Essay: My Experience With The Mock Trial Team

I would like to elaborate further on my experience with the Mock Trial team. Mock Trial is an activity that focuses around a case created by the Minnesota Bar Association. Teams practice arguing the case by merit, and it promotes skills such as public speaking, critical thinking, and working with a team. I have been on my high school’s Mock Trial team since I was a freshman, and I believe it has greatly improved my abilities in all three aforementioned areas. The competitions for Mock Trial are held in actual courtrooms in front of actual judges. I was terrified my first competition; I remember my hands sweating and my heart pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. Four years later, I find improvising 7 minute closing statements while in

It is the responsibility of each team to create and defend their argument, which requires great critical thinking skills. Throughout my time on the team my ability to create persuasive arguments in a clear and concise way and defend them with fact has drastically improved. This skill has assisted me outside of my life in Mock Trial in many ways, from Thanksgiving political debates at the dinner table to writing this very essay. Finally and most importantly, Mock Trial has improved my ability to work in a team. Because of the way Mock Trial is structured, there is no one who can win by his or herself. The performance of the team as a whole is dependent on each and every individual, and therefore it is critical that the performance of each member is coordinated with everyone else’s. This interconnectedness essentially forced me to take the high standards of excellence that I held for my own performance and apply them to others. It has also cultivated great love and family atmosphere amongst my team that is fueled by our desire to see each other perform to the best of our abilities, because we all succeed with and because of each