MY SUMMER PLANS

This coming week will be the last week of the Summer Session at Tri-Community Adult Education Center. Friday, July 31, 2009 will mark the official first day of Summer Vacation! We go back to school on Tuesday, September 8, 2009. I'll still be working my regular hours at the law office, though, which is 26 hours a week. (I'm a part-time Legal Assistant and full-time Steno Nerd!) I won't stay idle during my Summer Vacation, though... HARDLY! :p

HERE'S MY 2009 STENO SUMMER TO DO LIST:

- SIT OUT WITH OFFICIAL COURT REPORTERS! Our school requires that we complete five hours of observation or shadow work of official court reporters. However, on suggestion by a classmate (thanks, Lynne!) and a court reporter (thanks, Annette!), I'm going to take this opportunity and really make the most of it! Lynne suggested that I sit out with as many and as varied court reporters as I possibly can. She said that she'll be doing the same. The reason is we want to get a feel of the different types of work each legal department has to offer... because there's just so many to choose from! There's criminal court, family law, civil, small claims court, workers' compensation, personal injury, intellectual property... and the list keeps going! We want to see what's out there, how it's all really done, and what niche we think we would like to work in one day. Annette (a court reporter I briefly knew when I worked at the court reporting agency she freelanced with; I found her again through CSR Nation!) also suggested that I sit out with as many court reporters, but for another reason. She wants me (and all court reporting students!) to go to my required observation hours and pretend as if I were actually already on the job -- to write on my steno machine and then go home to transcribe it. This will give me a great feel of how much work it truly is to be a court reporter. TAKE AWAY TIP: The cleaner you write, the less time you need to spend polishing up your transcript! So we gotta write fast and clean! Annette really emphasized briefs -- the more you know, the better off you are! So far I've booked three court reporters (and they're all over the place! Murrieta, Santa Ana, and Monterey Park) to sit out with in August... and they all work at different departments! Yay! I'm trying to schedule more sit-in time with other official court reporters because this is the best time I can do it -- Summer Vacation. (BTW, if you're an official court reporter, and you wouldn't mind me sitting out with you, please email me at StenoNerd@gmail.com. I'm in the Los Angeles area. Thank you!) I'll definitely share with you about the experiences! Look out for those in the near future!

I do NOT want this to happen! LOL!

- STUDY! STUDY! STUDY! I'm not going to take it easy during my month-and-a-few-days off school. I'm going to lock myself in libraries, cafes, bookstores, and my own home office to study, study, study! I'm going to continue to pretend as if I had the same school + work schedule because I really do NOT want to lose any speed that I've gained. I want to actually INCREASE my speed during my Summer Vacation, so come September I can pass the last 160 WPM Testimony test I need in order to officially be at 180 WPM! I'm not taking school lightly anymore! Been there, done that. I want this done and over with... and with a PASSION! I want to start my career already! I'm going to be studying in 20 minute increments the following: - Fast speed - Goal speed - Trail speed - Brief words and phrases - Finger drills - Numbers - Symbols - Theory refresher - Hard copy - Anything else...? Hmm... if I missed something you think I need to work on during my Summer Vacation, please let me know by commenting below! Thanks for reading! :)