Seeing Things Clearly

I had a very good day today. My class went on a field trip to the New York State Court House to sit in on a narcotics case. I took mock trial before so I knew when we got there we were in the middle of the pretrial motion. This stage in the case process basically determines what evidence will be admitted in trial. It was fascinating to witness a trial in person instead of just having to read the summary or trial overview. I have to admit things go pretty slowly, and people stop and look at every single detail, but I have to appreciate the fact that they go through the trial very rigorously. I also think what made the trial boring was that there weren't any new findings that were revealed in the direct examination. The direct examination is in essence just making the witness recount the story in court and getting a sense of the scenario and the feelings while that scenario took place. If I was there for the cross examination, which is essentially just finding out how valid statements are, I think I would be more excited because I would see the bias and start to have mixed feelings toward both sides of the argument.

Later on we got VIP passes to get a talk from one of the district court judges, Judge Ramos. He was incredible, I was very impressed with his honesty and charisma. He told us about his background and that even though he's been to an Ivy League school, it doesn't mean he's the smartest judge it just meant he worked very hard and took advantage of the opportunities given to him. When he went further into his meaning of his life and saying that he wanted to give back to his community and do public service, I admired his selflessness and I thought to myself , "Wow this guy is exactly the man I want to be." He told us he was the only one in his high school to go to an Ivy League college and that he had grown up in rural part of Puerto Rico and that his whole life he was blessed with many great things and opportunities. He explained to us that he just wanted to give others the same opportunities as a way of giving back what he received. Now when I heard this I was contemplating whether or not he stole my meaning in life because in all honesty every time I tell people what I want to do, I say the same thing that he says to everyone. I'm really lucky to have met a person who shared a similar background and similar aspirations as I do.

Empire State building at night.

Last but not least, I went to the top of the Rockefeller Center and saw the sunset and  the city lights. I took a picture of the great view and was able to see the Empire State building straight across from where I was.