A NEW DIRECTION

I'm about 99.9% sure that I'll be transferring over to Downey College of Court Reporting in January 2010. Currently I go to Tri-Community in Covina, but I'm ready for the switch... and I'm very excited about it (except for the drive on the 5 Freeway of course!) One of the biggest reasons I'm switching is the amount of tests they give at Downey versus at Tri. At Downy, they give you one test per class hour -- THAT'S FIVE TESTS IN ONE DAY! That's FIVE NEW OPPORTUNITIES to test out! That's FIVE MORE CHANCES for us court reporting students to inch closer and closer to our goal speed of 225 wpm! SOLD!!! Also, the way they score your tests at Downey is by listening to the dictated tape whereas at Tri it's via hard copy, which I hate! Everyone has their personalized styles, yet you get marked for not agreeing with the way a 10-year-old transcript punctuates here and there. FRUSTRATING!!! Downey is open many more hours than Tri. Doors open at 7:00 a.m. and close by 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday. Steno classes are from 8:00-1:00, Academics are from 1:00-3:00, and Lab is from 3:00-5:00. At Tri they open at 8:00 a.m. and close by 12:30 p.m. with optional Lab till 3:00 p.m., Monday-Thursday. At Tri, Friday is open for Lab only. Lots of other students have switched from Tri to Downey, and it looks like I'll be joining them. I made my decision by checking out Downey's campus myself instead of just word of mouth. Downey allows you to sit-in or audit their campus for one week for FREE and with no obligation whatsoever. This one week sit-in is so much better than just a one or two hour orientation meeting that almost all the other schools offer (they go above and beyond at Downey!). My visit to Downey a few weeks back totally sealed the deal for me. Cindy Grafton, DAS (Downey Adult School) Court Reporting Director, was so professional, kind, and always on top of things... and I really appreciate that! She even has a FANTABULOUS (thanks to Cecy of CSR Nation for that wonderful new word!) site and blog. Click here for Downey Court Reporting School's website and click here for their awesome blog, which is full of so many helpful dictations that you can listen to on the site and/or download onto your own computer! Especially check out the "1400 Most Common Words" Dictation Part 1 and Part 2! LOVE LOVE LOVE! :) Downey has an updated computer lab with so many resources at your disposal. Every updated computer has several court reporting tutorials literally at your fingertips. Their lab has a vast array of CDs for you to practice with, and they sell them for only $5.00 apiece if you want to take them home. Awesome deal! Gonna stock up! I was really excited about Downey because my boyfriend works only 5 minutes away from the campus! I thought we could carpool together every day! But alas, it is not meant to be, the carpooling that is. Because he and I have different schedules, and to get the optimal use of Downey's facilities (opening at 7:00 a.m. and closing by 5:00 p.m.), I really need to take my own car to get to school earlier... as soon as it opens in fact! But it'll be nice to know that he's only 5 minutes away, and occasionally I'm sure we'll grab lunch together. ;) Lastly, I wanted to let you all know that this is not a blog post full of hate for Tri-Community. Tri has been VERY GOOD to me these past years, ESPECIALLY when it comes to the VERY LOW TUITION they offer! But I've found that Downey is my next step in my court reporting journey. It just makes more sense for me to go this way, so I'm gonna take it!

To Tri-Community...

To Downey Court Reporting, I can't wait to join you in January...

HOW DO THEY GET IT ALL DOWN?

Great video! Forward this to your friends who constantly ask, "How do you use that thing?" Meaning your steno machine.

Court Reporters

LEARNING FROM THE BAMBOO TREE

HAVE FUN... TAKE A STENO BREAK!

