Friday, June 25, 2010

It's a Miracle!!

I am now finished with 140 words per minute, completely and forever. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord!!

I even passed my 150 wpm jury charge, so maybe, just maybe, I'm on a roll and finally improving. The other explanation is that the teacher for summer school reads slower than my other teacher, which is probably the more likely excuse, but a girl can dream can't she?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Staying positive

I've been pretty negative and discouraged recently. It's really bringing me down. I know I shouldn't be so negative, but it's so easy to get overwhelmed and disappointed when a pass just doesn't happen. My husband is so tired of me moping around all the time. So, I decorated Sexy Lexi (my steno machine) with a few important phrases.

The first is: "You CAN, and you WILL." I have been trying to say this over and over again before a test. I don't quite believe it yet, but it helps to see it in print, they seem just a little more believable.

The second phrase is because of my husband. He's a big fan of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books and in those books, the first rule is: Don't panic. So, I wrote that on my machine too.

I have a tendency to panic over everything. I panic when I'm doing poorly on a test because I feel like an idiot. I panic then I'm doing well on a test and I'm excited, and then that makes me blow it. I panic after I've blown the test because I know I've wasted a perfectly good test. I panic when I'm correcting a test because I see mistakes I wish I hadn't made. I panic when I drive home from school because I feel discouraged at my lack of progress and the traffic stresses me out. I panic when I think about how much more work I still have to do and how long it will take me to do it. Basically, I'm a panicker. (is that word?) It's awful. I always fall to pieces.

So, hopefully looking at the words every time I practice or take a test, will help me feel less worried and more positive. I took a picture of the finished product so you can see what I'm talking about.



How do other people stay positive when there are so many things to be disappointed about?

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Slop Vs. Drop

Should I slop, or should I drop? That is a question that seems to face many students, including myself. I used to be a slop girl. I figured if I could get a stroke down, any stroke down, then I could probably figure it out or guess what it was supposed to be later, and I have to tell you that seemed to work pretty well until, all of a sudden, it didn't.

I passed through my 80s, my 90s, my 100s and even all the way through my 130s with messy notes. Then, with 140 as my goal, I could no longer read anything. The small mistakes I was making at 90 wpm turned into huge mistakes when I got to 140. Also, I was always running out of time when I was transcribing my tests. I spent so long guessing what I meant to write that I couldn't get through the whole test and I would turn it in without even proofing it. Shame on me, tsk, tsk, tsk.

I have now really been trying to force myself to drop before I slop. It kills me every time I drop, because I never did that before. But, as I am now learning, dropping is better because it does not reinforce bad behavior. Every time I accepted a sloppy outline and messy transcript, I taught myself, that it was okay to do that. It's not. The bad outlines have now become ingrained in my head and I have to work twice as hard to correct them. It's brutal. I've been sitting in trail class, focusing on correcting bad habits that I've had since theory.

Although it's frustrating and exhausting, it's starting to help. My trail speed notes are beautiful. (My goal speed is full of holes where I dropped words, but what can you do?) The time I spend transcribing has reduced and I've even had time to print my work and proof it on paper rather than a computer screen before I turn it in. I'm optimistic about a big breakthrough happening soon. I'll keep you posted.

Friday, April 9, 2010

We Could All Use a Break

Oh wow! I wish every week could be spring break. Boy, did I need some time off. I spent the week doing all the errands I had been putting off since the beginning of the semester. Poor Wally (my car) had been neglected and abused. The long trip to school everyday was taking a toll on him and me as well. I gave him an oil change, a tire rotation, a car wash, and some other little things. I did the laundry that had been piling up, cleaned my apartment, went grocery shopping, and I even managed to have some fun as well. Although, I'm not completely caught up, I'm feeling a lot less overwhelmed.

Class has been back in session for a week now and I don't have any passed tests to report, but I am trying to change my perspective. I hate feeling so discouraged all the time. I am trying to let things go. If it's over, I have to let it go. I can only move forward so I shouldn't dwell on the past. I need to accentuate the positive and stop focusing on the negative. (is that song or something?)

I got 95% on my 150 4-voice test yesterday. Usually, that would frustrate me, since it was so close and still not a pass but my new focus is accuracy. I read the article "The Plateau" and I know the biggest problem with my writing is my accuracy. I have been trying to teach myself to drop if I can not stroke the word properly. The article talks about how sloppy outlines and misstrokes that don't get corrected will reinforce incorrect poor writing and those bad habits will manifest over time and turn into unreadable disasters. I think that was what was happening to me. That 95% test was way more accurate than previous tests and I didn't have to guess at my notes nearly as much as usually do. Hopefully, this new focus will pay off in the long run. I'll let you know.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Disappointed, Frustrated, and Discouraged

It's been awhile.

