It was the evening of January fifteenth and hundreds of anxious students were dwelling in the Modesto Court House basement waiting for their team to be called up. Teams fromDavis, Enochs, Johansen,Modesto,Turlock, Pitman and more had been preparing for this night for more than several months. The first night of the 2012-2013 Mock Trial Competitions were about to begin and this was especially nerve wracking for the newcomers.  

  Mock Trial is a competition in which high school students are allowed to participate in to learn more about the constitution, law, and public speaking. How it works is that the participating schools get together a team and the coach, more often a teacher at the school, work on a made up trial written by the Mock Trial Board of Directors. The team works on this case for several months. It is given to them in September and the trial is in January.

  Within that time span students, with the help of their coach and a helpful attorney who volunteers his/her time, analyze the entire case from front to back, left to right, and up and down as if it were a real trial.

  The students who take on the part as attorneys are assigned witnesses in whom they write direct examination and re-direct examination questions as well as cross examination questions for other witnesses.

  They also deliver either an opening or closing statement. There are roles such as witnesses in which you simply memorize a page long of information and recite it back to your attorney. And we have the pre trial motion. The pre-trial motion begins the trial and argues for a specific point within the within the whole case.

  Dealing with a real judge, in a real courthouse and having real attorneys as your jury is no walk in the park. It takes guts and courage to get up there and deliver your speech or ask and answer questions in front of—not only the attorneys or judge but your team and the opposing side team and the audience watching. This competition is open to the public so any family members or friends are welcome to attend.

  Having been my third year in this competition, I can freely express how much I enjoyed it. Although I experienced near anxiety attacks and breakdowns leading up to the competition, it truly allowed my to practice what my life would be like if I followed a career of an attorney.

   This competition allows you to get an idea about the law and how it works, opens opportunities on how to act as a witness and allows you to experience a bit of speech. If you are contemplating a career in law, or even political science, Mock Trial is a club you should definitely give a try.