers, and staff of the highest quality that deserve a great deal of thanks and praise. Working with you over the years has been a fantastic and enjoyable learning experience that I will not soon forget. In a world that has been brought closer and closer by technology, problems and events half a world away can resonate and drastically affect our lives. As such, a working knowledge of international affairs is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. With your help Arizona Model United Nations has provided, and will continue to provide, an educational arena for students to actively engage in world affairs and gain valuable public speaking experience. In addition, Arizona Model United Nations has worked diligently to provide a conference that bridges borders and cultures, and as such we have had and continue to have one of the few bilingual and binational conferences at the high school level. With your help and cooperation we will continue to innovate and build a better conference. As with every year that I have been involved with it, I am extremely excited for our high school conference and I look forward to interacting with all of you in the course of the year. Arizona Model UN looks forward to much spirited debate and international diplomacy in this coming year! Sincerely William Thoman