100 Speed Level Passed!

I finally found out today (Sunday) that my 100 QA test from last Thursday was a pass.
I knew it, knew it, knew it, but needed to wait until the professor was back from vacation to get the offiicial news.
And what wonderful news to receive! That means that I am officially out of the 100 level tests and on to 120!
I was absolutely convinced that I had passed an earlier 100 QA test on Monday, but ended up failing 4 errors over the limit. That was a lesson in not getting too cocky, indeed!

As with the previous level, I'll do a handy-dandy breakdown again of the pass dates, just for old time's sake:
80 Lit -- May 15, 2013
100 JC -- June 6, 2013
100 QA -- June 13, 2013

And mind you, there were nearly two solid weeks of vacation in between, so one can only imagine if I hadn't had that time off to "slack." As a reminder, imagine how those three weeks in August will be!! Thanks to Stenograph U, though, I have a feeling that I'll be able to stay sharp.

My goal for the end of month was to pass all of my 100 tests, and so I still have two more weeks left in the month to set a new goal. Let see...I should try passing the 100 Lit test. Yes, that's right.

Surprisingly enough, it is interesting to note that two of my 100 level tests were passed through Stenograph U! I hope that this does not mean I am lulled into the belief that only Stenograph U is the way to go!
And while we're on the subject of goals, I should also aim to pass a few more 100-level tests with a decent return grade.

Crazy, I'll now be sitting in at the 140-level class in order to focus more intensively on the 120 tests. I should also mention that last week, I did an optional three-voice 120 test just for kicks, and completed it with only--gasp!--80 errors! That may seem like a doozy, but hey, it's only in the double-digits.

Tomorrow, June 17 is also the first day of my academic classes (Business Law and Concepts of Criminal Law) so that should be interesting. Just reading the syllabus for one makes it seem overwhelming, but you know how that first day of class always makes you think, "How on earth am I going to manage it?!?!" but I'm confident that I simply will.

Now, hopefully I can just get that one textbook off of Craigslist for $25... That'd be real nice.
I really should write up a blog about my new laptop that I got! Perhaps next week.

JC 100 Pass + Summer Session

Okay, so maybe hearing about whenever I pass a test one at a time isn't so interesting, but I'm still pretty darned proud!

As the subject header reads, I passed my first Jury Charge 100 test on May 6th 2013! AND it was a test done through Stenograph University with just 5 errors!

Before I get into it, let me explain a little about how the Summer semester is shaping up to be pretty different from Spring:

■No Night Classes■

That's right, they were not able to get enough students enrolled to fill up the minimum requirement for night classes, sooooo there are only daytime speedbuilding classes.

What this means for me are a few things:

- 9am-5pm routine! Mind you Spring semester's schedule was typically 9am-9pm, so this is a pretty significant difference in amount of time on campus. For better (getting home early to translate) or for worse...

- One test opportunity a day! Before, I had two opportunities a day, but now there is only one.

- On Thursday nights only, one of the instructors has been kind enough to volunteer to stay later to provide more dictation practice and even a test opportunity! I took the QA 100 last night, and I think it may have been a "good fail." I'll see when I transcribe it on Monday.

■Assigned/Academic Homework■

Seeing as I had just started Theory I last semester, I was technically exempt from having to do the "academic" portion of class. All I had to do was focus on Bridge lessons and speedbuilding.

But do you think I settled for that? Of course not! I went ahead and learned the 300 English vocabulary words, completed the sample sentence assignment for it, and and then passed the final exam with a score of 198/200!

That means that this semester requires Legal Vocabulary which involves NOT ONLY learning the vocabulary and passing the final exam, but also steno-writing out the vocab lists as well as transcribing/submitting short Legal-centric dictations on tape.

"Assigned Homework" are random practice dictation, worksheets, etc that the teacher comes up with. There are going to be 9 total, to be distributed along the 9 weeks of summer session. I think that they're designed to ensure that people are dedicating some time OUTSIDE the classroom to think/do/care about steno. These are quite easy and I aim to get them done by June 17, becaaaaause...

■Additional Classes■

Seeing as I don't have night classes, I've decided to take two (!) online classes: 1) Business Law and 2) Concepts of Criminal Law

Both classes begin June 17, which is why I'm aiming to get as much of the speedbuilding class homework out of the way before then. I've never taken a 100% online class like this before, so I'm curious what it will entail.

These credits will go towards my qualifications to take the CSR exam, so I'm stoked.

■Stenograph University■

As I mentioned above, I dished out $165 for the 7 months of this online service. It provides not only multiple practice dictation, optionals, but also DAILY TEST OPPORTUNITIES (Monday-Thursday).

THUS, I will actually get to have two test opportunities a day, just like the good old days!

I know it may sound like I'm obsessive about passing tests, and I understand that there is much more than just tests, but I like to know when I pass tests because they show that not only do have I have SOME comfort with that speed, but I can also do it under "pressure"!

I'm still at the stage with 100 tests where my heart starts to pound really hard and my fingers get sweaty. It's something that I have to get through because that is the kind of pressure one will experience of the job. Plus, passing tests really gets my confidence up, which helps me to learn and practice, which helps me to pass tests, which helps me to... Well, you get the idea.

Surprisingly enough, I didn't get the shakes at all with the online JC 100 test--maybe because I didn't really believe I had a chance in hell...but surprise!

Wow, what a doozy of an entry. And no pictures! Me so dull! Anyhoo, this just goes to show that even with these changes in the class schedule, I think I still have a pretty good chance of completing my goal of passing 100 level tests. I mean, I now only have one left to go and there are still 8 weeks left in the semester!

Thanks for reading! Hopefully these entries will help those new or interested in court reporting see a little of the process one goes through in school.