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When you are in school it is a great time to try new things to see what you enjoy and what you don’t.
What would you do if you joined your school’s Mock Trial Team because it sounded fun, but after getting accepted, you were assigned to be a witness rather than a lawyer?
That is what happened to the guy in this story, which was very disappointing, so he is thinking about quitting. He does not, however, want to leave the rest of the group in a bad situation, so he doesn’t know what to do.
Personally, I think he should communicate clearly with the other people in the group so that his leaving is as unimpactful as possible. Read through the full story below and see what you think he should do.
WIBTA if I quit my school’s Mock Trial Team for a completely selfish reason?
Ok, so I’m a college student, and my college has a Mock Trial team, which for the unknowing, is basically a competitive team in which we play pretend lawyers.
This sounds like a pretty fun group.
We compete against other schools and stuff, and it’s supposedly a lot of fun for everyone involved. I recently tried out for it, and what do you know, I got in. Yay me.
The problem here was that I was applying to be an attorney, and instead I was given the position of witness, in which I have to memorize a fake affidavit, and be able to answer any questions about the person I’ve been assigned to I get.
It is not surprising that he wanted to be an attorney.
Now, I’ll be completely honest; this was incredibly disappointing. Maybe I’m just some spoiled college brat, but I just can’t help but be disappointed about this.
I didn’t really apply to the team to get involved in theatrics. Otherwise I would’ve applied to the Theater Club. I wanted to be one of the guys who’d take charge here.
They take this team very seriously.
Being in the team is something that takes a lot of dedication and commitment, which I’m perfectly alright with normally, but I’m not sure if I want to put in a ton of effort into something that I most likely wouldn’t enjoy for an entire year.
Of course, I plan on going to a couple more practice sessions to see if I might change my mind, but if I still don’t like where I’m at, I was thinking of quitting the team.
This does put him in a tough spot.
However, it seems that everyone else is a little dependent on me, as there aren’t too many people on the team.
We can only bring 10 people to competitions, but I’m not sure if there would be enough people on the team left if I left.
If he doesn’t participate, he should warn them as soon as possible.
Even if we do have enough people, I still think me quitting would hurt the team, since I’d be dumping my work onto someone else.
I am aware that I’m being selfish here, which is why I’ve come to the hivemind for answers.
No, he doesn’t have to stick with it. But he should keep the other people in mind no matter what he decides to do.
So here’s the question: Would it be wrong if I decided to screw over the team because I didn’t want to put in effort that I doubt would pay off?
WIBTA?
You don’t have to keep doing every thing you start. The key thing here is that he should not leave them with short notice. He may even want to tell them now that he isn’t sure if he will stick it out, so they don’t invest too much time into training him at this point.
Let’s see if the people in the comments have anything to suggest.
Apparently being a witness can be a lot of fun.
The attorney role is just acting.
This commenter is exactly right.
Here is someone who has done mock trials before.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who made sure that firing him would be a major inconvenience.
This person says he needs to earn his spot as an attorney.
He doesn’t have to stay on the team, but he shouldn’t leave them hanging. It is also important that he realize that you have to work your way up to getting the coveted roles in situations like this.
The best things in life aren’t just handed to you.
