Why I Can't Wait to Become a Court Reporter
By Serena White
2010 Scholarship Winner
I am now in my third semester at Southwest Community College in the Court Reporting Program. I can't believe how fast it is flying by and how far I have come. When I first started the program it was so incomprehensible that I had to understand my theory through and through. How could I learn something so foreign? And now, it feels like my first language! It seemed inconceivable that you could actually write that theory on that little machine at 30 wpm. And then, wow, I'm writing at 40 and then 60 with 80 and 100 being right around the corner. The theory started to make sense and my fingers started to follow suit. Every time I get a little faster or something becomes more automatic, it is just unbelievable. The more I learn, the more I love it. And what seemed so impossible now seems completely possible!
Court Reporting fills my thoughts all day. It's hard to listen to the radio anymore without trying to write the songs in my head. It's hard to listen to people speak anymore without writing what they are saying in my head, especially if a word comes out that I have never stroked. Most nights I go to bed with my theory on my mind and then dream about briefs.
It is so hard to believe that I am almost halfway there. I hear so many different stories of how long it took people to get done with school. Some say it has taken several years and some say just a couple of years. But I feel like this is becoming something natural and I know if I just keep practicing that I will be done in no time.
I can't wait to be a real court reporter. I can't wait to drive to my first appointment. I can't wait to swear in my first witnesses. I can't wait to edit my first real transcript. I can't wait for it to completely change my life!
