The Truth About Court Reporting School

Disclaimer: This isn't going to be pretty. This isn't going to fill you with hopes and dreams. This isn't going to rev you up with fluffy motivational quotes. But it will be the truth. And in my book, the truth is always best.

You've decided to attend court reporting school. Congratulations! Get ready for the most challenging, grueling, tedious, soul-wrenching, gut-twisting, heartbreaking, head-pounding time of your life, all from the convenience and comfort of your seat! The same seat that will give you backaches on long practice days, make you sweat during tests, and probably cause you to gain more than a few extra pounds. Pick a good one because that seat will become your most intimate companion for the next two to ten years at school.

Court reporting school is not for the faint of heart. Your determination must be akin to that of a firewalker on a hot coal cross-country trek. Your nerves must be stronger than steel -- nay, stronger than platinum. Your pocketbook must be well stocked, and your expectations, rock-bottom low.

Do not expect your school to be of any help. No one can help you. This is one time in your life when you are so completely and utterly alone that even loved ones and mentors cannot remedy the loneliness. No one will be able to understand the depth of your despair. You will be the sole person responsible for your success. And by the way, you may never succeed. The graduation rate is as low as 2%, and the dropout rate, as high as 90% (www.courreportingfaq.com). Let that sink in for a moment.

There will be dropouts. You will consider dropping out. About halfway through the program, when it gets teeth-grindingly difficult, you will start having fantasies of leaving it all behind and disappearing from the face of the Earth. Now, you'd think that that would be the point at which you would need a break to recharge. WRONG! There is no taking breaks from stenography! That moment is precisely when you need to double-up your efforts, workload, and all-around dysfunction in order to break through the barrier of sound, which is a pretty accurate analogy for speedbuilding.

When you start feeling that tendinitis and that restless leg syndrome, you'll know that you're just getting started. When you are drowning in debt and so broke that you start rationing your food, you'll start to wonder why you began court reporting school in the first place. And you should. Keep that goal in perspective because you will forget it. Write it down, and pin it up before you inevitably start to think, "Nothing could possibly be worth this excruciating pain."

You will get caught in soul-sucking debates. To brief or not to brief? What kind of writer is best? Are some steno theories the subject of conspiracy theories? Is your school worth the sky-high tuition it charges? How does one know when to give up? How much guidance should you be getting from your instructors? Should you homeschool yourself to save money? The atmosphere in school may be so toxic that you may consider leaving just on account of that. You may disagree with your school's theory or steno philosophy. You may think of acquiring different textbooks to get a different perspective. You may wonder if you can realistically continue practicing by yourself at home. 

My advice is this: Do an unreasonably large amount of research before you begin school. Heck, why not try teaching yourself from a textbook before you start school to see if you have the talent. Not everybody makes it, no matter how hard they practice. Read up on practice strategies and steno theories before you buy your books. Find a theory that you agree and get along with. After all, you might as well be marrying that theory since it is so hard to change it once you're committed. Find a machine that suits you. You don't have to settle for what your school tells you to buy. If you're going to buy student stuff, buy it used. And while you're at it, keep your stuff in good condition to allow for resale. That's a lot of money, you know?

You will be given advice from people in the field to never, ever give up. You'll be told, "Don't worry. You got this;" "This is the best career in the world," and such. Don't let them fool you. Evaluate your own situation, and be realistic about it. Self-knowledge is something only you can acquire. If you cannot pass a speed and it's been months or years, you may want to reconsider the whole idea of court reporting. This is harsh but true. I say it because I care. Don't waste your life -- and your money -- in school.  

I remember when a more advanced student once told me, "Speedbuilding is like hitting your head against a brick wall every time you pass a test." She was right. There is no satisfaction because there is always a higher level. The learning never ends. And that is both the beauty and curse of the paradox of stenography.

One does not simply walk into court reporting school as they would any other program. This is a world where your best is not good enough and every successful test is irrelevant compared to your next one. If you can get out of court reporting school alive, you will be part of a minority that struggled an uphill battle with themselves. And you will know without a doubt that you deserve to feel proud of yourself.

Advice for Prospective Court Reporting Students

1) Select your language carefully. If you are fluent in a language other than English, that may be a more valuable and lucrative endeavor. There are very few court reporters who can steno in French or Spanish, for example. If I had only known that back then!

