SJSU Mock Trial Team
- Job function (e.g., overall role, assigned tasks)
- Currently, I serve as the President and a Team Captain of the San José State University Mock Trial Team. This club is a competitive team registered under the American Mock Trial Association, where we use a case packet (includes witness statements, evidence, orders, etc.), to take on the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a trial setting. We’re responsible for competing with other schools throughout the year and play both sides of the case by using the federal rules of evidence. This program involves public speaking, critical thinking skills, and application of the law. As the President of the team, not only do I take care of administrative tasks, such as holding executive board meetings, planning tournaments and events, fundraising, and networking, but I also actively coach new members of the team as we prepare for our Regionals competition in February.
- Examples of projects (e.g., list the projects you worked on and what you accomplished)
- This year, under my leadership, our team has reached many new heights. Firstly, in the summer, we hosted our very own first ever Boot Camp. In the course of 2 weeks, we raised over $500 and taught participants how to write a direct examination, cross examination, opening statements, closing statements, and how to make/respond to objections using the Evidence Code. At the end of the camp, the boot camp participants participated in a trial and ended up joining the team in September.
- In October, our team participated in the Stanford University Mock Trial Invitational, where my co-captain received an outstanding witness award!
- In November, our team participated in the Average American Mock Trial Invitational, hosted by UC Berkeley, in which our team took forth 4 wins.
- In December, both of our teams participated in the Cowtown Classic Tournament at UC Davis, where we maintained a 4 win record.
- In January, our team participated in the Rebel Trojan Mock Trial Tournament in Las Vegas, hosted by USC & UNLV, where I received 17/20 ranks as an outstanding attorney, and our team broke our record and took forth 4.5 wins.
- In January, our team also participated in the AtypiCAL tournament at UC Berkeley, where our Vice President received an Outstanding Attorney Award with 19/20 ranks.
- This past weekend, in February, our team participated in the Fresno Regionals, the 5th hardest regionals in the nation. From our Gold Team, one of our first-year competitors won an All-Regional Outstanding Attorney Award with 18/20 ranks. They worked extremely hard and their season has come to an end. Our blue team took 5.5 wins, and for the first time ever, placed top 6 out of the 24 teams in the Fresno Regionals. As a result, our blue team advanced to the Opening Round Championship Series in Los Angeles, where we’ll compete in on March 9-10! This is the first time that SJSU’s team has advanced and I’m extremely proud of my team!
- What you learned and how it relates to your major (e.g., describe what you learned from this)
- As a business major and legal studies minor, who plans on going to law school after undergrad, there’s many valuable things that I’ve learned from my participation in this team. Firstly, I’ve gained valuable experience as a leader and I’ve learned to lead by example, as well as coach and inspire young leaders. I’ve also learned how to speak in front of a large audience, and the intricacies of the evidence code. These are things that I’ll be learning in law school, so it’s great to get a head start and be able to apply these skills in real time.