Best Oral Advocate Finalist in the George A. Hopper Moot Court Competition

Yep, that's the new honor that is listed on my resume! : ) Ok, so I didn't win the very top position, but all 4 of us in the final round gave such excellent performances, the judges admitted they had a very hard time making a decision. In my opinion, any one of the 4 of us could have been named the winner and it would have been fair. I did have numerous people come up and tell me afterward that they thought I had been the best, which was nice to hear.

Once I got home last night, it was like all the stress of the last 3 days finally hit me and about all I could do was crawl into bed. As a side note, I really wish to keep further discussion of my daughter and her condition off of here (as much as I can) because as her mother I feel very protective of her, and I want to protect her privacy. But please do not think because I do so that it isn't something I am not totally consumed with or deeply affected by. I just feel I must draw a line here.

More about Moot Court: First of all, some things about the semi-final round. My first indication that it was to be a brutal session was when the chief justice denied my request for waiver of recitation of the facts. In most circumstances, the judge will grant that, allowing you to proceed directly into your argument. If your request is denied, you must give a short summary of the facts of the case. It really isn't that big of a deal, because I certainly knew the facts, but it was more a mental thing to see if I was prepared to handle anything the judge would throw at me. I had prepared a summary of the facts, but had never actually given it during any of my practicing. Apparently the judge did this to both of us (the petitioners arguing first, for the mootness issue) in the 2 sessions of the semi-final round.

When I was called to let me know that I made it into the finals, I asked the school administrator if the chief justice had made nice comments about me during the semi-final round deliberations (that she was in the room to hear). Her response was, "oh yes!" She told me that she told him I wanted to become a DA and he told her that, "She'll make a good one!" Since we didn't really get any personalized critiques, it was nice to hear that feedback.

Last night's final round wasn't as easy as it had been last year (which I attended to gauge what I would be facing this year). For me, it wasn't as hard as the semi-final round, but it was harder than I had expected it to be. Still, I found that I was not nervous and actually enjoyed it. I'm still kind of amazed that regardless of cognitively thinking that I should not like to be in situations where I may be shown to be inadequate if I fail to perform properly, in reality I love the challenge and seem to have a very aggressive and eager mental approach to these situations. Believe me, I do NOT understand that and have no idea when or how I changed in that way.

I feel very happy with my performance, and am very proud of how all 4 finalists did. It feels good to walk away from this competition with not only a very cool honor, but without a single regret for anything I said or did in any of the rounds. It has been quite an experience!