Mock Trial Team Advances to National Semifinal Competition

March 8th, 2011 Mariam Zakhary '13

Mock Trial Team Advances to
National Semifinal Competition

by Mariam Zakhary '13
3/10/2011

Yoshiko Jo
From left: Sara Fitzpatrick '14, Di Yan '13, Yuan Qu '14, Jon Schaefer '11, Mackenzie Welch '14, Asher Sered '11, Bill King '13, Candice Nguyen '11, Johnny Taeschler '12, and Klara Aizupitis '13.
The Swarthmore College Mock Trial team recently earned top honors at the Philadelphia Regional Championships, marking the best finish in team history and qualifying the team for the semifinal round of the National Mock Trial Competition.

The team was founded in 2007 by this year's co-captains, Candice Nguyen '11, Asher Sered '11, and Jonathan Schaefer '11. Its 27 full-time members practice four hours a week and attend at least four weekend-long tournaments.

"Personally, I think the biggest benefit I've received from Mock Trial is that it's made me infinitely more comfortable with public speaking," says Schaefer of North Wales, Pa. "Moreover, being able to think quickly on my feet and present complicated topics in a logical way that's easy for laypeople to follow has already helped me a great deal in some of my seminars."

The team now moves on to the opening round championship competition of the American Mock Trial Association, which will be held March 19-20 in Washington, D.C. A strong placement there will advance the team to the national championship competition.