For the first time since 2021, the Cupertino High School Mock Trial team made it to the final round of the Santa Clara County competition.
The Mock Trial season begins mid-September, with workshops to help prospective members prepare for auditions. Auditions are open to all students, and the list of team members is finalized by the officer team, then approved by their advisor, Sean Bui. After auditions, the team spends the first semester preparing for competitions, which begin in January. They have mandatory practice every Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m., with optional Thursday sessions from 4 to 6 p.m. leading up to competitions.
In addition to weekly practices, prosecution and defense groups spend extra time drafting and rehearsing their arguments.
Said Tino Mock Trial Co-President Lina Youn, “This year, all of the main role attorneys met at 8 a.m. on a weekend to practice. […] We devote so much of our time to writing examinations and speeches, practicing objections, refining our characters, etc. because we care about mock trial and we love the people in it.”
The team is composed of 32 students, including both understudies and main roles. The main roles consist of two pre-trial attorneys, six main trial attorneys and eight witnesses.
Over the span of numerous months, the tight-knit team underwent an iterative process where they dissected an 80-page case packet. They repeatedly revised their pre-trial arguments, opening and closing statements and directs and crosses.
Through this repetitive process, Bui says the club is able to truly embrace a growth mindset, which he identifies as a crucial pillar to Tino Mock Trial.
Said Bui, “We are going to present stuff based upon our analysis on [an] 80-page case packet, and it’s gonna fail, to be honest with you. Not everything is going to be successful but from that failure is when we really learn and succeed […] that’s the growth mindset part of it.”
Using this growth mindset, Tino Mock Trial enters the second semester with scrimmages, practicing for upcoming competitions against other schools. Their competition days last about five hours, with either the prosecution or the defense passionately presenting their cases.
However, due to assembling an almost completely new team this year — with only six returning members in main roles — the team was relatively less polished during their first run through. Despite this, everyone’s hard work paid off — Tino Mock Trial was undefeated leading up to finals. Although the team’s win streak came to a stop at finals, many members expressed their enthusiasm throughout the season, reflecting on its numerous highs and lows.
“When we won the semifinal round, most of us started crying because we were so happy for ourselves and each other,” Youn said. “It had been four years since we qualified for finals, and it felt like all of the effort we put in the past season and all of the trust we had in each other had gotten us this victory. I was so proud of the team, and that was probably my favorite day [of] Mock Trial.”
Said Youn, “It was really reassuring to see the team’s passion for growth even when everything was new to them, or even when they felt they didn’t deliver a flawless performance, because their optimism was what made us the team we were in February.”
Yet, despite all of their major successes this year, when the team was asked what some of their favorite parts about Mock Trial were, the idea of family was most apparent.
“The team is tight-knit every year, but I think us being less intense or worried about competitions this year helped us grow closer because we met up to get dinner or play poker instead of just practice,” Youn said. “I believe this increased trust in one another and increased the desire to do well for one another, because your performance wasn’t just impacting the team — it was impacting people you thought of as friends.”
When asked what he was most proud of about Tino Mock Trial, Bui stated, “I’m most proud that students feel that they are part of something bigger than themselves, and that they bond with each other […]. It’s not the Cupertino High School Mock Trial Club, […] it’s the Cupertino High School Mock Trial family.”
And with the Tino Mock Trial “family” having wrapped up this season with a successful track record, they are excited for what is to come in future seasons.
