| |
Alisha Walker, daughter of Joe and Roxie Walker of
McKenzie, displays the awards she won as a freshman
member of the MTSU Mock Trial Team during the
American Mock Trial Association National Tournament
in Des Moines, Iowa. Alisha's performance helped the
team place eighth in the nation after narrowing the
field from an original 440 teams representing over
225 schools. |
 hen
Alisha Walker graduated from McKenzie High School in 2001,
she was "ready to get out of this town" and do her own
thing. The University of Martin was a little too close, a
little too confining; Alisha was ready for a change of
scenery. Instead, she opted to travel halfway across the
state to Middle Tennessee State University in
Murfreesboro.
"I wanted to actually live my life...," Alisha says
seriously, "and the (MTSU) campus is really pretty," she
finishes with a bouncy grin.
In just one year at MTSU, Alisha learned some of the most
valuable lessons in life: the incomparable value of family
and friends, the importance of teamwork, the success that
comes only through hard work, and that taking time for fun
and to celebrate successes is the spice of life.
The pre-law student was excited about being on her own
away from home, and, putting first things first, she
wanted to join a sorority.
"When I first got to college, all I thought about was
joining a sorority," says Alisha, "so I joined Alpha Chi
Omega. It wasn't at all what I expected."
With around 100 girls in the organization, she found the
group similar to being back in high school. "There was a
clique of girls here, a clique of girls there - I just
didn't enjoy it," says Alisha.
Luckily, her academic advisor, Dr. John Vile, introduced
Alisha to the school's prestigious "mock trial" program.
Now in its 13th year at MTSU, the American Mock Trial
Association (AMTA) began nationally 18 years ago as a way
to "give undergraduate students an opportunity to learn
first hand about the work of trial attorneys, understand
the judicial system, develop critical thinking and enhance
communication skills."
Alisha chose the political science class that teaches the
basics of the program as one of her first college classes
in the fall. The class is broken down into between six and
eight teams composed of six to eight members each. The
teams are taught to work together to prepare for and
conduct a trial as realistically as possible, polishing
not only their abilities to deliver effective opening and
closing statements, direct and cross examinations, and
objections, but also perfecting their appearance and
behavior to conform with actual trial decorum.
Soon, Alisha realized the close friendships developed
among the hard-working team members superceded any fantasy
she had imagined of sorority membership, and she dropped
the sorority in order to devote more time to her group's
efforts. Alisha had found her niche in university life.
She plunged headlong into the roles assigned her as a part
of the team, knowing that nation-wide some 440 other teams
were doing their best to master the case that all had been
assigned for the year: The State of Midlands v. Ashley T.
Thorhill.
The case revolves around Ashley Thorhill's, an advertising
executive who was passed over for partnership on the same
day his supervisor was killed. Sam Lyons, a member of the
housekeeping staff at the advertising firm, heard the
fatal gunshot from the elevator. Meanwhile, an Irish
bartender who was also Ashley Thorhill's best friend,
provided Ashley's alibi, swearing that, at the time of the
shooting, Ashley was at the restaurant/bar where the
bartender worked.
Alisha was assigned two roles in the case, on the defense
side playing the Irish bartender, and on the prosecution
side playing the janitor, Sam Lyons. For the part of the
bartender, Alisha went so far as to dye her hair red,
wearing a green bow tie and black suit to round out the
character.
She had even more fun in the role of the janitor, visiting
a Goodwill Store for old clothing and wearing pantyhose
with runs in them. She applied her lipstick with a heavy
hand, flashing a red-toothed smile at the judges as she
made her way to the witness stand.
Alisha and brother Joey have a new appreciation for
each other since Alisha went away to college. "He's
sweet," says Alisha of her brother who dyed his hair
blue in honor of her first visit back home. "I'm
proud of her," Joey says concerning his
award-winning sister. |
Back home, she shared her enthusiasm for the program
with her family, who she credits with much of her success
in the mock trial program.
"I got the whole law aspect from my dad but I got the
practice arguing and debating with Mom and Dad. I learned
how to manipulate with my brother," she says with an
affectionate grin, "We argued pretty good, too."
Alisha's dad is TBI Agent Joe Walker; her mom is McKenzie
Elementary School Fifth Grade Teacher Roxie Walker. Little
brother Joey, at 14 years old, says he's proud of his
sister since she went away from home, his fresh vision of
his sister made apparent when he met her in the family
driveway on her first return visit home with his hair dyed
bright blue in the colors of MTSU.
