Josh Smullens Senior Spotlight

You’ve been a devoted mock trial member for a couple of years. What is your favorite mock trial memory?

It was probably my first case, it was online and it was my first time. I was a witness, this was during cross examination. This guy just kept asking me questions and questions and I just had to sit there for a solid eight minutes. By the time it was done, it was crazy, they didn’t get anything out of me. Everyone was happy and objecting the whole time, it was a great moment. 

I asked Massi this, so let’s get your opinion. What is your favorite mock trial objection, and why?

I’ll go with speculation. It’s easier to narrow things down and figure out who knows what, it’s kinda the point of the trial. I was going to say hearsay, but it’s kind of stupid—you should be able to say what everyone else knows. 

Note: Massi also said speculation. 

You are president of the Masterman Chess Club. What first sparked your interest in chess, and how has your experience been leading this club?

I first got introduced to chess in preschool. My grandpa used to play in Cuba, when he lived there for a while. It was a thing in our family—my uncle plays, my mom plays, so they introduced it to me at a young age. Once I got to Masterman, it was the one club I knew I was gonna join in fifth grade, so I was like, okay, I’m gonna do this. I did it, and I’m here. I’ve been playing competitively since fifth grade, but I learned to play in preschool. 

Given your tremendous chess experience, what is your favorite chess piece and why?

I’ll go with the pawn. It can turn into anything by the end of the game. 

What is your least favorite chess piece? 

The king. It’s just like, it loses you the game and it can’t do anything. 

What is something most people do not know about you? 

I’m an avid biker. I do that a lot. I’ve gone on cross country biking trips, not across the country, but a week or two week cycle trips. So like, carry all your stuff on the back of your bike, sleep in tents. You have a tent on the back, you buy food at the grocery store. It’s fun. I used to bike to school for a couple of years, but at a certain point I was like, I don’t want to be working out in the morning. 

I hear you are a big sports fan. What’s your favorite Philly sports memory? 

There’s the easy answer: the super bowl. That was a great memory. There’s Darren Sproles, he’s not on the Eagles anymore, but this was one of the first memories I have. It was him returning a kickoff for a touchdown. I just really liked that. He is my favorite player, so I’ll go with that. 

What place did you finish in your fantasy league this year? I’d like to let you know that I won my fantasy league this year, so you are speaking to a pro. 

Yeah, so I can’t say I finished quite as well. In the main league, I think I got fifth out of ten. I won a fake league. It wasn’t the main league, it was a bad league. The main league, with people from Masterman, I got fifth. 

What is your favorite Masterman high school memory? 

I was a really big fan of blammo last year. I thought that was really fun. You are always on alert with your spoon, I thought it was a great time. Just spirit week in general. 

Do you have any words for the White Team as we approach spirit week? 

It’s our last year as seniors, we cannot lose. That would be so embarrassing. So let’s just lock in this year.