In my transition from childhood to adulthood one event stands out. This event was my experience with the American legal system as a witness to a friend that was being unjustly persecuted.
I learned through this process that the legal system has multiple steps which all take a painstakingly long amount of time to occur, and in every step the pressure, nerves, and anxiety built.
The first step was the initial accusation against my friend, who I will call John. When word had broke of the accusation, I was beside myself. I couldn't fathom that someone could make such an erroneous lie about John. From that moment on, my friends and I knew our lives had just changed. We all new that as friends of the accused that we would all be under scrutiny. As a result, we could no longer be careless with our actions. We had to be watchful of our actions knowing that they would be scrutinized and used against us to …show more content…
I had never been more nervous in my life. I had finally gotten to testify to clear my friend's name, while also nervously sweating buckets. After waiting anxiously for a few last hours, the jury returned their verdict. Not guilty! A wave of joy and relief flooded over us all. Although we had all been freed, we knew we couldn't return toour previous selves. After learning how easy it is for one mistake to define someone, I personally have never been the same. Under the immense pressure I was forced to grow up and become my own person. Perhaps the most immense enlightenment of the trial was learning that my every action and every word would be scrutinized for the rest of my life. I entered this whole ordeal a naive child but left it a young adult, and although I may have entered maturity, I know there is always more room to