By: Amarys Rodriguez
It’s noon on the third day of state conference, and delegates are packed in a line ready to devour their well-deserved lunches. However, if you look around you may notice two delegates, Davina Padron and Natalie Naranjo, sitting off to the side giggling in a corner of the capitol. The two girls from District 7 are co-counsels in trial court, yet they’re so much more than co-attorneys, they’re best friends. The two friends met freshman year through the mock trial program at their high school. Their origin story involves Padron’s friend having a crush on Naranjo, and Padron ultimately inviting Naranjo to be on their team. The two quickly became friends, and they have the kind of friendship we all hope to have, or maybe do have, with our teammates. “We became friends, I thought she was amazing, she’s still amazing to this day, straight off the bat she was my idol”, Naranjo says, “She was an attorney the first year and she just amazed me, and ever since then we started getting closer and then hanging out outside of school, and as the years go by we never split up our team.” Padron gives credit to the state conference for their close friendship saying, “I think mock trial really helped us become closer friends, especially the state trip. It’s like we always have so much fun, staying up and doing everything.” Some of their favorite moments from the conference consist of talking to other teams, asking them how their rounds are going, and wondering what it’s like living in other parts of Texas. Yet, through each trial and conference, they’ve both grown together and individually. With this being their third year in Youth and Government, Naranjo and Padron reflected on their growth from their first year to now. Padron discovered her passion for law and learning the elements of a trial through trial court, which led to her gaining confidence over time. “[Mock Trial] has made me more secure with myself and of course with Natalie, I think that if we weren’t in mock trial together, we wouldn’t be as close as we are”, Naranjo agrees with that statement as she’s also grown more confident herself. She compares her time as a witness during her freshman year to now and thinks of how scared and shy she was on cross-examination, saying she would just agree and never fight back. Though now she and Padron don’t even need notes to speak in trial anymore. “I think it’s a lot of confidence now that we portray to the rest of the room, and [people] can see that. Rather than before, where it’s like ‘I think you guys just need to be more confident’ and now it’s gone from a critique of something for us to improve on, to something that they’re congratulating us for”, the two say proudly. Whether you’re a new delegate or an old one, there are many opportunities to find some of your closest friends through Youth and Government, and many chances to grow together to become leaders and changemakers in your community.