Hi, Everyone! I was just thinking, we court reporting students need to take a break every now and then from being on the steno machine, from learning new briefs, from trying to understand new theory concepts, from trying to take down every word that spits out of someone's mouth (writing verbatim isn't easy!). If we don't take a little breather, like in all things, we'll go crazy. Balance is key. So I just wanted to share with you guys the websites that I go to for fun... where it has nothing to do with steno anything... where I can relax, feel happy, refresh, and come back ready for more! RECHARGE, PEOPLE, RECHARGE! ;) Website #1... JCPenney has a runway show for the women's department. So fun to look at... because I, as a full-time student, can actually afford these prices! Woo hoo! Hehehe. Thus, watching all the clothing eye candy doesn't leave me more depressed (as it usually would if I can't afford the goodies!), but happy that there are great deals out there for beautiful, functional, comfortable clothes for half the bucks you get from designer tags. No luck, however, on any other department in JCPenney. They only have these runway shows for the ladies. Website #2... I love every show on HGTV, and I also love everything on its website! It's so fun to look at your favorite designers' portfolios or look up a project you can easily do yourself at home. Also, if you're like me and don't have a lot of time to watch TV (which is 99.9% of the court reporting students out there, I'm sure!), you can watch full episodes here. HGTV archives their shows for you for free! We don't have to program anything or register onto their site to view the shows at all! All we gotta do is point, click, and watch at your leisure! :) Website #3... I saved the best for last! Go to this website when you need a good laugh! The website is (drum roll please) roflrazzi.com. It's literally, ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing) + paparazzi. They basically take celeb photos and place funny captions by them. It's hilarious! You can make your own pics too and share them with everyone on the site. Loads of fun! Also, if you're not so big on celebrities, you can browse their "Lolcats," "Loldogs," or "Look-Alikes" tabs they have on this site. Here are some of my favorite pics from this site... You can NEVER go wrong with a Chuck Norris joke! HAHAHA! Click here for some very cool Steno Chuck Norris jokes submitted by Kathryn A. Thomas at CSR Nation. Too funny! ;D Lastly, to have fun and take a steno break, I'm not at all suggesting only going to a fun website for this. Go out! See your friends! Have a meal with your family! Go to the beach! Go to the movies! Or simply take a much needed nap! Hehehe. Whatever it is you need to do to recharge, do it. On that note, I gotta share awesome news with you! Tonight I'm going to Mickey's Trick-or-Treat Party in California Adventure! So excited! On Saturday, I called into 104.3 MYfm's radio station and was Caller #20... and I WON FOUR FREE TICKETS TO MICKEY'S TRICK-OR-TREAT PARTY AT CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE!!! I've been wanting to go to a theme park in forever... and now I get to... with three other lovely people (I'm taking my boyfriend and two friends -- double date!)... FOR FREE!!! What a blessing! Thank You, LORD! So psyched! ;) In the meantime, happy practicing on your steno machine! And happy recharging when you need to take a break! ;) Talk to you later, Christine (Steno Nerd)

ANOTHER KEY TO ACHIEVEMENT

YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING TO GET SOMETHING

Chapter 14 of "Life's Greatest Lessons: 20 Things That Matter" by Hal Urban Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it, establish your priorities, and go to work! - H. Lamar Hunt

ANOTHER KEY TO ACHIEVEMENT

Motivating yourself, setting goals, and working hard will take you a long way. Add self-discipline, and you'll go even farther. It's part of the formula for personal achievement. It may be the most essential part, because every successful person I've ever known or read about says it's the absolute key to getting things done. Without it, you'll accomplish little. With it, you'll accomplish more than yo0u ever dreamed possible. Real self-discipline is one of the most positive attributes a person can have. I like the way Webster's defines discipline: "Training that corrects, molds, strengthens, or perfects." What could be more positive than that? Self-discipline means training yourself to get things done. It means developing your own plan of achievement, committing yourself to it, and then following through. Self-discipline might also be looked upon as self-determination. When you practice it, you realize that you're in control of your own life. You alone determine what you'll accomplish, and when. And you alone decide what you'll make of your life. Ultimately, self-discipline means being in charge of yourself. My own definition of self-discipline is this: "getting yourself to do something, even though you don't feel like it, because the reward for getting it done far exceeds the temporary unpleasantness of the task itself." Let's say you want to get into the best possible physical condition. You can do it, but not without giving up something. It requires hard work, sacrifice, pain, and a whole lot of self-discipline. Ask any runner, swimmer, weight lifter, or triathlete is always enjoyable. You'll get a resounding NO for an answer. Ask if it means giving up something pleasant to do something that hurts, and the answer is YES. That seems like a pretty thing to do, but there must be a reason. Is it worth all the time, pain, and sacrifice? YES! The reward is greater than what you give up, and it lasts a lot longer. An important part of our personal development is learning to take responsibility for ourselves. That's what self-discipline is. It means accepting the fact that life is hard, and that nothing worthwhile ever comes easily or without a price. It means being willing to give up some temporary enjoyment in order to work at something that has a more lasting reward.