Personal Narrative: My Interest In Teen Court

My interest in law and government began during my freshman year when I decided to become a member of Teen Court. I’ve always had a thirst for knowledge and I signed up for this activity because I viewed it as an opportunity to gain an insight on how the court system worked and learn about the different roles involved. What I did not expect was to gain a passion about defending or prosecuting a defendant and enjoying the responsibility of informing the judge, jury, and audience about the evidence I had gathered. Before this activity, I would have never envision myself wanting to be a lawyer because I was terrified of public speaking. This fear and anxiety I felt when presenting in front of a group has always been a challenge I struggled to conquer. I dreaded giving speeches or presenting information because my heart would start pounding, my body would start …show more content…
During the first year in Teen Court, I was happy with this role and enjoyed listening to the facts presented by the attorneys, but the more time I spent as a jury member, the less satisfied I was with my involvement. As I listened to cases, I started to notice and admired the confidence the mock attorneys would have as they asked questions and their calm façade when an unexpected fact was presented by the opposing attorney. I wanted to have that self-confidence about my speaking abilities and I wanted to go beyond my comfort zone and overcome my weakness. When I finally volunteered to be an attorney, my first case wasn’t the best because I still struggled to communicate clearly to my audience and didn’t know how to prepare my case for the court. However, with the help of older students and from actual attorneys, I learned to prepare myself on how my body would respond to my fear and practice enough where I knew everything there was to my