Name: Alex Frumkin
Class of: 2015
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 2011-2015
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: I can't imagine my time at Scripps without thinking about mock trial. The team introduced me to so many amazing people and some of my best friends at Scripps. Besides the friends, mock trial provided me an outlet for all of my competitive energy and taught me practical skills that I credit for getting me a job after graduation. I improved my leadership, public speaking, team building, writing, and critical thinking skills during my four years on the team. Joining (and staying on) the team was seriously the best decision-- mock meant so much to me while I was at Scripps.
Fun Memories: Placing 7th at ORCs during the 2013-2014 season. It was my first year as president and the whole year had been a bit of a mess because we just had so many new people (and I really had no idea what I was doing running the team), but even with all those new people we pulled it together and kicked ass and took people by surprise. It was such a satisfying way to end what had been a really challenging season.
Class of: 2015
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 2011-2015
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: I can't imagine my time at Scripps without thinking about mock trial. The team introduced me to so many amazing people and some of my best friends at Scripps. Besides the friends, mock trial provided me an outlet for all of my competitive energy and taught me practical skills that I credit for getting me a job after graduation. I improved my leadership, public speaking, team building, writing, and critical thinking skills during my four years on the team. Joining (and staying on) the team was seriously the best decision-- mock meant so much to me while I was at Scripps.
Fun Memories: Placing 7th at ORCs during the 2013-2014 season. It was my first year as president and the whole year had been a bit of a mess because we just had so many new people (and I really had no idea what I was doing running the team), but even with all those new people we pulled it together and kicked ass and took people by surprise. It was such a satisfying way to end what had been a really challenging season.
Name: Sacha Langer
Class of: 2015
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 4 years (2011-2015)
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: Mock trial helped me become a more effective leader, both on campus and off, and taught me how to think on my feet quickly and intelligently.
Fun Memories: "Hotels" in Tuscon, driving up to NorCal every year, and seeing my favorite members of different teams every year.
Class of: 2015
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 4 years (2011-2015)
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: Mock trial helped me become a more effective leader, both on campus and off, and taught me how to think on my feet quickly and intelligently.
Fun Memories: "Hotels" in Tuscon, driving up to NorCal every year, and seeing my favorite members of different teams every year.
Name: Teesta Bhandare
Class of: 2015
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 2013-2015
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: It made me realize I do not want to be a litigator (lol) but also helped me cultivate some of my closest friendships at Scripps.
Fun Memories: Judges thinking my accent wasn't real, playing catch with oranges with Alex to make sure our timing was perfect, and "sleepovers" at Nooshin's house with Persian food during Cal tournaments.
Class of: 2015
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 2013-2015
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: It made me realize I do not want to be a litigator (lol) but also helped me cultivate some of my closest friendships at Scripps.
Fun Memories: Judges thinking my accent wasn't real, playing catch with oranges with Alex to make sure our timing was perfect, and "sleepovers" at Nooshin's house with Persian food during Cal tournaments.
Name: Megan Fenton (pictured on right)
Class of: 2012
Years I Participated in Mock Trial:
All 4 years (Fall 2008 through Spring 2012)
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: Mock Trial was honestly a huge part of my college experience. I was part of the first Scripps Mock Trial team, which won a bid to ORCs. The next year, I was one of only 3 returning mockers (everyone else went abroad). My last two years, I was on the board. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time doing mock trial, both my own prep and then leadership duties and also helping others working on their prep. Additionally, doing Mock Trial helped me decide to pursue law after college.
Fun Stories: I have too many to count. My first year, the team spent so many hours in the Mudd dining hall conference rooms, the workers there knew our names —on more than one occasion, we came for brunch and left after dinner. I've sobbed on the stand (playing a babysitter who felt guilty for the death of a boy left under her care) and had fun as a lawyer with witnesses who didn't know their affidavits. Emily Chesbrough (the only other girl who did all four years with me) and I used to joke that we were the quintessential "Good Cop/Bad Cop" when we were in charge.
Class of: 2012
Years I Participated in Mock Trial:
All 4 years (Fall 2008 through Spring 2012)
How Mock Trial Impacted my College Career: Mock Trial was honestly a huge part of my college experience. I was part of the first Scripps Mock Trial team, which won a bid to ORCs. The next year, I was one of only 3 returning mockers (everyone else went abroad). My last two years, I was on the board. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time doing mock trial, both my own prep and then leadership duties and also helping others working on their prep. Additionally, doing Mock Trial helped me decide to pursue law after college.
