Class today was, to say the least, exasperating. Words cannot express how frustrated I am with PT and with school. I squirm constantly in my seat as we do endless, mindless dictations in class, with very little actual instruction. I work hard and see no progress. Mark Kislingbury says that a lack in progress means that there is something wrong with one's practice, and I completely agree. There is something wrong with my practice--with our practice. We are taught how to practice in school, and are being misled, indeed. Most students, if not all, are getting stuck in their 100s or less and are not seeing any progress. This is not for lack of trying, but simply because there is something wrong with our practice. But I am frustrated because, as a student, I expect to have some real guidance and instruction to be able to see some progress in my writing, but instead I am getting fake guidance and fake instruction, which accounts for my lack of progress.
What I want to say to you today--yes you!--is that if you expect to make steno your career, and you are not progressing consistently in school, you MUST do some research and come up with a strategy to guide yourself. Your instructor is more than likely not helping you get faster. Are they trying to keep us in school longer? I am inclined to think that this may be the case. In fact, this sounds like a total conspiracy to me. Most of us are being told that briefs are a deterrent to writing faster. That is a shameful lie! Consequently, we are not getting any guidance in the brief department, leaving us alone before the massive task of defining thousands of briefs for ourselves with no rhyme or reason. Here's an example: The other day, we did a dictation that was clearly constructed for practicing phrase briefs. Phrases like "before the accident", "after the accident", "state you name", "my name is", "how about", and lots more, were plugged in there for practice. I'm talking dozens of them. I was shocked that our instructor didn't look over these briefs with us, and didn't even mention their existence. As a matter of fact, we weren't even told that this was going to be a dictation for briefs, nor did we take a few minutes to look at how to write them. As we were writing, I realized by myself that all these briefs existed, and had to look as many of them up as possible and write them down on my "to review" list. Gee, thanks for nothing, Instructor.
I am so frustrated with this that I feel like I should no longer be paying tuition to the school and just teach myself from now on. I have not yet found the courage to drop out, but I have taken steps to ensure I am not completely wasting my time in school. What are YOU doing for yourself? Are you wasting away in steno school, stagnating at 60, 70, 80 or more words per minute? Are you coming to class, writing those endless, mindless dictations, and getting no feedback from your instructor and just letting it be? Are you rotting in your chair, checking your various social media accounts and text messages in-between takes just because you know there's no use in trying: you just can't move your fingers any faster? Rise up, my friends! Take your future into your own hands, and do something with yourself. I know you can improve if you adopt a strategy that is right for you.
Memorize those briefs and phrases, and you will soar!
In stenodarity,
The Steno Duchess
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