I haven't posted anything because I haven't had anything positive to say in quite some time. I STILL have not passed a goal test. I am so close I can taste it. I missed a 150 wpm jury charge by 2 and a 140 congressional by 3. It seems like every single speed test I take is right there, but not quite. I guess being that close should make me happy, but it doesn't. It makes me so disappointed. I'm trying INSANELY hard and I'm still not there yet. Even if I finally do progress, I know it'll only get harder the faster the dictation gets. It is so discouraging. I feel disappointed, frustrated, and discouraged, every second of every day. Is this normal? Do all court reporting students go through this? It's overwhelming.

While I'm transcribing my tests, I feel like I'm on the verge, but I don't know if it's the verge of a breakthrough or a breakdown. If I don't see some payoff for all my hard work soon, I seriously might lose it. I just can't take it anymore. I might throw my machine out the window.

Spring break starts today and I'm hoping the time off will do me some good. Between school and my two jobs, I've been busy every single day for almost 3 months. I haven't had one single day off! I could really use a few days to decompress. I need to teach myself to stop putting so much pressure on myself and stop judging my worth by the amount of speed tests that I pass (which of course is none right now). Any ideas on how I can do that?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Losing motivation

I think I'm losing motivation. I am working insanely hard this semester. I go to school every day and stay for at least 6 hours, I practice dictation tapes, I read back my notes, I study my briefs, and I make notes of words I write incorrectly and practice them again. Yet, I'm still not passing my goal tests. It's really starting to frustrate me. It's making me not want to practice. I know that will only make the problem worse so I am still trying, but my heart isn't in it right now.

Hopefully, this is just a phase and I'll get over it soon. I really need a good test to get me out of this funk. Any motivational words would help right now.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Yes, I'm STILL in school

I'm sure all court reporting students hear the same questions and comments: Are you still in school? How much longer until you're done? It seems like you've been there forever.

Well...yes, I have no idea, and you're right, it does seem like that.

It can be very frustrating. People who are not in court reporting school, just don't understand. I never know what to tell people. I wish I were out of school, but it's not like a regular school subject. There's no set time limit. It takes as long as it takes to get fast enough.

I was complaining to my husband about how I get so tired of people asking me why I'm not done yet and he gave me a very insightful response. He told me to explain to people that it's like becoming a virtuoso on a musical instrument. I think that is exactly right. Who puts a time limit on mastering an instrument? It takes as long as it takes and it takes a lot of practice. I would never have thought of it like that; probably, because I am NOT a musical person whatsoever. My husband is a drummer, and he knows what that is like. So, thank you honey. I'm so glad you get it. It's just another sign that I married the right man.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

I'll show you my briefs if you show me yours

Briefing seems to be a controversial subject. A brief is basically an abbreviation. Sometimes a brief can be a shorter way to write a word, but it can also be a way to write a whole phrase. Since I have been going to school 5 days a week to both low and high speed classes, I have gotten a chance to talk to some high speed students about what works for them. The thing I hear most often is: briefs.

When I was a theory student, the teachers told me to be careful not to use too many briefs. I think the reason for this, is that students can use briefs as a crutch; they seem to rely on shortening everything. The problem with this is, that when words come up that the student doesn't have a brief for, they simply cannot write that fast. Also, sometimes it takes a minute to remember a brief that they haven't practiced recently, this hesitation can cost a person the whole test. A tiny hesitation, can ruin everything.

I listened to my teachers and I really don't brief many things, but I think I was wrong. I think the secret is to brief things that come up all the time, and then practice them regularly. Don't brief things that you don't hear at least twice a month, you will forget them and then they will cause hesitation when you do hear them because you'll start trying to remember your brief and stop listing to the dictation.

The high speed students have been sharing their briefs with me. It's amazing, the things they can write in one stroke. Wow, I would never have thought of all these things. A friend of mine taught me how to write, "ANSWER: I do not remember." all in one stroke. What a time saver! It took me 5 strokes to write that before. If I can master all of these I'll be writing 200 in no time.

I also heard about a great website: briefpedia If you want a brief for a phrase or word, just type it in, and the website will provide you with a list of suggestions for briefs, it also lists possible conflicts that might occur with other words. Check it out! This 5 days a week thing, is helping me in lots of ways. I get extra practice, and extra tips.

