Haven’s Mock Trial team traveled to the University of Pennsylvania for their first official tournament on January 17 and 18. Members of the team competed in a total of four rounds.
Mock Trial is a competitive club based around law, both criminal and civil. Every year, a new trial is brought up and teams are invited to compete. On the team, you can either be a witness, who acts out a part, or an attorney, who works to win their trial through persuasive speech and by questioning both their witnesses and other teams.
“You’re trying to argue whether or not someone should go to jail. So there’s pretty high stakes,” senior captain Olivia Heisey-Terrell said.
Their prosecution team won a match and lost a match, and on defense, they won once and tied once.
“It was great. I’m very proud of our performances,” Olivia said. “Overall, that’s two out of four decisive wins, and one team, which is a pretty good record for a tournament that has over 50 teams [competing].”
Olivia has been competing with the team as an attorney since her freshman year.
“My mom did it when she was in high school, and when I told her that there was an interest meeting my freshman year, she was like, ‘Okay, you have to go to that.’ So, I gave it a shot, and I made some really good friends there. That motivated me to stick with it. Here I am, my senior year, still doing it. It’s pretty worth it,” Olivia said.
Mock Trial allows students to gain practical skills that they can apply in real life in addition to trial court.
“I think for me it helps a lot with public speaking skills, because I suck at it, and it causes me so much anxiety to get up and speak in front of a group of people. It’s still really difficult, but doing it two times a week for four hours is very helpful,” sophomore Pearl Ricci-Upin said. “I think it’s also helped with my writing skills in a different way, more like professional and analytical writing.”
The club also helps to inform members about the legal system.
“Not a lot of people in the United States, especially young people, are up to date with all the laws and how the actual court systems work, which I think sets people up for failure if they ever have to go to court or have to be part of a jury, which everyone does at some point in their life,” senior Cecily Heisey-Terrell said.
The club will continue to practice, preparing for their regular season competitions, beginning on February 12.
“Everyone should join Mock Trial, even if they think that it’s a lame nerd thing and that they wouldn’t like it…It helps you with your public speaking. It’s a very practical option,” Cecily said.
