Journalist: Ean Cloud (ORU)
Today, I debriefed two moot competitors from my school (because I was desperate for sources,
not going to lie), Iann Tobar and Gabriela Smith, both from ORU. Both have failed the finals, so
I got to ask them about their experiences while the finals for moot are warming up. Considering I
needed to write the following content quickly, I decided to keep it simple.
“What were the best and worst parts of being in O.I.L?” I asked. To the two ex-mooters, staying
up late and locking in was actually one of the most fun parts of the experience. For Smith,
however, the worst part of that, was the inevitable side effect of the sleep deprivation hangover,
but Smith reminisced about getting distracted, the random, tired and caffeine-induced. The
overall worst part according to Smith, was losing her voice was awful.
To Tobar, the best part was learning about the words, learning parliamentary procedure (which
he didn’t have in his home country of Ecuador), the legislative process, and especially words in
English that have no meaning in Spanish, but Tobar’s worst was the loss.
When asked what losing felt like, I got two different answers. Smith was more positive, saying
that since moot is so tiring and intense, she actually felt some relief. Now she finally gets to sleep
early. Tobar, on the other hand, hates losing in general, hates when he puts effort to go towards
something and it fails. He vows revenge next semester.
In terms of how they would rate the experience, Smith rated it a solid ten out of ten despite all of
her struggles, and highly recommends the experience, as long as you are prepared for the hellish
gauntlet. Tobar, rated a nine out of ten, docking a point due to his loss, but still loved everything
related to it.