Two USP students Woo Qiyun (Political Science + USP, Class of 2020) and Cheok Jia Ying (Computing + USP, Class of 2020) brought home an award each after participating in this year’s Princeton Interactive Crisis Simulation (PICSim) at Princeton University, USA.

Held from 1-10 Mar 2017, ten USP students participated in PICSim, a flagship programme of the International Relations Council at Princeton University. The programme simulates real world diplomatic interactions and student delegates from top universities around the world work closely to influence and make policy decisions. The programme takes its idea from the crisis simulation session commonly found in Model United Nations activities, and its conferences are highly interactive, competitive and innovative.

Qiyun received the Outstanding Delegate award for engaging meaningfully and actively during the conference. She produced many written directives and stayed true to the character that was assigned to her. Jia Ying received an Honorable Mention for achieving something commendable during the PICSim conference.

Qiyun credits her award to the supportive USP delegates, as well as USP seniors (those who participated in PICSim in previous years and trained the new batch of delegates) for preparing the USP delegates—conducting weekly trainings and providing them advice about the conference. She shared, “It is with their [USP seniors] efforts that we were all sufficiently equipped with the skills and training for the conference. During the conference, I was very fortunate to have a very encouraging USP team that made committee sessions less intimidating and more exciting. Speaking as an international delegate in a foreign conference, my stage-fright was apparent. With help from my peers, I gained confidence speaking out in committee sessions. For that, I am very thankful.”

We are very proud of Qiyun and Jia Ying, as well as all the USP delegates who represented Singapore and NUS.