{"id":10013,"date":"2022-07-15T17:49:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T17:49:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2022\/07\/15\/marra-edwards-23-scores-semifinals-in-mock-trials-best-of-the-best-contest\/"},"modified":"2022-09-07T15:49:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T19:49:20","slug":"marra-edwards-23-scores-semifinals-in-mock-trials-best-of-the-best-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/marra-edwards-23-scores-semifinals-in-mock-trials-best-of-the-best-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Marra Edwards \u201923 scores semifinals in mock trial\u2019s \u2018best of the best\u2019 contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those who make it to the big dance of mock trial, the American Mock Trial Association\u2019s<\/a> National Championship Tournament, or are eligible for AMTA competition, only 16 students have a chance to compete in Trial by Combat<\/a>, a one-on-one tournament co-hosted by the law schools of Drexel University and UCLA. Furman\u2019s Marra Edwards \u201923, of Columbia, South Carolina, was among the invitees \u2013 the first Furman envoy in TBC\u2019s five-year history.<\/p>\n

Competitors must perform all roles \u2013 defense and prosecution attorneys and witnesses \u2013 at least once. But the trickiest part is the scant time allotted to prepare the case \u2013 24 hours, with help from only one coach and one additional student.<\/p>\n

Edwards, an English and Africana Studies major, made it to the semifinal round for the June 24-26 throw-down held at UCLA, where she was bested by the eventual winner.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo gain membership in such an elite group was an honor in itself, let alone finish in fourth place,\u201d said Furman\u2019s Glen Halva-Neubauer<\/a>, the Dana Professor of Politics and International Affairs.<\/p>\n

\"2

From left: Lilly Meyer ’24, Marra Edwards ’23, Spencer Richardson ’20 and Glen Halva Neubauer.<\/p><\/div>\n

The field included Yale, Stanford, Harvard, Georgia Tech, Duke, Emory, University of Virginia, Northwestern and other big-name schools.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving to go up against the best of the best was nerve-racking for me,\u201d said Edwards, who leaned on second-chair Lilly Meyer \u201924, a politics and international affairs and Africana studies major, and coach Spencer Richardson \u201920, a history and politics and international affairs alumnus.<\/p>\n

In the paltry amount of time earmarked, Edwards prepped arguments for the case involving a defendant accused of murdering a witness who previously claimed in open court that the defendant was a mob boss.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Spencer Richardson ’20 prepares Marra Edwards ’23 for TBC semifinals.<\/p><\/div>\n

For Edwards, super-charged nerves were just one of the hurdles. Lack of sleep was another.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think adrenaline kept me running,\u201d she said. But lack of confidence haunted her more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a moment around 9 p.m. when we tried to run through something for the first time without any notes, and I couldn\u2019t get it. I just went to the bathroom and cried, telling myself, \u2018I don\u2019t know if I can do this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

But she prevailed with the help of her team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the faith people had in me that got me through,\u201d said Edwards. \u201cThey kept reminding me they had a plan to get me to the next day.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was bolstered in other ways, too. Oddly, in this battle, your combatants become your allies, Edwards said.<\/p>\n

About 15 minutes ahead of a round, mockers learn with whom they\u2019ll be paired and against whom they\u2019ll be sparring. So, in one round, as an attorney, you might argue against someone who would become your witness in the next round, she explained.<\/p>\n

Supported by her fellow mockers, her team back home, coach Spencer and Meyer, Edwards is also grateful to others, including Halva-Neubauer and Edwards\u2019 mother, Glenda Edwards, aka \u201cSuper Fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom hasn\u2019t missed a single round in any competition, and I\u2019ve been competing since sixth grade. She\u2019s always been there for the biggest moments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall, Edwards said she discovered a bit more about herself at Trial by Combat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned to not doubt myself,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a really pessimistic competitor, and I think it\u2019s because I care so much, and I don\u2019t want to get my hopes up too much. But if you\u2019ve worked really hard to do something and you really want it, there\u2019s no reason why you can\u2019t get it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those who make it to the big dance of mock trial, the American Mock Trial Association\u2019s National Championship Tournament, or are eligible for AMTA competition, only 16 students have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":18857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,99,3,31,42,67,35,32,61,30],"tags":[1526,1527,1528],"class_list":["post-10013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-africana-studies","category-alumni","category-english","category-history","category-mock-trial","category-parent-news","category-politics-and-international-affairs","category-the-furman-advantage","category-top-stories","tag-amta","tag-college-mock-trial","tag-trial-by-combat"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/257"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}