DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! (MY LESSON LEARNED)

I have good news to share... and a lesson learned to share...

The Good News:  I passed a 3rd Qualifier on June 24th... and a 4th Qualifier on July 2nd!!!  WOO HOO!!! :D :D :D THANK GOD!!! :D :D :D 

I'm very happy with the passes!!!  I'm just hoping and praying that these mock CSR exams (what Qualifiers are, essentially) will also translate into a pass at the actual CSR exam on July 19th.  Yikes!  Only 11 more days away!  As my husband has encouraged me to say... BRING IT!!!

I think I've prepared my butt off for the fateful day, so whatever happens... happens.  I'm ready.  I won't have any regrets because I know I've prepared myself as best as I can.  I've given myself my best opportunity for a pass.  If I don't pass it on my first attempt, that's okay.  There's another opportunity waiting for me in November.  I won't look at myself as a failure at all... because I, along with my fellow CSR candidates, have done what very few can say... completed court reporting school, passed Qualifier, and made it all the way to the CSR exam.  It's now all just a matter of time on when I get that coveted California Certified Shorthand Reporter license.  I'll keep digging till I hit gold!!!  AKA I'll keep testing till I pass that exam!!!  No worries. :) I shall...

Now for the Lesson Learned: I could have passed a 5th Qualifier in the last week of June!!! :( The problem was my proofreading skills were seriously lacking... and honestly, I got sloppy and perhaps overly confident.  I always print a rough draft before turning in my final transcript for a re-grade.  In my attempt to save paper, though, I only re-printed the pages that I had marked up on my rough draft and then collated those into the original pages I had printed earlier.  Well, something screwy happened with my CAT software and it duplicated a whole entire line... and I didn't catch it... and it cost me 9 errors... putting me over a 52 total errors... which is not a pass at 97.4% accuracy. :( A pass is 50 errors at 97.5% accuracy.  I missed it by only 2 points and 0.1%.  Talk about frustration!!!

So what I've learned: Always, always print out everything and always, always go over the final hard copy one more time before submitting it.  I'll never make that mistake again!!!  My husband told me that it's a good thing that this happened during school and not at the CSR exam... and he's right.  Perspective.  So I'm grateful that this lesson has been learned on this side of my first CSR exam attempt.

Tomorrow is the day we get our diplomas!!!  So excited!!!  I'll share with you all about it soon!  Till then...

Thanks for reading... :)