NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS!

I haven't posted in a while, but I hope to get back into it starting with the new school year. Here's where I left off.

Astronomy-- A!!
US History-- A!!

I had to take those classes as part of the AA degree requirement even though they have nothing to do with my field. Now, as far as speed goes:

Jury Charge-- DONE!! No more JC tests!

Literary-- 1 more test to pass at 180. I was so disappointed that I didn't get it before the semester ended, but I know without a doubt I will get it as soon as we return to school.

QA-- I need three 225 wpm tests.

To recap, I am only FOUR tests away from being DONE with speed!!! I'm hoping this means that I'll be able to start working with an agency, but I don't know if the agency will require me to finish my entire degree first. I still have 7 academics unrelated to court reporting that I have to take to get my degree. I can only do 1-2 classes a semester, so it could take me another year to finish all that. We'll have to see how that goes. My main goal for the Spring of 2011 is to have my speed class done!

Here's to a Happy, Happy New Year!!

IT'S BEEN A WHILE...

So, I've been extremely overwhelmed. I've been tackling US History and Astronomy at the same time as my speeds. Extremely difficult. I've been drowning. But here's where I stand: I need one more LIT, one more JC, and three QA's, then I'm done!!! Five tests separate me from the working world! I never thought I'd see this day, but it's here. I'm so close.

DOUBLE HALLELUJAH!!!

Passed my 2nd QA! On to the finals baby!! I am now working on my final speeds in each category. Only 9 tests separate me from graduation!! OMG!!

HALLELUJAH!!

I passed a 200 QA last night!! I have two more tests saved that still need to be transcribed that could quite possibly be passes, as well. If I can pass one of those that I still have saved, then I'd be done with this speed and on to the final! So basically, if I can pass one more QA at this speed, then I would be working on:

Three 225 QA

Three 200 JC

Three 180 LIT

And after I pass all 9 of those tests, I'm done!! Woot!!

TRUCKIN' ALONG

I missed the round of Jury Charge last week because it was my birthday! We had a fabulous night, so it was well worth the miss. But then LIT decided to smack me in the face once again. Very hard tests, very, very hard. I was able to transcribe one of them about bald eagles, but didn't pass it, of course.

I'm praying, praying, praying that I can start passing some of these speeds soon. I'm so close to being done with school. I can't wait!

MAKING PROGRESS

Outlook better! I felt good about my LIT and QA tests this week. I didn't pass either one, but I feel good about them. I feel good about all three categories and I am confident, MORE than confident that I will be done with school by Jan, Feb., or worst case March. I don't even think I'll last til June anymore. I'm shooting for December, but that goal might be a little steep. Victory is right around the corner, I know it!

1 STEP AHEAD, 2 STEPS BACK

Why does it seem like one week, I do pretty well, but the next week I don't? I felt good about my JC last night, but knew I didn't pass. I was hopeful for the percentage to see how close I'm getting, but apparently there were too many errors to determine a percentage. I don't get that. But no matter what, I still felt good about the speed and am confident that I can pass out of JC by December.

My goal is LIT and JC pass out of by December. QA giving myself til June or sooner.

THE WORLD OF 92%

I seem to be stuck in this world at the moment. 92% on my QA from Thurs. and probably around the same for my JC this past Tues. I didn't finish correcting the JC, but it was probably around 92%. I'm very optimistic for LIT tonight. Let's see what happens!

CATCHING UP... YET AGAIN

Just a quick update since I'm so far behind on my blogging. Still struggling with QA 200. JC 200, my first one, didn't do too bad. I'm optimistic about this one. Got a 92.7% on my 180 LIT last night. Very optimistic about LIT after last night's go around. My only concern at the moment is the QA category. I'm struggling with that. I'm praying it'll start to ease up tomorrow.

I SEE THE LIGHT...

at the END of the tunnel. YES, the END of the tunnel!! I passed my last 180 Jury Charge last night. This means I am now on my final run of 200 wpm in Jury Charge. I'm also at the end of LIT at 180 wpm. When I pass 3 tests in each of these categories, I'm done with both of those. Done, I tell you!! I have 2 more QA's at 200 wpm and then on to my final speed in that category.

So basically overall, when I started this blog, I had a goal. I had a short term goal that needed to be completed by August. I DID IT!! I did it, I did it. Now, the game begins. I have another goal that I would love to have completed by December, but I feel more realistically it's gonna take me til June of next year. BUT no later than June. At the rate of "speed" I'm going, there's no way it'll take me any longer than June. So that is what I have my eyes set on...June 2011, I will be graduating. (Actually, it could be May, but let me check that out).

