Hooked and Addicted

I don’t know how to describe this feeling, there are no words, you’ve just got to try it. It’s like ascending the tracks of a rollercoaster ride, suspended in the moments before you’re about to drop from the air. A thousand African sogo drums pounded in my chest while hundreds of butterflies tumbled in my stomach; I waited on the edge of my seat for the verdict. The court clerk read it out loud, “People v. *McWane, the people find the defendant, guilty of second degree robbery.” The rollercoaster car dropped on the 90 degree angled track, went back up, then dropped again. My expression remained stoic as the bailiff remanded the defendant in handcuffs to state prison.

It all started when Phil took the time and effort to give me a felony trial. The first one that he gave me never started because the defendant plead open literally 2 minutes before I was about to deliver my opening statement. But this one went to trial. This one I actually got up in front of 12 expressionless jurors to deliver my opening statement, trying constantly to decipher the emotions of the jurors, to see how the trial is really going. This one I did the direct examination of the witnesses. And on the morning of the last day of the trial, Phil called me into his office and said, “you’re giving the closing too, go prepare, you have an hour.” At the conclusion of the trial we went downstairs to wait for the verdict. It took the jurors 10 minutes to decide. 10 minutes later Phil called me from Department N, voice softly saying, “We have a verdict, come to court.” I jumped out of my seat, ran around like a headless chicken, shouting, “We have a verdict we have a verdict” to my office mates, and ran in my very uncomfortable high heels to the elevator and up to Department N. The rest is, as they say, history.

This is by far the coolest thing I have ever done. The adrenalin high lasted for the rest of the day and the day after that. This must be what it feels like to be on drugs, the euphoria I felt is indescribable. I am now and forever hooked on this thrilling rush, and it's an addiction that I do not want to give up.

I am so grateful that someone took the time, energy, and efforts to give me this opportunity. I will never forget this, and I will always be thankful.

*Name changed