Should I even bother......

What should I do?  I attended a brick and mortar school that preached only accuracy.  Now I am in an online school that is teaching realtime theory.  We are tested separately on accuracy and speed.  We do a take that takes points off for only accuracy and a take that concentrates strictly on whether you can correctly transcribe your junk.  Last two tests:  78 accuracy, 98 speed (out of 100), 38 accuracy, 94 speed).  The higher in speed we go the more my accuracy fails.  I am thinking about just giving up because if I can't read my notes or my scopist can't read my notes, what is the point?  I have tried practicing more, but as with a regular QWERTY keyboard sometimes I make simple mistakes.  The only difference with QWERTY is I am not trying to use that to get down the record.  My mistakes are slowing me down, both on a regular keyboard and on my machine.  So, knowing I am going to constantly make the same mistakes what do I do?  My speed is alright, but I am not any good with accuracy.

If you have been in school for 8 years on and off and you are at 140, you average less than 20 words a minute speedbuilding per year.  Working with that figure, for you to get to 225, you have another 4-1/4 years to go before you finish.  Do the math.  Life gets in the way for everyone.  There is always a great reason to not complete the program.  If someone gets cancer or loses the ability to use a hand, those are excellent reasons not to move forward.  It has nothing to do with judgments.  It's simply a fact.  I'd hate to tell you how many people I know of who quit school at some point, not wanting to sooner because of family and friend pressures, etc. when the truth is, this is not for everyone.  I know people who became reporters, tried it for three months, hated it, and did something else (worried about student loans for 10 years).  The thousands of dollars of loans racked up - really sad.  If anyone quits, there's something great about that.  It's called doing what is  right for someone at that time.  It's NOT about judgment.  It's NOT about failure.  No such thing.  If someone is not supposed to complete this program, the worst thing people can do is to continue the schooling because of the social, family, image aspects, etc.  All of you should be totally supported in whatever you end up doing.  Stop placing lables on yourselves.  Stop this "failure" stuff.  Sticking with it IF it's not right is failure because it won't happen ultimately.  If it's something each individual wants badly enough, don't ask anyone what you should do, what others did (it's totally irrelevant), and simply put in the hours.  If it's not right in the end, cut your losses and do what you were meant to do on this earth.  Find your joy.

NEVER GIVE UP! That's the only sure way to failure. I would practice both speed and accuracy, but not at the same time. You need to have focused practice for each.

Let's say you're a 100 student, you would push for speed at 120 words per minute or so focusing on keeping your hands moving and no hesitation.

For accuracy practice, you would slow down to 80 words per minute to ingrain proper muscle memory, concentrating on getting the write outline for the dictated material.

If you find you are making the same misstakes, you should write the misstakes down and drill on them until they are not misstakes anymore.

Speed without accuracy is not a marketable skill. Work on both now. You CAN perfect both. Once you get them both under control, you will be a REALTIME writer upon graduation -- the cream of the crop.

Hang in there. I know you can do it. If I can help you in any way, please let me know.

Blessings,

Sorry...right outline -- not write. Slow down when proofing :-)

I'm not sure how much time you have put into your schooling but I guess you need to be very clear about your objective and your goal.  Are you learning court reporting to be a court reporter or to make money?  Did you choose court reporting because of the money and if so then the time it takes should not be a detering factor to completing your goal.  If you choose court reporting because you thought you would be done in a time frame to get you to a place you wanted to be you are only making the process harder on yourself.

So what does your vision board look like?  Is it filled with things you buy with money or is filled with things you need to pay off or is it filled with _________ (you fill in the blank)?  Then decide how much time you will devote, how much energy you will devote, and how much you really want to finish your court reporting journey.

I've been doing the court reporting school thing for 8 years on and off and am at 140 and I have decided to go back to strengthen my theory before I try again to pass tests.

You have to get control.  It's like doing math.  If there's no solid base, you're lost.  Do not be afraid to go back to a slower speed and get control of your writing.  If you're floundering all over the place, you're not accurate.  Practice, practice, practice.  The plateaus hit and make things frustrating, but we've all been there.  Don't lose sight of your goal.  Believe me, it will come.  If you have a way of slowing down a practice session, do it if you have to to work through the hard spots then put it back.  You'll be pleasantly surprised.

I, for one, am getting extremely disappointed with the schools out there for student court reporters.  This realtime stuff when you are a student is literally B.S.  Speed is all that matters.  Pass the CSR.  Realtime is a long-time learned skill.

I'm an agency owner (oops, I mean it owns me), and realtime belongs to the reporters with years behind them.  I would hate it if a lawyer-client called and said they didn't want to PAY for the realtime as it was useless since I'd probably have to convey that message to the reporter.  What an ego deflater.  Pass the CSR, then pass the Merit, then pass the CRR, then pass the Contest!!  Then tell everybody to jump in the lake.  (Do I sound somewhat jaded?)

I agree with Anita Paul Johnston.  Reporting isn't for everyone, and it should be possible to recognize from a personal point of view fairly early that it isn't in the cards.  I wish I could play the piano, and I took piano lessons, but I can't, I don't have the skill.  Oh, well.  Moving on is sometimes a great thing.

I sat in the 160-170 class for a year, after passing all of the other speeds in a month or two.  My writing turned to garbage in that class.  What really helped me was finger exercises (yes, they are boring, but did them while watching TV and every morning before I started school), and I started buying People magazine (for the bigger print) and wrote it slowly and accurately from cover to cover.  That way I got to keep up on my Hollywood gossip and moved on to 180 in no time.  Couldn't believe how much it improved my accuracy.  You might want to give it a try.  At the time, my dad built a holder for the magazine that I could attach to my tripod.  It worked great.   Good luck, and try to keep your spirits up.