Veni, vidi, vici!

I refer to the Siena College's Mock Trial team success at the Syracuse University Regional Mock Trial Competition. Don't think I'm trying to take all the credit with my choice of title, I'm simply not sure what the plural form of the latin perfect tense is. As I was saying, I have the pleasure of reporting that Siena's Mock Trial team, of which I am a member, advanced to the National round of competition. The team itself has only been around for seven years at Siena, and this is now our third time making the Nationals (twice in the last three years). While Mock Trial is taught as a class at many undergraduate institutions it is purely extracurricular here at Siena. We are able to be competitive against other teams due to the excellent 'coaching' of Siena's Jurist in Residence and Siena alum Sonya Von Bortel. It would not work without the dedication of our coaches and the dedication of each member of the team. So, much of my week has been focused on refining my material for the team for the next round of competition. The next round will be held in White Plains, New York, which, with all due deference to my cohorts from Westchester County, is a far cry from Tucson, Arizona (where we ventured two years ago to compete on the National level). Nonetheless, the competition is bound to be formidable. In any case, as the Little League Baseball pledge goes: "I will play fair and strive to win, but win or lose, I shall always do my best." I've found that that phrase is applicable to almost every situation in life, but I digress.

In any case, take care.
Mike DiSiena