SOCIAL ELEMENT OF SCHOOL?

Fortunately or unfortunately, there really is no social element for me at school.  I really try to be in "school mode" during my time in school.  I seriously stay in my corner of the computer lab, bury my head in either the steno machine or laptop, and seem to only go out when I need to grade my TC (typing credit), use the restroom, or make/take a call.  No funny business! :P

I tend to be like this at work too.  Even when I'm working with super close friends at an office, I really cannot switch myself to that "social mode" since I know I'm still "on the clock."  I can finally let myself "loose" during a break or lunch or at the end of the day... and that's about it.  Maybe it's the obsessive part of me that wants to give 110% concentration at the task at hand.  It's nothing personal against anyone at my school or work environment... it's just that I like to compartmentalize my time.

Every waking moment, I'm consumed with steno... even when I get home! :P I browse the Internet for the latest talks on anything steno-related and write on my machine while my husband and I watch TV.  As Todd Olivas, CSR (certified shorthand reporter) and agency owner says, we need to EAT, SLEEP AND BREATHE STENO in order to get out of court reporting school as quickly as possible.

In the end though, I think my not being as social as I could be at school will help me out tremendously.  The official CSR I interned with last week told me that her friends jokingly called her a "homebody" during her school years because she went to school full-time and when she got home, she was yet again always on her steno machine.  She even made herself practice on the weekends.  But hey, if being a "homebody" and/or a "social recluse" at school is what it takes for me to get out of school, then so be it! :)