Law and Advocacy at Berkeley

Tiffani Oney
Green Mountain High School
Lakewood, Colorado

Over the summer, I had the privilege of attending the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) on Law and Advocacy at the University of California at Berkeley. Approximately 60 students from across the country were invited to learn concepts of law, the organization of the United States judiciary system, experience college life, meet new people, and see the sights of California.

Throughout our ten-day stay, we went to lectures discussing various terms, divisions of a law trial, and methods to convince a jury. We also had guest speakers, like Dr. Paul Lisnek, founder of the NSLC, who talked about different forms of law and legal ethics. The daily meetings, speeches, and numerous activities helped prepare us for the criminal mock trial held near the end of the week. We were given a murder case, Edward Johns vs. The People, which had already been tried in a United States court, and split into the sides of defense and prosecution. Each individual was assigned the part of an attorney, who would perform two different tasks in the trial, like the cross-examination and opening statement, and the part of a witness. After preparing questions and occupying the mindset of the allocated witness, we went to the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco where the mock trials took place. This experience was extremely helpful in deciding my future involvement in the law field.

Along with learning about legal practices, the organization took us to many destinations throughout California. At the beginning of the trip, we attended a ropes course in Sacramento, which enhanced our team building skills and allowed us to open up and get closer to our fellow students. We also visited places like Sausalito, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco Bay. At each place, we were free to roam and see the sights. More academic fieldtrips included the law schools of UC Hastings and UC Berkeley at Boalt Hall, where the faculty discussed admission standards and regular class proceedings, and the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco, to learn about the content of civil court cases. All of the adventures opened my eyes to different places and helped me understand the qualifications needed to become a lawyer.

Although I originally signed up for the trip to find out if I had a future in the law field, this excursion broadened my horizons in unexpected ways and allowed me to interact with many different people. The best part was making self-discoveries and understanding the beauty of other cultures. I had the extraordinary opportunity to see how other people lived and by the last day, the entire group had become a family.

The NSLC camp in California was by far the best experience of my life. I was able to unlock my passion in law and meet some of the most outstanding people. I highly recommend this program. It has changed my perception on life and I look forward to reminiscing about the memories of this journey.