Alaina Green likes to impersonate doctors.

She does it on a regular basis. She studies them diligently and then, when the time is right, she takes her act on the road.

Judges at last year’s mock trial team competition didn’t believe Green was acting.

“It threw me for a loop,” Green said. “One of the judges was like, ‘Are you a trained medical professional?'”

The Livermore senior said that sometimes she gets a little carried away.

“I have to remember I’m not a trained physician,” Green said.

Green has been involved with Western’s mock trial team since it began in 2001. Each year she has filled the role of a medical expert, most recently a forensic pathologist.

When Green came to Western she had no desire to be an attorney. Joining the mock trial team changed that.

“I thought, ‘I’ll do mock trial and when I apply for grad school it’ll be really impressive,'” Green said. “But it was just the opposite.”

Green abandoned her dreams of cultural anthropology and began to think about law school.

“Mock trial has pretty much been my life for the past two years,” Green said.

Green is now a fifth-year senior with a double major in political science and anthropology.

She said the mock trial team is not just a place for pre-law majors to test their skills. Those with an interest in theater, public speaking or law would benefit greatly from participating in the mock trial team, Green said.

“All majors are welcome,” Green said. “It’s a really good thing to do and know about.”

Green said that the team uses a sort of skeleton script for trials, and a great deal of what Green calls “thinking on your feet” is required.

“It’s fun,” she said. “It’s really hard to describe, you just have to see it.”

Green said her experience on the mock trial team has proved itself valuable in more ways than one. Besides legal experience, it also helped her adjust socially to college life.

“It’s really brought me out of my shell,” Green said. “It’s built my confidence a whole lot, being able to speak in front of judges and attorneys.”

That confidence has also given her the courage to take advantage of opportunities to study abroad. She spent July and August in London through a program offered by Western.

She plans to take the Law School Admissions Test in December and will apply for law school at the University of Kentucky, the University of Louisville and Valparaiso University.

Green says she works well under pressure and looks forward to this year’s competition with the mock trial team.

Green’s mother is a nurse and has always hoped that her daughter would pursue a degree in medicine.

For now, it seems that Green’s mother will have to settle for a daughter who only pretends to be a doctor.

Reach Adriane Hardin at [email protected].