When the fall class was over, Alisha decided to stay with
the now-voluntary mock trial team as they prepared for the
bigger competitions in the spring. What started as a class
became a family affair, with Joe and Roxie becoming the
"mock trial parents."
Their participation was the icing on the cake for Alisha,
who says her most important message is "how good my
parents were."
"They accompanied me to every single event in the spring,"
she says. Brother Joey also attended several competitions.
At the first spring competition at Rhodes College in
Memphis, Alisha was happy to report her "Granny", Virginia
Walker, was also able to attend.
It was at that match that Alisha sat down and split her
pants from stem to stern, whereupon Mom and Granny were
able to lend a hand, with the help of a sewing kit
miraculously brought by another team member, in stitching
up the seam to save the day.
It was that type of motherly attention that made the
difference for many team members, with Roxie nursing one
member through a tough bout of sickness.
Roxie and Joe enjoyed providing sandwiches, drinks, snacks
and medicine to the crew, leaving Dr. Vile unencumbered to
lead the team in competition. Here, too, Joe proved an
asset, directing the language of the team to approximate
more closely the language employed in his work with the
TBI. He also provided a fingerprinting kit and taught the
students how to take fingerprints.
Alisha's scores were so high during the Regional
Competition at Birmingham, Alabama that she was promoted
from the third-ranked team to the top-ranked MTSU team, a
first for a freshman at the college.
The team fared well at the next competition at Bowling
Green, Kentucky, but, says Roxie, "Alisha felt major
pressure." She was afraid she would let the others down at
the upcoming National Championship Tournament as she was
the only freshman among the seasoned crew. With only the
top 64 of the original 440 or so teams making it to the
National Championships, Alisha indeed played a critical
role in the team.
Alisha and the team were on their own at the National
Championship in Des Moines, Iowa after a run-in with some
cows on the family farm left Roxie unable to make the
event.
"At Des Moines is where she shined the most," says Roxie,
who relates she was beside herself the day of competition
when she received a call from Alisha that left her
screaming on the front porch of the family's luckily rural
home.
Winning is not the primary goal of the mock trial program,
rather, the program is designed to enable students to work
as a team with others, to acquaint them with the legal
system, and to promote leadership to the betterment of
communities across the country.
Those lofty goals achieved, MTSU mock trial teams have
nevertheless met head on the best schools each year -
including the ivy-league schools - to emerge victorious
from their very first year of competition when they were
honored as "Best New Team". For the past 11 years, the
MTSU team has ranked in the top 10 nationally.
This year, in a surprising turn of events, Alisha played
her role so well that she helped her team win eighth place
in the nation, in the process winning some major awards
for her own role as the janitor in the case.
In the call that left her mom screaming in celebration and
frustration at not being able to be present for the
occasion, Alisha told her mom she had just won the
"All-American Witness" award. Six All-American Witnesses
were chosen from among the two 32-team-member groups at
the competition, placing Alisha among the top 12 witnesses
of 64 teams in the nation.
Roxie received a second call not long after the first,
this time from Dr. Vile.
"You'd better go back to the front porch," he advised.
"Your daughter the freshman is bringing back two of the
most prestigious awards and we're so proud."
Above and beyond the All-American Witness award, Alisha
was selected to participate in the All-American Honors
Trial, an honor reserved for the top six witnesses in the
nationals.
The Honors Trial brings together the top performers of the
National Championship for a relaxed, more fun-oriented
session to bring to a close the year's case.
Once back at MTSU, Alisha was honored once more when she
received the "Outstanding New Witness award at MTSU's Mock
Trial Awards Banquet.
"This year marks the first time that we ever had a
freshman get a top-ten award at nationals, which is quite
impressive," said Dr. Vile.
Joe and Roxie were given t-shirts setting them out
officially as "Mock Trial Parents".
The team celebrated two weeks ago with a camping trip that
including floating the Ocoee River at Parksville Lake near
the Cherokee National Forest in East Tennessee.
She is one of four members in her team of who will remain
for next year's AMTA challenge, with four others
graduating and moving into law school or the military.
Home for the rest of the summer, Alisha and her family
enjoyed a family vacation in Saint Pete Beach in Florida
to round out an incredible first year of college for
Alisha.
Her future plans include law school, and probably child
law after that. "I've always wanted to help little
children," she says, besides which, Dad Joe protested her
notion of going into the field of criminal defense.
With the lessons she learned in just one year, whatever
her choices, the future looks bright for Alisha. |
|
