Layla Jacobs Named Best Delegate at Harvard Model Congress
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Layla Jacobs won best delegate at HMC
Layla Jacobs was named Best Delegate at the 2025 Harvard Model Congress, an honor awarded by committee chairs—Harvard students who oversee the event—to recognize exceptional rhetoric and public speaking. After earning an honorable mention last year, this year’s award demonstrates her ability to navigate complex debates with confidence and clarity.
Layla is a senior at MSA and will be attending the University of Virginia in the fall.
We sat down with Layla to learn more about her experience at Miller School and Harvard Model Congress.
What has participating in HMC taught you about politics and life?
The first thing I had to learn at HMC was how to be resilient in the face of failure. The most thorough and thoughtful bills written can be cast aside and voted against quite quickly. This can be incredibly discouraging when you’ve already put so much effort into something, just for it to never come to fruition. At HMC this happens frequently, and I quickly had to learn to move on and redirect my efforts into the next bill. Much like in actual Congress, dedication does not always lead to victory. However, the ability to persevere and keep trying to make a change is the true marker of success, both in politics and life.
What was your favorite part of this year's HMC experience?
At an event as broadreaching as HMC, you get to interact with people from all over the world. My favorite part of this year’s conference was getting to become friends with people who, without HMC, I never would have interacted with. It’s a unique experience to see people from a multitude of diverse backgrounds bring their different perspectives together to tackle issues that are faced by our actual Congresspeople. I have loved hearing about the differences and shocking amount of similarities that I share with students from France, Peru, and Saudi Arabia.
How has HMC helped you be a better leader on campus?
Over the past two years, HMC has shaped the way I approach leadership. Working in a setting where there are so many people trying to get their point across can make compromise and teamwork very difficult. However, I was able to learn about the true marker of a good leader through these experiences. What makes a good leader is their ability to make everyone’s voices heard- something that proved to lead to much success at HMC. I am grateful to have brought this back with me to Miller. Not only did it help those around me feel acknowledged, but I’ve been able to make a greater impact in my different leadership roles- especially as a class representative.
How has MSA helped you become a leader in general?
Reflecting back on my freshman year, I am shocked at the difference between who I was then, and who I am now. I was intent on remaining a background character, and to cause as little stir as possible. However, the first thing I fell in love with at Miller was how many opportunities there were. So many programs at Miller are student-led, and being able to grow in that community over the past four years motivated me to take an active role in it. Miller has helped me embrace leadership in all aspects of my life, both academically and personally, from student ambassador to class representative. Because of Miller, I’ve been able to find not only my role as a leader, but a place in the community (far from the background) that I am proud of.
