To start off with introductions: my name is Rachel Dawson and I am from West Linn, Oregon, USA. I competed at Empire NYC in 2013 and 2014 and have been volunteering with Empire ever since! I go to school at Hamilton College (where I continue to compete on the mock trial team) but am currently abroad in Paris, France.

This weekend, I left Paris and traveled ‘across the pond’ to lovely Cardiff, Wales–a city I knew little about aside from the fact that it was the capital of Wales. Now, as someone who had never been to the United Kingdom before, what brought me to Cardiff? You guessed it: Empire. I had the pleasure of representing the Empire Family at the United Kingdom’s National Bar Mock Trial Finals–it’s like the U.K. equivalent of the National High School Mock Trial Championship (NHSMTC). I spent all day Saturday chatting with students and coaches about all things Empire (be it the tournaments themselves or the differences between American and British law), while giving out American candy! Not sure whether it was the sweets or the Empire blue that got them to talk to me… either way, I had a blast in Cardiff. Here’s how my trip went down.

Friday: Arrival in Cardiff

I flew non-stop from Paris to Cardiff to prepare all my supplies for the tournament and sightsee a bit. Cardiff is a city of just over 300,000 inhabitants right on the bay. In the center of the town is the Cardiff Castle which includes a Gothic style castle, medieval keep, and remains form an ancient Roman wall. The town is filled with lively restaurants, bars, and Victorian arcades, which absolutely came in handy when it started to rain. Although this wasn’t an Empire competition, my hotel room looked like an Empire storage room due to all the boxes, nametags, and fliers I had spread out everywhere.

Saturday: Competition Day

Competition days always start early, whether you are a competitor or not. For me this meant a 6 AM wake up in order to set up before all the teams arrived! The UK mock trial format is much different from Oregon (where I’m from), NHSMTC and Empire. Students argue two different cases (instead of just 1), and there are 3 trials in one day plus the Championship Round. If you’re interested, you can see the schedule here. Some of the other major differences I took note of included a giant glass box in the middle of the courtroom where the defendant sat, all barristers wore wigs, and there were no objections allowed during examinations.

My Saturday comprised of handing out American candy, meeting teams, taking pictures, updating Empire’s IG and Snap stories, and talking about Empire! I was also able to sit in on a trial and learn a little bit about British law. It was great!

 

 

Sunday: Return to Paris

Sunday was a shorter day for me and mostly involved me packing up all my things. It was an absolutely beautiful day, which meant I took a nice long walk in Bute Park before taking a boat ride around the Cardiff Bay. I then finished the day off with a meal at Nandos (famous U.K. restaurant, known for their tasty chicken) before heading to the airport.

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I am so grateful I had the opportunity to visit such a charming city and meet some amazing mockers (hopefully future members of our Empire family!!). It was a great reminder of the global network we have in place with this organization.

I’ll leave you with this: VOLUNTEER, stay connected with the friends you make at Empire, and visit CARDIFF!