In the beginning...

So it's about time I share a little bit about myself for any of you who are reading this and who don't know me personally.  I am always asked the question, how did you even get interested in becoming a court reporter?  So I will tell you!

Growing up I always had a knack for words.  I always was the star student of my English class, and I enjoyed reading out of the oh-so-bulky Norton Anthology of English Literature book.  I was part of that generation that spent a lot of time online, whether it was blogging or using AOL Instant Messenger to talk to my friends.  So naturally, I became a very fast typist at a very young age.

I started college at the University of Central Florida in 2006 and right away had to declare a major (I had taken care of most of my general education courses in high school).  In my mind I had two options that would suit me:  journalism or creative writing.  Being that journalism seemed a little more glamourous than the alternative, that's the one I chose.

I learned so many things in J-school that I have found to be very useful in my court reporting studies.  All of those copy editing classes drilled into my head the horrific panic that one will experience when an error is discovered in a final draft.  All of those news writing classes drilled into my head the one unforgivable sin: missing your deadline.  A missed deadline equals epic fail.  Period.  I also did a lot of news blogging, so that's also one of the factors on why I decided to publish this blog.

Anyways, I graduated with a degree in journalism and a minor in English literature in May of 2009.  I spent a brief period of time exploring the job market and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my journalism degree.  I finally decided that although I enjoyed writing, news writing wasn't "it" for me.  So I viewed my experience as a journalism student as a stepping stone on my journey to discover something I could feel more passionate about doing.

I'm a big believer in the law of attraction, and looking back now, I feel that explains how and why I became interested in court reporting.  If you aren't familiar with the law of attraction, I suggest you watch this video by Jessica Harlow on YouTube.  She gives a brief, yet relatable and easy-to-understand description of how it all works here:



I've always known that I would somehow find a way to utilize my natural skill with words in a positive way while simultaneously being able to help others.  It took some time, but with patience and curiosity I eventually stumbled upon the idea of becoming a court reporter.

To make a long story short, I met a working court reporter through a family friend, and she has been nothing but helpful and inspirational to me.  I was curious about what she did for a living, so I met her for coffee one day and she brought her steno machine with her.  I was so excited to see her machine in real life because I had only seen a steno writer in online images before that day.  She turned on her screen and started speaking silly riddles while her fingers danced upon the keys, and magic words appeared on her screen.  I was hooked from that point on.

The woman who introduced me to court reporting, Mary (left), and myself (right), and the bailiff at my first trial that I shadow reported in the summer of 2011. 

After doing a lot of research on different court reporting schools, I eventually decided to do the Court Reporting at Home self-study program.  Linda Bland, the woman who created the program, is so nice and she really knows what she's talking about.  If you're interested in becoming a court reporter, I suggest you check out the program at http://www.courtreportingathome.com/.

I started the program in January of 2010 and I am very close to completing it.  I'm able to write confidently at 180 words per minute right now.  I've still got a little ways to go to get to 225 words per minute, but I'm getting faster every day.

My fancy mouse pad.  You know you want one! ;)

I'll elaborate more on my court reporting school in a future post.  Happy steno-ing, steno people!