Fun Stories: I have too many to count. My first year, the team spent so many hours in the Mudd dining hall conference rooms, the workers there knew our names —on more than one occasion, we came for brunch and left after dinner. I've sobbed on the stand (playing a babysitter who felt guilty for the death of a boy left under her care) and had fun as a lawyer with witnesses who didn't know their affidavits. Emily Chesbrough (the only other girl who did all four years with me) and I used to joke that we were the quintessential "Good Cop/Bad Cop" when we were in charge.
Name: Emily Chesbrough (pictured on left)
Class of: 2012
Years I participated in Mock Trial: 2008-2012, as President, Co-President, Team Member, and everything in between.
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: Mock Trial gave me my home base in college. It was my little enclave of people who took law, order, and justice seriously, perhaps a little too seriously. On a practical note, Mock Trial helped me hone my presentation and public speaking skills, taught me the importance of practice and organization, and it gave me the leadership skills I later used in my time at Teach For America (TFA). Mock Trial paved the road for me to complete TFA successfully, and go on to Harvard for my Master's in Education in the Technology, Innovation and Education program.
Fun memories/fun stories: Oh gosh, there are a too many to recount. I'd say one great moment was qualifying for Nationals in our first year as a team in 2008-2009. When we heard our names get called, we lost it. Screaming, yelling, running around...the other teams were kind of taken aback, but we were too excited to care.
The fun stories are in the inside jokes, the random comments, in competition when the opposing side does something ridiculous, or when your side does something ridiculous. I could try typing them all out here, but I doubt half of them would make sense. You kind of have to be on the team and make your own jokes and stories that only your fellow Mockers will understand.
Class of: 2012
Years I participated in Mock Trial: 2008-2012, as President, Co-President, Team Member, and everything in between.
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: Mock Trial gave me my home base in college. It was my little enclave of people who took law, order, and justice seriously, perhaps a little too seriously. On a practical note, Mock Trial helped me hone my presentation and public speaking skills, taught me the importance of practice and organization, and it gave me the leadership skills I later used in my time at Teach For America (TFA). Mock Trial paved the road for me to complete TFA successfully, and go on to Harvard for my Master's in Education in the Technology, Innovation and Education program.
Fun memories/fun stories: Oh gosh, there are a too many to recount. I'd say one great moment was qualifying for Nationals in our first year as a team in 2008-2009. When we heard our names get called, we lost it. Screaming, yelling, running around...the other teams were kind of taken aback, but we were too excited to care.
The fun stories are in the inside jokes, the random comments, in competition when the opposing side does something ridiculous, or when your side does something ridiculous. I could try typing them all out here, but I doubt half of them would make sense. You kind of have to be on the team and make your own jokes and stories that only your fellow Mockers will understand.
Name: Lily Foss
Class of: 2013
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 4
How mock trial impacted me: Mock trial was like a third major for me! I even wrote my thesis on sexism in mock trial. It's also made me pretty obnoxious to be around during courtroom scenes in movies ("Are you serious?? NONE of this is admissible in court! Objection! Objection!"). But all joking aside, I gained confidence, experience, and some really great friendships. And some awesome suits.
Fun memories: November of my sophomore year we were on our way to Tuscon for a tournament in a rented Scripps van. It's a six-hour drive through the middle of nowhere, but none of us had remembered to bring CDs. There was an unmarked mix CD in the van that we popped in without any idea of what was on it. After a couple normal songs, we came to "Business Time" by Flight of the Conchords. At first, we were pretty confused--we didn't realize that it was a Flight of the Conchords song--but we caught on after the first three plays or so. After a dozen plays on that endless desert trip, it was our new favorite song. We drove through Tuscon with the windows down and the music blaring, singing "Business Time" at the top of our lungs.
Class of: 2013
Years I Participated in Mock Trial: 4
How mock trial impacted me: Mock trial was like a third major for me! I even wrote my thesis on sexism in mock trial. It's also made me pretty obnoxious to be around during courtroom scenes in movies ("Are you serious?? NONE of this is admissible in court! Objection! Objection!"). But all joking aside, I gained confidence, experience, and some really great friendships. And some awesome suits.
