11th July Group 4

11 July 2016 We had a mock trial during the Law lesson today. We were all really nervous about the upcoming trial since we had never done something like this before. We weren't sure what we were supposed to do at first, but the teacher Laura helped us throughout the preparation and we calmed down while preparing. All of the members in our group were the Defence side, so we were all really grateful that we were working together as a team. Some of us were witnesses and some were attorneys. This was a whole new experience for all of us as we got to learn something new about law and we got to experience being attorneys and witnesses. Some of the attorneys had to deliver opening or closing speeches and others had to direct or cross examine the witnesses to prove them either right or wrong. We were all assigned a random character and we had to play our roles of attorney or witnesses with persuasion to win the case. We all learnt more about 'objections' and the different methods of a good law case, including the method of presenting our stance and how a witness or an attorney should argue for or against the case. We all thought that this was a really great experience for is to experience a trial, even though it was just a mock trial. We then visited the D-School which had a variety of facilities and artworks done by the students and displayed in each station. Our teacher, Yi, introduced us to the unique shapes of the tables the students work on. One of the specialties of the tables are their shapes, which were mostly square in shape. These shapes has a significant meaning to it as it represents and symbolizes equality between all students in the group. We were told that art is a subject anyone and everyone is able to take, so even business students are able to attend these classes and engage in these projects if they wanted to. These square designs encouraged equality and equal distribution of work and ideas between all four students, conveying that one persons space is just as important as another persons, and that one persons ideas are just as significant and creative as another's. The shapes were meant for all the people on the group to come equally together, having their ideas equally combined. These square tables are specifically designed for teamwork and for new people and ideas to come together. The furniture of the art room was also quite creative and special, promoting the flexibility of furniture so that everything could be moved around more easily. For example, whiteboards and chairs could be rotated and shifted in many ways, providing different purposes for different occasions. The whiteboard, for example, could be slid from room to room, which makes brainstorming and separating rooms much easier. Another example is the chairs in the room, which are able to separate and can be used for a variety of occasions, for example more chairs during a party or a meeting, and less when there are less people. Another specialty of the D School are the photos on the walls. These photos however, are not photos of important people like CEOs or the founders of the school. To promote normality and the importance of normal everyday people, the photos of students were pasted on the ceilings and the walls, creating the meaning that even normal people are able to make something interesting and special, and not necessarily 'important' people. We then visited the Stanford Shopping Center and we saw loads of different shops. We really enjoyed our time there as we got a chance to bond with other groups and enjoy shopping together. Although there were some difficulties with moving from store to store in huge groups of 10, we still managed to compromise as a huge group. At the very end of the day, we even went fountain hopping with other group mates and went running around in the grass barefooted. We had a wonderful time together and we would never forget this day ever. 
Reflection This was the first time for us to participate in a mock trial, and we were assigned for different roles - one of us was an attorney, and some of us were witnesses. We were very excited when we first received the materials and we prepared for days with anticipation. During the mock trial, we had a lot of fun - some witnesses gave interesting answers and some attorneys have asked sharp and direct questions so that they can have more information regarding the case, hence influencing the final judgement. After the mock trial, we have learnt a lot - for example, we have learnt the procedures of a legal trial of a civil case in the United States, which let us learn more about different cultures and the problems faced by different countries. Moreover, we have learnt how to question people and criticize people so that we can get so useful information. We have all make a big step and tried something we have never done before, which is trying to be lawyers, and this has been a great and precious experience for our future studies, no matter would we study law or not. This lecture taught us to think with a critical mind and think at different angles, and we have learned a lot. We all enjoyed the mock trial a lot as it gave us a insight and a great opportunity to experience a lawyers life and understand the case from a lawyer's perspective. We also enjoyed the created media and design lesson. We got to have our classes outside the classroom, which was very rare as we usually attend classes inside. We got to know each other better and we also went to the D School and we all learnt a lot more about creative artwork, and the different perspectives of an artwork. We understood that a person doesn't necessarily have to be famous or important to make a difference or to create something unique or special. Last but not least, we went shopping in Stanford Shopping Center. It was a wonderful experience and we all loved shopping around in the shopping center. We got to experience shopping in huge groups and also experienced handling teamwork when shopping in a group as it isn't necessarily easy to compromise with so many people. We all enjoyed the events today and we also got to know each other throughout the process, having fun throughout the way.