Multilingual Student Captures Multiple Achievements
FIU Student wins first place in Model U.N. competition

Stephen Almeida, a 33-year-old junior at Florida International University, is a non-traditional student who dual majors in International relations and is in the International Business Relations Honors program.  Almeida represented FIU at the Model United Nations Competition, bringing first place honors to his school.

Before college, Almeida completed eight years in the Naval Submarine Force. “I needed something mentally and physically challenging and the Submarine Force provided that for me,” says Almeida when asked why he chose to join.

Almeida competed with the 2002 FIU team that won first place at the Model United Nations Competition in New York City. He was one of eleven students selected to represent FIU. These international competitions represent the finest students demonstrating their diplomatic abilities to gain consensus on specific global issues.

Among the 250 colleges and universities represented with 2600 student participants, each school delegation represented a different United Nations country. Almeida’s delegation represented Laos PDR and Tajikistan at the respective conferences. After a week-long competition, Almeida’s delegation was awarded first place.

“That Model United Nations [competition] was a major achievement because there were 250 colleges and universities from around the globe that participated in this competition,” says Almeida. “It was very moving for me to do it right in the United Nations and sit in the seats that the actual diplomats sit in.”

He even located the Cape Verdean Delegation seats within the General Assembly hall of the United Nations and sat there, proud of his Cape Verdean-American heritage. An American citizen but born in the former Portuguese colony of the Cape Verde Islands, Almeida speaks English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Creole fluently. The Cape Verde ambassador to the United States recently awarded him with an internship with the Cape Verde Islands Chamber of Commerce for the summer of 2002.

After his schooling at FIU, Almeida would like to continue his education in graduate school. He plans to do a joint degree program with a M.B.A. and a Masters in International Development.

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