On the weekend of November 19-20, I had the opportunity to fly down to Tampa with 6 other McConnell Scholars and our wonderful Moot Court coach, Niel Salyer. We had prepared our arguments for months, and we were ready to perform at the Regional Competition.
Once we arrived, it was a whirlwind. Everywhere you looked there were students in suits practicing their statements, it was pretty overwhelming. However, once we made it to our first room of competition, something kicked in and all nerves went away. Before we knew it we were finished with our first round of the day. A second later and we were done with all four rounds and waiting to find out who made it to the second day. In fact, all three teams made it to the second day!
My goal on the second day of competition was simply to hold our own in the first round. I knew we were going against a really good team, and I expected our journey to end there. Yet, after the round was over, we were announced as the winners and paired with the number 1 seed for the second round. To win the first round of the second day was amazing, and even though we all lost our second round, every team was happy with their performances.
All three of our teams finished very well. Andrew and Ben Shepard were seeded 3rd on the first day, Meghan and Tyler were seeded 4th and both teams received a bid to nationals in New Orleans. Ben Weyman and I were seeded 8th, and thus one team out of nationals. However, we are still waiting to hear about an at-large wild card bid for nationals. We had four scholars in the top 11 orator spots: Ben Shepard was 2nd, Andrew was 5th, Meghan was 10th, and I was 11th.
Once we arrived, it was a whirlwind. Everywhere you looked there were students in suits practicing their statements, it was pretty overwhelming. However, once we made it to our first room of competition, something kicked in and all nerves went away. Before we knew it we were finished with our first round of the day. A second later and we were done with all four rounds and waiting to find out who made it to the second day. In fact, all three teams made it to the second day!
My goal on the second day of competition was simply to hold our own in the first round. I knew we were going against a really good team, and I expected our journey to end there. Yet, after the round was over, we were announced as the winners and paired with the number 1 seed for the second round. To win the first round of the second day was amazing, and even though we all lost our second round, every team was happy with their performances.
All three of our teams finished very well. Andrew and Ben Shepard were seeded 3rd on the first day, Meghan and Tyler were seeded 4th and both teams received a bid to nationals in New Orleans. Ben Weyman and I were seeded 8th, and thus one team out of nationals. However, we are still waiting to hear about an at-large wild card bid for nationals. We had four scholars in the top 11 orator spots: Ben Shepard was 2nd, Andrew was 5th, Meghan was 10th, and I was 11th.