2) Shop around for theories. Don't settle on a theory simply because it is taught at your local school. . There is a difference between stroke-intensive theories (Like Phoenix and StenEd) and brief-intensive theories (like Magnum, for example). I'm inclined to favor the latter though my school advocates for Phoenix. I wish I had known back when I started school what I know now. It's discouraging to have to do damage control after two years of schooling.

3) Shop around for steno machines and software. Again, don't settle on what your school tells you to buy. Schools are approached by steno companies to sell their products. Schools are most likely receiving commission for the machines they sell and don't necessarily have your best interest in mind. Consider something unusual like the Lightspeed as it is more light, portable, and cheaper than traditional machines. It will be difficult for you to adapt to it later if you go with a traditional machine first. Also, they offer their student software, DigitalCAT, for free. Save your lunch money!

4) Check in with your pocketbook. Will you be taking time off work or working full/part time while in school? Do you have children, or are you expecting to have them soon? How much time will you have available to dedicate to practice every day? Steno is not something you can pick up occasionally and expect to improve. You must have time to practice every day. This is not a joke, folks. Don't waste a decade of your life in court reporting school. Look to the future. Consider how long it will take to graduate and how much effort is required to graduate on time. Most students do not achieve the minimum speed of 225 words per minute within two years of full-time schooling. Think about the possibility of having to take (and pay for) continuing education. Make a commitment to practice as hard as it takes to graduate on time.

5) Consider teaching yourself. You can buy books and teach yourself and save a ton of money. Tuitions run very high across the board, and there is an epidemic of mediocre court reporting schools out there. If you can speak to students who have graduated and failed in a particular school, you can get a better idea whether or not the school does everything it can to help their students succeed. Consider purchasing Magnum Steno: Beginning Theory and teaching yourself at home. You'll most likely be teaching yourself in school anyways since most schools have self-guided programs. Heck, most CR schools don't have qualified instructors at all. In my experience, a tape recorder loaded with pre-recorded dictations would do just as well as a flesh-and-blood instructor. Join court reporting Facebook groups to ask questions, and buy an excellent English grammar book to perfect your grammar skills. Good ones include Morson's Guide or Margie Well's punctuation textbook.

More to come!

Yours,

The Steno Duchess

Summer "break" is a trap.

Dear fellow stenographers, Phoenix Theorists, and Phoenix Deniers,

For those of you who are in school as I am, you may be currently enjoying a whole month off. This phenomenon may commonly be referred to as the "Summer Break", "August Break", or "Summer Vacation". I'm here to warn you that these are really just euphemisms for something much darker.

Much like a musical instrument, steno is not something you can neglect, especially during your school years. If you miss a day of practice, YOU ARE SAILING INTO DISASTER. Daily practice is essential to developing muscle memory, fast reflexes, and maintaining those precious neural pathways that you have carved out of previous practice.

It is so discouraging to sit down at your machine after a day or two of not practicing and realizing how rusty you are. What's worse is that you will have to redouble your efforts in order to build back up to the speed you had previously achieved and have now lost. That can be very stressful, especially if you have tests coming up, since you cannot know how long it will take to get back on track. Maybe you won't. Maybe you'll get discouraged and drop out. What are you going to do about it?

There is no such thing as taking a break from steno if you want to be the best you can be. But you will see that writing at your machine is so much more enjoyable when you are doing well than when you are struggling. For this reason, see practice as an omnipresent thing in your life. Get a Briefcatcher, and bring it with you everywhere you go. I practice on the subway, on planes, at the cottage, and anywhere else I happen to be. Record your own drills or write down your hesitation briefs and keep them with your Briefcatcher so that you have something to practice. If you're going to indulge in watching TV or a movie, you better write to it! Don't waste the opportunity of working on your endurance! When else are you going to get two full hours of practice? You'll feel so much better the next day not having to make up for wasted time.

So why let your blood, sweat, and tears go to waste? Get your daily practice, and feel how much faster and accurate you become at every session.

Enjoy the rest of your summer!

The Steno Duchess

This is what happens when you don't back up your dictionary.

Dear fellow stenographers and Phoenix Theorists,

It has been several weeks -- nay, months -- since I have last redacted a blog post. This was not out of sheer laziness, as I assure you I enjoy sharing my thoughts with you. But rather, I have been deeply immersed in the gargantuan-yet-exciting task of shortening my writing. In the last month or two, I have made almost 400 entries in my CaseCAT update area. Is this not fantastic? I say yes.

Well, at least it WAS 400 entries until they all magically vanished today.

My heart sunk, and despite the trauma, I could not help but smile, for I had recently learned how to back up my dictionaries and had done nothing about it. It is the natural order of things that one should lose all one's data after having learned how to protect it and to have not done so. So yes, everything did seem normal and natural to me.

