Wednesday, October 20, 2010

just a little friendly competition

at this point in time, i think most of my fellow law students have accepted that we are all aggressive, competitive, type A personalities.

so what better to do that have a friendly competition between us?  ya know, no teeth or claws bared, just a laid back, low stress competition. 

right?

for you non-law nerds, in law school we have several competitive groups. one, trial advocacy, is basically a mini trial setting-you call witnesses, introduce evidence, make opening and closing arguments, etc. the other, moot court, is a hybrid-you write a brief on an assigned issue and then argue it, simulating an appellate court. both of these are done in front of judges who are actual practitioners, and afterwards they give you feedback and scores and you could potentially move on to the next round. 

i happen to be on both teams.

this last week was the trial ad competition.  the case was a criminal case involving bank robbery, and the first elimination included two rounds and went from 45ish people down to 16.  

our first round was AWFUL. the judges were whack, our witnesses were a little freaked out, and we forgot a few pieces of evidence.  

the second round was MUCH better.  at first we were assigned to compete against my arch nemesis, but at the last second we were reassigned to compete against some friends of mine who were both on the traveling team so i knew they were good.  we did really well, and it helped that we were being compared to an awesome team.

so the next morning the results were out.  and i was the first alternate.  im pretty sure i read the results twice before i even noticed my name on the sheet.  figuring that noone was gonna drop out, i didnt worry about it.  

until about 4 pm.

thats when i found out that i was in fact competing because my friend had dropped out.  sooo i had to switch sides and compete again.

long story short, my team ended up being alternates for the semi finals.  i was really happy that we did really well, and i hope that it helps me get on the traveling team next year.  but i was even happier that i was able to have a weekend, and keep my sanity.

i swear. i need post traumatic stress counseling.  or a really really long weekend.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I do think you are a little crazy. Just a little. Still functional. Yet, still crazy... :-) And I totally picture your team wearing flannel and spectacles like they do for the debate team. But then I remember it's court so I just transplant that visual into the court room. It's a brilliant picture. And no, it's YOU that's crazy...... luvs

Lost in Translation said...

You'll remember the competitions much more fondly when you don't have to do them anymore. Really, they were some of my favorite parts of law school.

You guys did great! I'm sorry the first round sucked. Some judges just are arses about the whole thing.