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I̢۪ve never done a story regarding a tragic death and I̢۪ve never interviewed mourning loved ones, but Saturday I saw a glimpse of sadness in the eyes of mock trial students who had recently lost a popular professor, Harvey Wallace.

I know that I̢۪m not supposed to get too emotionally involved with a story, but due to the nature of the event which was named in honor of the professor and Vietnam veteran, I felt it was my duty to make this man who was clearly respected and even loved by his students, a focus in my story.

The mock trial event I covered takes place annually and is normally called the Northern California Mock Trial Regional, but was renamed the Harvey Wallace Northern California Mock Trial Regional in the Fresno State professor̢۪s memory.

I described in my story how well the Fresno State team has done in only two years of existence, notably the high placing and awards won at the prestigious Yale University, but the most important thing about the mock trial team, I learned, was that they had the strength to keep practicing twice weekly without their professor there to guide them. They actually made it the program̢۪s mission to follow Wallace̢۪s legacy.

One thing I didn̢۪t mention that I learned from the President of Fresno State mock trial, Niki McQuillian, was that in the first round Friday evening the bulldogs outscored Arizona State by 20 points, more than any other team had been outscored.

This proved that the team was serious about getting to nationals and about honoring their late professor.

It was amazing to see Fresno State students rally together and support one another in the mist of sadness and to see them smile about memories they had with Wallace and tell stories about what they learned from him.

I felt compassion and empathy. After spending a few hours at the event and talking about Wallace with mock trial students, I felt almost like I had known him. Sort of like the feeling you might get when you hear stories from your parents about a grandparent or great-grandparent you̢۪ve never met. I felt connected to the team and was proud to see they were doing what they set out to do; honor Wallace.