This was a wonderful learning experience for me as I've learned to be more creative in my views. I learned to concentrate on alternatives rather than solely on one side of the argument. It is important to know both sides of your subject in order to be successful in your arguments. Not only that, facts and figures are essential tools to support our views. Merely stating out points is not enough; we must always back it up with facts, figures or statistics to strengthen our points. I also learned that team work does help a lot in our learning. In a team, we can generate more ideas compared to individual work. In addition, you can also seek for help and advice whenever you face problems- you'll have additional support from your peers. All the research work helped to develop critical thinking skills as I learned to evaluate information and look at both sides of the argument. I have also used speaking skills in this project. After all the hard work on research and planning, it all boils down to speaking and clearly it is a very important skill that we should master in order to succeed. I did feel nervous on the day of the trial but as it went on, I gathered myself and supported my speech as a witness with confidence. Throughout my testimony, I constantly reminded myself to use strong emotive words in order to leave a huge mark on the juries. It is important to useful an emotional approach in order to convince the juries.
They don't call the death penalty 'The Debate of the Century' for nothing. Obviously, it is very hard to say whether the sentence should stay or go considering that both arguments have their relevant points. In the beginning, I was very sure that I'm for the death penalty due to the environment I grew up in. At that time, I was, without any doubt or hesitation, in support of the punishment. BUT. The fact that I was put into the Anti Death Penalty group changed my views. I was torn between the two arguments, a situation that I didn't find myself in in the beginning. The reason was after lots of research, I was exposed to more of the cons of the capital punishment and my moral conscience played a big role in my judgments. Till today, I can't make up my mind on which side I should support.
Three things my team did well leading up to the trial- we were very organized and well-prepared, we communicated in school and through Skype and we constantly helped each other out. Our chief prosecutors had a clear idea what they wanted us to do- early planning definitely helps in order to avoid any commotion. Our honorable researchers worked really hard to back us up so we had sufficient information and evidence to support our arguments. Overall, everyone showed great dedication and commitment. Communication is also vital. Being a cohesive team, we constantly talked and updated each other on what we're working on. Even after school, we contacted each other through Skype for extra discussion. Not only that, we also shared suggestions and ideas with each other in order to improve on what we're working on.
On the much anticipated day, we did well in the sense that everyone knew what they were doing. We were clear on what we are trying to convey and what information we need to stress on. We also knew who should testify first in order to leave the most impact on the juries. During the trial, even though some of us made mistakes (that's me), we moved on and didn't look back on what we did wrongly. It was important that we stay focused and not get distracted by our mistakes as this will affect our presentation later. Even during the trial, there was lots of communication going among us. We shared ideas by swapping notes to figure out ways to counter the opposition team.
During our preparation for the trial, I did lots of research together with my examiner. Since I represent Amnesty International, I made sure I knew what my area of knowledge is in order to be convincing. I gathered facts and figures to back up my points. To practice my speech, I timed myself so that I would not go over the time limit. I was also open minded to my teammates' opinions so that I know the area I should brush up on. On the actual day, I wore the right attire in order to reflect my image as a representative from Amnesty International. This is to give a good and professional impression to the judges and juries. I tried to remain calm but there were times where I felt nervous. When it was my turn to testify, I was pretty confident in my points. I poured in lots of emotion to make it as real as possible. When I was cross-examined by the opposition, I remained calm and answered their questions confidently so that there was no room for them to exploit.
In my opinion, my team worked really well together. Being such a huge team, there's bound to friction among us but we didn't really encounter any problems and I'm proud about that. It might be because we always compromise and our solution to problems is discussion and reasoning. Like a well oiled machine, I hope we can continue to work in this manner in future projects.
In the future, I should remain calm during my presentation. During my role as a cross-examiner, I made a terrible mistake- I confused myself with the topic. Thankfully, everything went smoothly when I went on stage as a witness. But I should not repeat this mistake again by remaining calm and focused next time.