That's all for now!

OH LIT, WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO?

Well, I'm having no luck in this category. It's just not slowing down the way the other speeds did. I pray, I pray that soon I'll start making some headway.

GLORIOUS DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!

I did it!! I passed a 180 JC last night. I have 8 more tests and only need 1 of them to be a pass. HOWEVER, that's not good enough for me. I want to succeed in all or the majority of them to be satisfied with this speed. I'm going to transcribe and pass one of them, but I want to be confident in all of them, in order for me to feel confident in moving on to my last round of JCs at 200 wpm.

SECOND ROUND OF QA--200wpm

Not bad, not bad. Got a 93.3%, which is up from the first time. I'm optimistic.

HELLO, ROAD BLOCK...NICE TO MEET YOU!

It's official, I've met my road block. However, we won't be getting to know each other very well. In fact, I wouldn't even call him an acquaintance. LIT was brutal, once again, but I will overcome this speed. I will get through it. Didn't type any of the tests last night. Next week will be better.

SLOWLY, BUT (hopefully) SURELY!

Well, my first round of QA at 200 wpm was not bad at all. In fact, I had no dropped words, just a bunch of words that I translated incorrectly or I put a "the" instead of an "a". I got a 92% on the first test I transcribed and still have a test to work on. I'm debating about whether to finish that or not, or just wait for more QA's to where I feel comfortable with the speed. We'll see.

As for my round of JC's on Thursday. I'm convinced that the first three tests were NOT at 180 wpm, but more like 200 or faster. The speaker started off decent and then sped up. There is no way that was 180 wpm. I'm confident in saying that because I could hear the blatant "speed up". It was so obvious from the way she started speaking to shortly thereafter she just took off. I say that because the first three tests were brutal. I got the third one, but I feel like it was very messy. I didn't even look at it, I just feel like it was, so I trashed it. If I thought I had a chance, there's no way I would've trashed it, so I feel confident in doing that.

The last JC I typed up, I was sure, absolutely sure that was a pass. But, no, 94.6%! And again, if only I would've done this or that, it would've been a pass.

So I have next week and two days of finals, in which I can choose to do JC. So basically I have 12 more tests and I only have to get two of them. I want to get the majority of them, but to pass out of the speed, I only need two. Again, my goal is to get the majority of them, so I feel confident knowing that I truly passed out of that speed and not just by luck.

We shall see!

I'VE OFFICIALLY MET MY MATCH...

180 doesn't like me. JC was brutal the other night and 180 LIT is just as brutal. Woe is me. I might have to settle in to this speed for a while. Get to know, get comfortable with it, make friends with it, cuz I have a feeling me and 180 are gonna have a long time to get to know each other. :(

WOOHOO!!

Another two passes in one night!! Passed two QA's at 180 wpm. On to the 200s! I have to pass through this speed and then on to my final speed 225 wpm in this category! Yay!!!

CATCHING UP...AGAIN

So the QA's I had from last week, got 94.2% on the first one, 94.6% on the second one, and I still have one more to finish editing. Could be a pass, I don't know. We have QA tonight, so I'll have four more opportunities to get 2 passes!!

My first round of 180 lit was not unbearable, but it wasn't even close to editing. I didn't type up any of the tests. Oh well, only my first time at this speed.

WHY OH WHY?

I graduated in '94, but "94" is becoming my LEAST favorite number in this entire world. If I ever go to Vegas again, I will for sure stay away from that number.

94% on my third round of JC tests at 180 wpm. Still have until Aug. 12th to pass two JCs at 180.

TWO PASSES, ONE NIGHT!!

I DID IT!!! I passed BOTH of my 160 lit tests in one night!!

I'm now moving on to 180 lit, which is my final speed in this category!

I can't believe it, I'm soooo happy!!!

SUPER MARIO?

Well, tonight's Jury Charge dealt me a decent 93.3%. I'm content with that considering this is my second JC at this speed, and my first one last time around yielded me an 88%.

Now most recently, I've been playing Super Mario Wii with my 4 year old and although I beat it, I conquered Bowser in world 8, I now have to go back through all the worlds to collect the star coins so I can play the secret world 9.

This in itself is a HUGE challenge. These levels are NOT easy when you have to get the star coins. Once you unlock a secret level in world 9...good luck ever getting through it. I have played the same level over and over and over and over and over and over again. so many times, that I've actually had to walk away for a while to get a breather, because I just can't seem to pass these levels.

