At a Crossroads

The title of this post is a phrase that I've been using quite frequently to summarize to people where I am in my steno journey (aka, on the road to certification.)

You see, there are five ways to qualify in order to take the California's CSR exam
(1) Through a school
(2) Be RPR-Certified
(3) Have already worked a year as a reporter
(4) Be a Hearing Reporter
(5) Hold an equivalent state's CSR certification

Those first two are bolded because they're BOTH equally at the same distance away from allowing me to qualify!

(1) Through a school
--> At present, I have only the 180 4-V at 98% to pass and then have to pass the MOCK 200 4-V at 97.5%!

(2) Be RPR-Certified
--> Having passed the 200 JC earlier this year and the WKT last year, that just leaves two more legs: 180 Lit and 225 QA.

That's two tests down either path!! I'm freakin' out!!!!!
I'm really vacillating between which will be the final winner, but with all the Ev360 practice I've been doing at the 180 Lit and 225 QA level, I want to think that the RPR may happen first.
Then again, by that same logic, that has to mean that I'm really pretty gosh darned comfortable at the 180 4-V level. I'll probably have a better grasp of my chances once the school semester starts up again and I hear how the 4-V tests are being read.

One of the big reasons why the RPR feels like a more obvious choice is because those tests are given p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y. No stumbling, no messing up, no false interruptions, no people forgetting their lines, etc.
I swear, if our 180 4-V tests were delivered with the quality that the RPRs are, I KNOW I would've passed it months ago.

I'd like to take a minute to just sort of reflect on my progress. I mean, wow! These are the exit speeds we're talking about! I get to say that! "Exit speed." Back in the day, I had only an inkling of what that meant, what it felt like.
There's a stack of plastic trays in that lab from which you can select cover sheets to attach to your transcript submissions. They start on the left side with the Theory, Bridge, 80, 100, 120 and 140 speeds. Then on the right-hand side column is the 160, 180, 200, and MOCK sheets. I was standing, looking at them with a friend over a year ago and I said, "Someday, we'll reach that tray. Isn't that something?"

And it's happened. It's actually happened for a while as I've been drawing from the 200 shelf since the spring semester or so, but the Mocks...Oh, I just can't wait. I've always wanted to tell that story and I thought that now was an appropriate time.

Oh! In related news, I'm honored to have been asked by one of our instructors to help run the Thursday night Dictionary Building CAT class. Eclipse is my love and my passion, so I am very excited about being in a position to help my fellow students.

That's about all I wanted to share for now on the subject of my progress.
As with my previous post, I'll probably next write after a particularly engaging seminar/convention or test pass. Until then!