Fun memories: November of my sophomore year we were on our way to Tuscon for a tournament in a rented Scripps van. It's a six-hour drive through the middle of nowhere, but none of us had remembered to bring CDs. There was an unmarked mix CD in the van that we popped in without any idea of what was on it. After a couple normal songs, we came to "Business Time" by Flight of the Conchords. At first, we were pretty confused--we didn't realize that it was a Flight of the Conchords song--but we caught on after the first three plays or so. After a dozen plays on that endless desert trip, it was our new favorite song. We drove through Tuscon with the windows down and the music blaring, singing "Business Time" at the top of our lungs.
Name: Sasha Bassi
Class of: 2014
Years I participated in Mock Trial: freshman, sophomore, junior years
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: The analysis of arguments and the art of persuasion that mock trial requires are useful skills for any endeavor. Whether I was preparing for a class lecture or engaging in a heated discussion with a peer, I found that mock trial helped me master the process of presenting a strong argument. I took great interest in this process and subsequently declared myself as a Legal Studies major.
Fun memory: Being trapped with our team in the parking garage of the PIMA Superior Court building in Tuscon.
Class of: 2014
Years I participated in Mock Trial: freshman, sophomore, junior years
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: The analysis of arguments and the art of persuasion that mock trial requires are useful skills for any endeavor. Whether I was preparing for a class lecture or engaging in a heated discussion with a peer, I found that mock trial helped me master the process of presenting a strong argument. I took great interest in this process and subsequently declared myself as a Legal Studies major.
Fun memory: Being trapped with our team in the parking garage of the PIMA Superior Court building in Tuscon.
Name: Cait Powell
Class of: 2014
Years I participated in Mock Trial: Participated for 2 years (2010-2011 and 2011-2012)
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: Mock trial was my first extracurricular and helped me gain confidence in an environment in which I felt quite overwhelmed. It allowed me to meet upperclassmen who would become my friends and mentors. Most of my favorite mock trial memories involve going to tournaments - staying in hotels, prepping for trials all morning, going out to get celebratory meals, etc.
Class of: 2014
Years I participated in Mock Trial: Participated for 2 years (2010-2011 and 2011-2012)
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: Mock trial was my first extracurricular and helped me gain confidence in an environment in which I felt quite overwhelmed. It allowed me to meet upperclassmen who would become my friends and mentors. Most of my favorite mock trial memories involve going to tournaments - staying in hotels, prepping for trials all morning, going out to get celebratory meals, etc.
Name: Savanah Harshbarger
Class of: 2014
Years I participated: 2010-2011 (freshman), 2011-2012 (sophomore); I transferred to Brown University as a junior where I continued to compete; I was a member of their nationals team this past year in Orlando FL!
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: My high school had a mock trial team but I had never had any interest in joining before I arrived at Scripps. I realize now that I joined the Scripps team because it scared me-it was an activity I knew nothing about and on top of that, I had no legal knowledge nor acting skills. I knew the mock trial community would challenge me and it did! It sounds cliche but my public speaking skills improved tremendously; I learned how to keep calm and appear unflustered under tremendous pressure and how to think and speak on my feet. All of these things have been applicable to so many situations both in and outside the classroom. I still feel honored that I got to practice and perfect these skills alongside so many passionate and intelligent women who were both friends and mentors.
Fun Memories/Stories:
--Seeming to always get lost in the middle of nowhere the way to our tournament in Arizona
--Going to Pomona's pub on Wednesday's as a team
--Las Vegas-need I say more?
Class of: 2014
Years I participated: 2010-2011 (freshman), 2011-2012 (sophomore); I transferred to Brown University as a junior where I continued to compete; I was a member of their nationals team this past year in Orlando FL!
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: My high school had a mock trial team but I had never had any interest in joining before I arrived at Scripps. I realize now that I joined the Scripps team because it scared me-it was an activity I knew nothing about and on top of that, I had no legal knowledge nor acting skills. I knew the mock trial community would challenge me and it did! It sounds cliche but my public speaking skills improved tremendously; I learned how to keep calm and appear unflustered under tremendous pressure and how to think and speak on my feet. All of these things have been applicable to so many situations both in and outside the classroom. I still feel honored that I got to practice and perfect these skills alongside so many passionate and intelligent women who were both friends and mentors.
