frisolone 2016

On May 4, 2016, CCR hosted a Meet the Court Reporting Community online event. We had the opportunity to hear from Anthony Frisolone. He is an Official Court Reporter in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. He is a Certified Realtime Reporter and also certified by NCRA as a Realtime Systems Administrator. He is also a Stenograph Certified Independent Training Agent offering training and education on Stenograph's Case CATalyst software. He regularly presents seminars to reporting firms and court reporting associations as well as conducts one-on-one training for court reporters who desire a more personalized educational experience. We wanted to share his amazing story with you.

 

“Reporting changed my life. I mean, I was a 20-year-old kid living in the Bronx, New York, working class family. I was the first to graduate college. The school I graduated from offered an associate’s degree. I was the first among my friends to have a solid full-time job. I bought a new car a year or two later after paying off my student loans, which, yeah, paid in two years. I mean, that’s the kind of money you can potentially bring in as a new reporter. Granted, I was staying at home with my family. But fast forwarding into my adult life, being married and having two kids. I have a beautiful house, and I’m able to put my kids through private school, and there’s not a worry about food on the table or the bills getting paid. I mean, the basics of life you don’t have to sweat.

 

I think that’s how it’s changed my life. In 22 years, I’ve seen friends of mine get laid off for months or years at a time from the jobs in their chosen professions. Knock on wood. I’ve never had to worry about that. I’ve always had a steady job, had steady employment, even working for the government and going through the sequestration situation of a couple years ago. We didn’t have to worry because the chief clerk in our courthouse -- he did everything he could to keep us working. So hopefully it stays that way. I’ve met interesting people. I’ve met celebrities. I’ve met brilliant, brilliant people that I’ve learned so much from, and I’ve heard interesting things and have been places I never thought I would be -- inside buildings and things that most normal people don’t get to see and hear things that blew my mind. Just recently, you walk away from situations like that, and you’re like, ‘Wow. I can’t believe this is going on.’ It is. That’s how it’s changed my life. I came into this job as a kid. It taught me to grow up and have responsibilities and probably grow up faster than most 20-year-old guys have to grow up, but I’m glad for it.”