This morning, I had a revelation. These levels are without a doubt similar to my school progression. The last few rounds of tests, I was so upset thinking I had finally met my match. There was no way I could get through these next few speeds. Just no way. Same way I've felt playing these levels of Mario. I try and try and try and I just can't seem to get past these levels!! So frustrating. No matter what I do, I just can't seem to get through without "dying".

However, each and every level that has challenged me on Mario, I've passed it and moved on. Even the levels I thought I would literally never get through and that my time has come, all of a sudden, I find myself at the very end lowering the flag.

I can't help but have that same mentality going into each and every class. Tonight, JC didn't seem that difficult. It was hard, but it felt better than last week. I actually think I could've passed these tests had it not been for my nerves. Because of Mario, I'm confident that I can get through these speeds by mid-August. I have no doubt!

IT'S A MARIO TIME!

CATCHING UP...

Wow, I guess a few failures has set me back a bit on my blogging. Here's the latest:

Jury Charge last week: 88% (no comment)

QA last night: 90.3% (should I comment? Not really)


Still optimistic. I know I can do this by August, I know I can.

WHOA JURY CHARGE!

My first jury charge at 180 wpm was a major rude awakening. Did not expect it to be that fast. It was. I did the best I could. Transcribed one out of the four tests, at least. Got 88%. Oh well, I'll keep working on it.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

Another fail. 93.5%. But it's ok, it's still ok. This was my first round of tests at 180 wpm QA. For me to get 93.5% my first time around, I'm more than satisfied with that.

I also started working on my test from last week at 160 wpm Lit, but time ran out. So far it's looking pretty good. But again, everything looks good when I transcribe. It's correcting the test that's a whole other story. We shall see.

I'm optimistic.

GIRL MEETS FAIL

Well, alas, I enter the world of failures once again. LOL For right now, it's ok. I just started my new speed last night and actually did better than I ever thought I would do. I failed, but I got 93%. I missed a pass by 16 errors. So I wasn't close enough to beat myself up, but I'm confident that I will be passing out of 160 within the next few weeks.

I also figured out, I have approximately 24 tests remaining and I only need 2 of those to be a "pass". Those are pretty good odds, and when I break it down like that, it doesn't seem so challenging.

I still have two tests from last night, that I feel pretty good about, locked up in the cabinet at school. I'll transcribe those next week and see if I can pass.

As of right now, I'm very optimistic. :)

MOVING ON UP....

I passed another test! Passed my Jury Charge at 95.1% at 160wpm. I am now working on the following goals, all of which have to be completed by August 12th:

160 wpm LITERARY (2 tests at 95%)

180 wpm QA (2 tests at 95%)

180 wpm JC (2 tests at 95%)

LESSON IN JURY CHARGE

Jury charge is known as the instructions that the judge gives to the jury regarding the trial. Our JC tests also include opening and closing statements from the attorney.

This blog has been good luck for me, as I have passed 3 tests in a row and have moved up in each category. Hopefully it will continue to help me get through these next few tests. 'Til next time!

ANOTHER GREAT NIGHT!

I passed another test!! I passed my last QA at 160wpm at 95.6%! This means I am now working on 180wpm and need to pass 2 tests at this speed by mid-August, in order to complete the requirements for this class (in QA, that is).

LESSON IN QA

QA is basically what it sounds like. Question and answer. Lawyer asking questions, witness answering them.

We also worked on real life testimony tonight that involved two attorneys and the judge. Challenging! But so glad we're working on that. This profession is way more than just a lawyer asking a witness questions.

I also got a ZIP drive!! Not a flash drive, a ZIP drive. I saved my first dictionary to it tonight. Woohoo!!

Til next time!

TONIGHT, A LESSON IN "THE PURPOSE OF THE FLASH DRIVE"

I've got good news, wait let me start over, I've got GREAT news and of course, bad news. Starting with the GREAT:

I passed!!! I passed my 140 LIT tonight at 97.6% accuracy. I'm still in shock. I say that because I'm always confident when transcribing, however my confidence soon fades to panic as I'm correcting my work and start checking off error after error after.... But tonight, my confidence paid off!! What this means is that I now have 2 tests at 160 wpm that I have to pass in order to complete that portion of the class requirements. I have to do this by mid-August.

