A Court Reporter's Determination

One of the most interesting fields of work to me was court reporting . I once knew a client going through the training, what seemed like years, but I guess if you are going part- time it takes much longer. She kept her nails almost like nubs because she said shorter or no nails gave her much more speed. Court reporting was her passion, and you could see her determination. At times, when she saw me, she looked as if she was going to walk away from it all. She said that she was so “sick and tire” of practicing, and that sometimes it staggers and she doesn’t see any improvement in her speed.

Those times were very discouraging, but the very next time I see her she would be focused and determined. She kept going knowing that some stages took her longer to get through. She gave herself little rewards for motivation. Her whole family was counting on her to be successful in the field. Her mother worked hard to put her through years of training. She was determined to make the career work for her and her mother.

The first assignment she got was somewhere in Idaho. Then it became frequent and Idaho became a weekly trip. She would receive a lot of her assignments from the same place and from word of mouth she started getting more assignments through her work. I watched her grow up. She became more confident as she found her way in the Court Reporting field. Eventually she met someone while on one of her assignments and fell in love.