Fun Memories/Stories:
--Seeming to always get lost in the middle of nowhere the way to our tournament in Arizona
--Going to Pomona's pub on Wednesday's as a team
--Las Vegas-need I say more?
Name: Kara Odum
Class of: 2016/2015
Years participated: 3
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: It helped me with public speaking and forming evasive answers to difficult questions.
Fun Memories/Stories: driving from Tucson in Megan's car with Sasha describing the similarities between the case and our drive.
Class of: 2016/2015
Years participated: 3
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: It helped me with public speaking and forming evasive answers to difficult questions.
Fun Memories/Stories: driving from Tucson in Megan's car with Sasha describing the similarities between the case and our drive.
Name: Hilary Sager
Class of: 2014
Years participated: 1
How Mock Trial Impacted my college career: I am so happy I decided to join mock trial in my last year at Scripps. It was a great way to meet underclassman and participate in the Scripps community in a way I never had before. Beyond that, it provided invaluable lessons in public speaking (especially under pressure), memorization, thinking strategically, and working as a team -- all skills that are transferable to the real world.
Fun memories: It was really fun playing Detective Kimball in the fall and then being the directing attorney of Jackie as Kimball in the spring. By the end of it, I knew that witness like the back of my own hand.
Class of: 2014
Years participated: 1
How Mock Trial Impacted my college career: I am so happy I decided to join mock trial in my last year at Scripps. It was a great way to meet underclassman and participate in the Scripps community in a way I never had before. Beyond that, it provided invaluable lessons in public speaking (especially under pressure), memorization, thinking strategically, and working as a team -- all skills that are transferable to the real world.
Fun memories: It was really fun playing Detective Kimball in the fall and then being the directing attorney of Jackie as Kimball in the spring. By the end of it, I knew that witness like the back of my own hand.
Name: Erin Krikorian
Class of: 2011
Years I participated in Mock Trial: 2007 (as part of Pomona-Scripps MT) and 2008-2011 (Scripps MT)
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: It's hard to imagine what college would have been like without Scripps MT. We built lifelong friendships, and I learned that when individuals care about each other and a common goal, great things happen. In 2008 we founded the modern day Scripps club and were lucky to recruit a group of fun, smart, and dedicated women. We all became good friends and thrived because we enjoyed working together. Through Mock Trial activities I discovered my passion for analyzing facts and arguments, and upon graduating I became an analyst at a law firm in further pursuit of that passion.
Fun memories/ fun stories: Hearing our name called when we qualified for the Opening Round Championship Series as a rookie organization and knowing that our months of dedication and hard work had paid off, was pretty thrilling. And we had so many laughs while practicing... "Release the Squirrels" is a joke that still makes me giggle. Basically it was an idea that if all else failed during an examination, we'd resort to unveiling a cage filled with squirrels-- the unofficial Scripps mascot-- and set them free to scamper around the well and distract opposing counsel. Because, who else would be prepared with case law citations for that situation? Scripps MT encouraged ridiculously creative thinking, which made brainstorming powerful arguments a ton of fun.
Class of: 2011
Years I participated in Mock Trial: 2007 (as part of Pomona-Scripps MT) and 2008-2011 (Scripps MT)
How Mock Trial impacted my college career: It's hard to imagine what college would have been like without Scripps MT. We built lifelong friendships, and I learned that when individuals care about each other and a common goal, great things happen. In 2008 we founded the modern day Scripps club and were lucky to recruit a group of fun, smart, and dedicated women. We all became good friends and thrived because we enjoyed working together. Through Mock Trial activities I discovered my passion for analyzing facts and arguments, and upon graduating I became an analyst at a law firm in further pursuit of that passion.
Fun memories/ fun stories: Hearing our name called when we qualified for the Opening Round Championship Series as a rookie organization and knowing that our months of dedication and hard work had paid off, was pretty thrilling. And we had so many laughs while practicing... "Release the Squirrels" is a joke that still makes me giggle. Basically it was an idea that if all else failed during an examination, we'd resort to unveiling a cage filled with squirrels-- the unofficial Scripps mascot-- and set them free to scamper around the well and distract opposing counsel. Because, who else would be prepared with case law citations for that situation? Scripps MT encouraged ridiculously creative thinking, which made brainstorming powerful arguments a ton of fun.