When Cadet Makayla Riley, \u201925, took the stand as a witness in court, she sat down poised, confident and ready to testify that her fianc\u00e9 could never have poisoned his father\u2014or at least, that\u2019s what the character she was playing believed. A member of the mock trial team, Riley played witnesses ranging from a pulmonary physician to a social media influencer and fianc\u00e9e of the accused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riley, a psychology major, was encouraged to join the mock trial team by Lt. Col. Platte Moring, a retired Pennsylvania Army National Guard officer and an instructor in the Department of Political Science. Moring was struck by her theatrical potential during an improv exercise in a leadership class, but Riley was hesitant. With dreams of practicing clinical psychology and little experience in political science, she worried that mock trial would be a poor fit, but Riley had chosen The Citadel for a reason, and backing down from a challenge wasn\u2019t in her nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t going to let something that intimidated me turn me away,\u201d said Riley. \u201cNot just this experience, but many experiences that I\u2019ve had at The Citadel have shown me to go for the things that frighten you the most because that\u2019s where you\u2019re going to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After joining the team, Riley found the experience both rigorous and rewarding. Students on the mock trial team participate in both classwork and team activities. In class, they learn about court procedures and best practices in public speaking\u2014skills they implement in competition outside the classroom, where they simulate real courtroom trials. In tournament-style play, the team plays four rounds each against other schools, alternating between plaintiff and defense each round. Riley and her classmates, well briefed on the case, acted as lawyers and witnesses and were scored on the strength of their performances. \u201cThe case theory itself is not that important,\u201d said Riley. \u201cIt\u2019s about how you do as an individual. Were you loud? Were you articulate? Did you give clear answers? All of that plays a role in how we are scored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her experiences in mock trial set Riley, who earned Best Witness honors in a competition against Kennesaw State University, on a new path toward law school. \u201cThis experience showed me that I really do have a passion for finding justice,\u201d said Riley. \u201cIt opened up a new horizon I never imagined was possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Cadet Makayla Riley, \u201925, took the stand as a witness in court, she sat down poised, confident and ready to testify that her fianc\u00e9 could never have poisoned his father\u2014or at least, that\u2019s what the character she was playing believed. A member of the mock trial team, Riley played witnesses ranging from a pulmonary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":224,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n