LESSON IN LITERARY:

When I talk about "Literary" or "LIT", that means the dictation material we were given in class on that particular night. Literary in our class is mainly defined as when a Congressman/woman or Senator, the President, or whoever is giving a speech. Ours usually start off with, "Mr. Speaker, I rise in support..." or, "Mr. President, I want to talk to you today..." It's usually about a bill being presented in the House or discussing issues on the House floor, etc. The President's State of the Union address would also be considered literary. There are certain cases in which the dictation is so far off in left field, it throws us for a loop. Such as tonight, we had material about people choosing vacation destinations based on novels and films they read or see. Such as Jack the Ripper, Harry Potter, etc. That test through me for such a loop, I can't even remember the material. So that's the lesson for this post. More to come.

On to the bad news. We have a dictionary in our system that keeps all of our "codes". My language is somewhat different from the computer system. We all have our own language, we all make up our own "codes", and more often than not, it's not going to match the default dictionary in the system. We have to save our dictionary so that each time we use the program to practice and test, it'll automatically come out in English using OUR words, not the computer. Also, when the computer doesn't recognize a code at all, it'll appear on screen in that "code" and not in English. That's where transcribing comes into play, when we have to go back through our transcript and change these words back to English. Point being, the more words the computer recognizes, the more accurate our transcript will be from the onset and less time it will take to clean it up. Well, since January, I've been working on my own personal dictionary, updating it every single night with my own words. I've been saving my dictionary on the school's computer. Yes, I was told to save it on a flash drive, but I was also told I could use the school's computer. I figured, hey it's easier, why not. But no, Kim was sooooo wrong. I found out tonight that when they updated the computers, they deleted everything that was on there!! OMG, I panicked!! I tried to stay cool on the outside, but freaking out on the inside. I lost all my work!!! There's not much I can do because it's my own fault for not getting a flash drive in the first place. Lesson learned, lesson learned the hard way! So this means I have to get a flash drive and rebuild my dictionary from scratch now. Oh well...it is what it is.

That's all for now. Til next time!

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES; THE CHRONICLES BEGIN

Today I will begin narrating the trials, tribulations, and accomplishments of my court reporting journey.  Unfortunately, I picked a career field in which there are more of the former two, than the latter.  On the positive side, I am very passionate about what I do and not a day goes by that I don't work to achieve this goal.

Why court reporting?   There was a time in my life in which I had a severe lapse of good judgment and became involved with the wrong individual.  This lapse of judgment produced my two beautiful girls, but at the same time thrust me into the ever-so-comforting arms of the courtroom.   That is a whole other story that I could literally write a book (and movie) about, but in the process, I discovered court reporting.  

I love to type, and I can type very fast, but was always fascinated as to how reporters were able to keep up with every single word.  I wanted to know how to do it so bad.  Then one day, I went to a birthday dinner for a friend, and a friend of mine from high school happened to be there, as well.  She told me she was a court reporter (coincidentally).  That's when I knew I had to do it.  However, it took me two more years and a crumbling mortgage industry for me to actually get started.

I began in June of 2007, but took 4 months off for maternity leave and 6 months off when we relocated to PA.  My estimate is that I'm technically in my 26th/27th month of this journey.  Yes, I calculated my actual "time served" to make me feel better about how slow this process is and that I'm really not as far behind as I thought. LOL

I took 6 months of "Theory", which is where you learn the language.  I call it a "code" because it's really not a language, rather letters put together to form the "code" that we then transcribe back to English.  Every word has its own "code".  Many, many, many words have what we call "briefs", which are more often than not, words with multiple syllables or phrases that we condense into one stroke.  Hence, "The Brief Intervention" because I have been surviving off these brief forms.  Only my fellow court reporters will understand that.

After learning the "code", I then went into speedbuilding (also known as "your quick dose of reality as to what a failure you really are! LOL).  This is where my teacher would read live dictation to us from a real-life courtroom transcript and we'd write it (aka type it) on our machines.  I managed to breeze through 40 wpm all the way up to 120.  Struggled with 120 for a bit, didn't fair too well in 130 or 140, but managed to pass all those speeds within a year's time.  Sidenote:  Keep in mind, the average person types 50-60 wpm on a typewriter.  The "wpm" concept is the same, we're just far beyond the 50-60 wpm with an ultimate goal of 225 wpm.

Last year, we relocated from sunny California to Pennsylvania.  I do love it here very much and am starting to feel at home.  CA will always be my home and YES, JASON, I will always say I'm from California when somebody asks, "Where are you from?", but I feel I'm adjusting well.   One of the best parts of relocating is my new school.  I'm beyond amazed at the difference in technology here.  We actually get live dictation in our practice material and use the student version of actual court reporter software.  This, versus dictation only twice a week for an hour back home and having to transcribe on TYPEWRITERS!!  