Today I got 92% on a 150 jury charge. No goal speed passes yet, but hopefully after I master these briefs I'll have a breakthrough. Let me know some of the cool briefs you use. I'll show you mine, if you show me yours.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Long days

One of my goals this semester was to treat school like a full time job. So far. I'd say I've been pretty good. I'm in the lab practicing everyday, and I do all the homework. So far, no goal speed passes. I'm not quite frustrated yet, but if I don't see results soon, I know I will be. I really hope I pass something fast. It's almost 5:00 pm and I'm still at school. I got here at about 9:30 in the morning; that sure feels like full time hours to me, and I still have a thirty mile drive home (and now it's rush hour). Uggh.

Although I haven't passed anything, I had a nice surprise on a test I never expected to even transcribe. As you know, I've been sitting in push (fast) class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The class goes from 150 - 170 wpm and I haven't even passed all my 140s yet, so it's quite a push. I usually treat the 170 and 160 tests as practice and never put much faith or effort into them. Well, I took a 170, 4-voice test and, believe it or not, I got 85% of it!!!! That's amazing! I haven't really come that close to a 140 yet, so on a 170, it's truly unbelievable. Maybe the secret is that I wasn't even stressed or worried about it because I never dreamed it would be good or it could have just been an easy test. (it was probably just an easy one, but still, not too shabby!)

Hopefully, all that high speed practice will pay off soon. I'll let you know

Friday, January 22, 2010

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I have not seen it rain this much for the whole six years I've lived in Los Angeles. It's crazy, really. I thought this was a desert.

I have been driving to school 5 days a week now and other than the horrible rainy commute, it's been going well. I've gotten a lot of work done. As I mentioned last week, I've been sitting in what they call a "push" class (it's faster than a goal speed.) I transcribed a 150 wpm 4-voice test and a 160 wpm congressional test, both of which I got over 75% of! That's a big deal to me considering I haven't even passed a 140 wpm test in either of those subjects. On the 150 4-voice, I didn't miss a single speaker! The story is a little different with my "goal" tests. I'm not that close, but I do feel that I'm improving. I think some of it is nerves, but some of it is my lack of skills.

The rain is effecting my performance a little. My fingers get cold and then they don't move as fast as they normally do. I wonder if working reporters run into this problem while on the job. It's frustrating for sure. My brain says, "do it", but my fingers just can't. I wish I could wear gloves, but I think they would just slow me down even more.

I worked so hard this week, I'm feeling lazy right now. Would it be really bad for me to just leave and go watch a movie? I think I'm gonna. Shh, don't tell on me. I'll be right back in the lab working extra hard first thing Monday morning to make up for this lack of enthusiasm today.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Another drop in the bucket

My teacher gave us the analogy of having a bucket in your brain. Every time you practice or show up to class, you put a drop in the bucket. Eventually, as the bucket fills you start to say, "I THINK I can do this". Then, that bucket will fill up and overflow and then the water starts to drip into another bucket in your heart, as that buckets fills, you start to say "I BELIEVE I can do this". After this bucket fills, it over flows into a third bucket in your gut, after that third bucket fills you start to say, "I KNOW I can do this" and that's ultimately where you need to be.

Today, I got up early, drove the 30 miles to school, practiced before class, and then attended class. I'd say that's worth a few drops; wouldn't you? I'm even staying at school after class for a little while to do a little more practicing.

I THINK I can do this!!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Back in the saddle again

School started up again this week. It's always hard to get back into the routine. Getting up early has never been and easy thing for me. I'm gonna really have to work on it. My cats have been trying to help me get up, but I usually just push them away. I think I need a louder alarm or something. Any suggestions?

This semester the department separated 140 wpm and 150 wpm. What does that mean? Well, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the school offers class from 60 wpm all the way to 140 wpm. Then on Tuesday and Thursday, they offer 150 wpm all the way to qualifiers at 200 wpm. The problem for me is that I have now passed a 140 jury charge test but I still have two more 140s to go, but I want to try to pass the 150 jury charge too, which means that in order to get all the tests I need I'm forced to come to school five days a week. I live 30 miles away from campus so I now have to drive an extra 120 miles a week! Apparently, I am the only one in the situation. I'm not sure why no other students are at the same speed as me, but they aren't so I had to go talk to the teachers and work out a deal so that I can be allowed to sit in the extra class without being enrolled in it. I quit working during the week so that I can really focus on school.

I have a new teacher in the 140wpm class and I'm feeling really good about her. She seems like she really wants us to improve. I have a good feeling about this semester and I know I'm really gonna rock. Coming five days a week is going to force me to practice every day and hopefully, I'll reap the benefits of it. I'll keep you all posted on how this new schedule works out. My prediction is: it's either gonna make me so much faster or it's gonna kill me. I'm sure it's one or the other. We'll see.