I have learned that you should not leave anything until later. Simple statement -- tricky to apply. I was already tackling issues with my writing and taking charge of my difficulties, yet I managed to let this one slip past me by assuring myself I would deal with it later "when it was worth it". When exactly was I expecting it to become "worth it"? Why, it was worth it from the beginning when I decided to start drastically shortening my writing.

What we all need to retain from my blunder is to always remember that what you are doing is valuable. There is potential in every moment of practice to become a better reporter. If one doesn't seize that moment, one loses that potential to be the best they can be.

I want  you to make some firm decisions today: I will be focused. I will face my fears. I will venture out of my comfort zone. I will not let others distract me from my valuable practice time. I will not put things off. I WILL BACK UP MY DICTIONARY EVERY DAY.

In stenodarity,

The Steno Duchess

Follow me on Twitter

Dear colleagues,

Did you know that you can now follow me on Twitter? I post my blog entries on there, as well as little steno-related tidbits that can help you in your quest to be the best stenographer you can be. Please follow me @StenoDuchess. I would also love to hear from you and how you are doing. You can email me at: stenoduchess@gmail.com. I also have a Youtube Channel that is still in construction. I hope to eventually make regular videos to help us all overcome our steno woes. I hope to hear from you soon!

Love,

The Steno Duchess

14 briefs for phrases that end in "did"

Dear stenographers and Phoenix Theorists,

In my practice today, I stumbled upon a concept that shocked me. Okay, well, I might be exaggerating a little, but I did widen my eyes and drop my jaw. My heartbeat became noticeably faster. "What an outrage, I thought to myself. This isn't even in the Phoenix Theory Quick Reference Guide!" So today, I want to share with you, beloved colleagues, 14 phrase briefs for phrases that end with "did":

I did /KRW*F
he did /HAOE*F
she did /SHAOE*F
you did /KWROU*F
how did /HO*UF
that did /THA*F
these did /THAOE*F
they did /THAEU*F
this did /THEU*F
we did /WAOE*F
when did /WH*F
where did /WR*F
who did /WHAO*F

These are only the ones that should already exist in your personal dictionary. You might want to create more by defining them. If you do, be sure to share them generously with us in the comment section.

I wonder how many other concepts there are in Phoenix that are not advertised in the official reference guide...

I hope you found this useful. Please let me know how you are doing.

With love,

The Steno Duchess

Who wants to graduate on time?

Dear fellow stenographers and Phoenix Theorists,

I hope you are having a wonderful day, and I thank you for joining me here for another Steno Duchess blog post. I hope you are making good progress in your steno practice, and that you are finding ways to complement your formal schooling to enable you to succeed and improve faster. If you are, I would love for you to share your strategies with me, so that I can share them with the world. Please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post, or send me an email. You can alo follow me on Twitter @StenoDuchess.

I was chatting with a layman about the difference between steno theories, and he brought up some very interesting points. He reminded me that when I was in university, there was no talk about stagnation. It was either you learn the material, and you use it to be successful in school, or you don't, and you fail the class. There was no option to take your time or to do what was best for you. No: everyone had to progress; everyone had to study and learn and finish on time. Now, in the steno world, there is a lot of talk about how different people progress at different speeds, and you should do what "works for you". We are told not to panic if we are not keeping up; that that is normal. In fact, it is deemed abnormal if someone progresses quickly, and actually manages to graduate on time. I'm going to come out and be 100% honest with you right now: that seems really bizarre to me. The fact that we are not pushed to keep up, or given strategies to accelerate our learning process is strange. It is entirely left to the student to manage their own time and pathe their own way to graduation. Isn't that odd? If the student was studying on their own at home, then that would be another story, but we ARE frequenting formal instutions, are we not? So why isn't there a formal procedure and path laid out for us? I get that not everyone learns in the same way, but that's how it worked in university. I get that not everyone has the same natural dexterity or talent to progress at the same rate, but that's how it worked in university: Everyone had to finish on time. even with programs that are based on personal talent and dexterity such as music: You have to finish on time. I studied music, and there never was any talk of perhaps not graduating on time. If you were lagging behind, the professor more often than not stepped in to see what was going on and gave you the tools you needed to make it.

I want to see that happen in steno school. I want teachers to take us by the hand, and with their knowledge and experience, help us be the best we can be, and more importantly, graduate on time.

Until next time,

The Steno Duchess