The Euro Challenge’s national semifinals took place in New York City, and Ocean Lakes had a team of sophomores representing Greece.

The team was led by Esther Gammill as captain, Stone Wagner, Phoenix St. James, Andrew Koivu and Zaid Muhammad. The alternates were Logan Saltisiak and Robert Hunt.

The competition had two main stages. The first was the regional competition which was online on March 12, 2025. The second was the national competition, which consisted of semifinals and finals. The semifinals were held on April 28, 2025; however, they did not make it to the finals.

“This is the third year Ocean Lakes has competed in the Euro Challenge competition, and the second year we have made it to the nationals semifinals,” Model United Nations (MUN) faculty adviser Lisa Gibson said.

The team started their preparation in January.

“At first, we went pretty slow, answering the basic topic questions posted by the competition,” Zaid said. “Then, by the end of February, we finished our research and drafted our script. We [also] practiced our presentation in front of teachers, former euro challenge competitors and fellow MUN members a few times until the regionals.”

The students gave a 15-minute presentation on the topic they chose, which was “Debt and Deficits in Greece.” Then, they had to recommend their policy solutions with how they would be implemented, the funding source, the impacts on Greece and the time frame of the policy.

“We have a 10-minute question and answer session [after this] where the judges, who are professional economists, would ask us about our knowledge of the Eurozone as well as scrutinize our policy recommendations,” Zaid said.

The team captain Esther had a vital role on the team, where she had to organize the slideshows. She also had to communicate with her team about meetings and other important information.

“I learned all about how economics work in the European Union and the Eurozone,” Esther said. “It gave me a better picture and understanding of how the European Union functions and how much [the] economy affects other aspects of society.”

Participation in this event proved to be challenging and rewarding. 

“It was a great experience. I would recommend it to any and every rising freshman and sophomore,” Stone said. “It takes work, dedication and willingness to fail and try again. However it is definitely worth it if you have any interest in international affairs. I would 100% do it again.”