Another bittersweet reality was transitioning from previewed material to completely unfamiliar.  Back home, we'd get homework packets that contained the words and material on our tests, so we'd know exactly what we were in for.  We'd also practice this same material in class prior to taking our tests.  By the time the tests came around, I was a pro at it, some of it I even memorized.  In my heart, I knew I wasn't succeeding for "real", but a lot of it was based on me memorizing the material so I knew what she was going to say before she said it.  This helped me keep up with the speaker, but I knew it wasn't right.  I knew no other way of doing things, though.

Transitioning to my new school, what a rude awakening!  But I proved my theory right.  Throw unfamiliar material at me, and I freeze!  It took me quite a while just to get used to hearing unfamiliar.  This was a huge setback for me, but I knew this is what I needed.  In real life, you don't know what someone is going to say.  You don't have a preview of the words they're going to use.  You need to be on your game at all times, prepared for anything.  So as hard as it was to swallow, this was exactly what the doctor ordered!  And alas, I am finally comfortable with unfamiliar.  So comfortable, in fact, that I'll sometimes start typing when Jason has the radio on listening to one of his talk radio shows.  I never would've done that before because it was a "fear" I just didn't want to face.

Alas, I will bring everyone up to my current state of frustration (for lack of a better word!) LOL  I began my new school in January 2010 and just completed the final class last night.  I managed to complete all the requirements for the speed class I was registered for, however I only consider that an accomplishment in "transitioning well".  I had to take a step backward in speed in the transition period because it was all new material, all new requirements, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I am very, very pleased with that accomplishment.  Now, the game begins.

COURT REPORTING:  Speed 140-180 (wpm)

During this semester, I have to pass the following requirements:

2 tests completed with 95% accuracy at 140 wpm in the category of Literary.

2 tests completed with 95% accuracy at 160 wpm in the category of Literary.

2 tests completed with 95% accuracy at 160 wpm in the category of Jury Charge.

2 tests completed with 95% accuracy at 180 wpm in the category of Jury Charge.

2 tests completed with 95% accuracy at 160 wpm in the category of Q&A testimony.

2 tests completed with 95% accuracy at 180 wpm in the category of Q&A testimony.

I have to complete all of this by August (I believe).  I officially have 1 test completed in each category, but I have all those other ones to go in 3 short months.  What happens if I don't accomplish this, not completely sure, I kinda have an idea, but at this point I don't want to even think of me not accomplishing this goal.  This is my short-term goal through August.

The disappointment and failure comes into play when I've been working at this speed for what seems like an eternity and I feel I've actually mastered the speed, yet I can't pass a test.  And it's not just a matter of "not passing a test", it's the fact that I'm getting so close, so close as in the dreaded 94.6%.  And what's even worse than getting the dreaded 94.6% (which I know all too well) is the fact that if only I would've done this, or done that, I would've passed.  This means that when I was transcribing my notes (in code) back to English on the computer, I misinterpreted some words or left out some words or didn't pluralize a word or make it past tense, whatever the case may be.  Believe it or not, even with dictionary.com at my fingertips, I've even misspelled words!  This is what really tugs on your emotions and last night was no exception.  Last night was probably my breaking point.

Last night was the final class until we go back at the end of this month.  Everything was riding on last night.  I wanted to pass out of 140 Literary so bad, and I just KNEW that I could do it.  When I transcribed, I didn't trust my "gut instinct" when editing my transcript back to English and hence, I failed.  Now I am telling myself that to be a good reporter, the words should be there and there should be no "gut instinct".  So in that sense, I realize I have to do better.  But today was one of my not so great days emotionally, just thinking about what I could have done differently to pass last night.  On the positive side, I do have one more test in storage at school that just might be a pass, but I can't say that for sure.  I won't see that test again for another two weeks.

So here we are at the end of my very first post in this very long journey ahead of me.  Like I said, if no one reads it, that's ok.  I feel better right now just getting all these feelings out on paper (or, not paper, but blog? computer? hhmm).  My intent for this blog is to post my failures and accomplishments and thought processes along the way.  If I get any information that will help my fellow reporters, I will share that with you.  If I get new briefs to share, I'll post that, too.  Speaking of which, I came up with a couple today that I'm going to use.  It was the Democrats and the Republicans that got me in last night's dictation so therefore, they will not get me again.  They will now be the TKRATs and the RE/PUPBs!!!

If I do end up with followers, I just want to thank you in advance for joining me on this journey and I appreciate the love and support you give me!  Til next time!