Changes with the Fall 2015 Semester~

Oooh, I like just writing the word "fall"! After the scorching and unrelenting heat of the European trip and this constant heat wave we've here up here in NorCal, I'm really looking forward to some cozy, cool weather...

Before I go further into that, let me first say that the NCRA Convention in NYC was even BETTER than the year before!! If you didn't think that was possible, but, yes, it was possible! Undoubtedly the highlight for me was getting to meet revered members of the Planet Depos team -- Kathy DiLorenzo, Lisa DiMonte, and Lisa Feissner!
These three women have been my contacts over the past two years or so since starting my steno journey, and I was overjoyed just getting to meet them face to face for the first time ever. Even thinking about it now gets my heart rate accelerating just a bit.

My speaking with them solidified and grounded my dream of working in Japanese as a deposition reporter, and it was the first time I felt like I had a real cement plan in place in order to make this goal come true. So far it's been all vigor and enthusiasm, but now my "dream" can officially be called a "SMART goal."
It's all very exciting, and it's helped me to better shape my future; and, needless to say, it involves TRAVEL! I won't get into it now for fear that I'll somehow taint it, but once things come together, I'll be sure to write about it.

Oh! And my wonderful husband greeted me after the convention with this lovely gift:

And that desk was free on the side o' the road!!

At long last, a "real" study space to call my own! I haven't really had one at home since that little rinky-dink set-up from my first months in study. Oooh. The memories~

I know do all of my practicing here and a good thing too because of the following reasons:

(1) Prior to this, I was studying super inefficiently at the kitchen table which was too high, too tight, and too much in the center of activities so I was at the mercy of whoever was passing by to engage in conversation and indulge in some wine (shhh!)
(2) Starting soon, I will be attending close remotely via our school's "Synchronous" program

Wha-whaaaat? you must be asking yourselves. Yes, it' true.

Ever since the end of spring semester and throughout summer, I started toying with the idea of attending class remotely in favor of face-to-face. There are also several reasons for this (can you tell that I like lists?):

(1) The high-speed classes don't have evening classes. Whereas before I could stay on campus from 9am-9pm and get in some serious study time in, it's pretty much over after class at 3pm or so.
(2) The lab hours themselves are shorter. Even without evening classes, I could really dive into practice sessions uninterrupted late into the evening, but the new school rules prohibit unmonitored students from staying in class. This has put more of a damper on my study time than I even realized initially.
(3) Ev360. Now that I'm making decent money on the side, I feel like I can afford the full $50/month deal of taking advantage of their live dictation classes, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.

If all goes well, my schedule should look a little something like this:

7am-10am: Ev360
12:30-3:30pm(?): WVM Synchronous
4pm-7pm: Ev360

That's, like, 9 SOLID HOURS of dictation practice every day! And it's all so well structured and focused!
Don't get me wrong, I LOOOOVED bicycling to work, and I will miss it, but I just see how much more sense it makes for me to stay home to take advantage of all the online classes without time spent on the preparation, commute, possible tire pops, showering, changing, etc...

I am attending the first week of the semester this way, which starts next week, and then may attend a few more weeks in person before the start of October.

I have nothing but high hopes for this semester! I'll write a quick separate entry about where I stand in my progress.

See you then!