I feel quite fortunate to have attended the NCRA convention in Philadelphia this past August. This year’s theme of “Dream. Believe. Inspire” were quite apropos. The wonderful experiences that I enjoyed were many. There were two things that I came away with that helped to not only clarify, but electrify my insatiable desire to become a court reporter, and I found both in my “favorite seminar” and my “favorite highlight” of the convention.
My favorite seminar was “Your Professional Career in Realtime Reporting.” This presentation opened up the possibilities of entering different arenas of court reporting that are available to me. I have always been a proponent (for myself)of becoming a freelance reporter, but I didn’t realize that there is such a demand for realtime reporters. Being the sports fanatic that I am, by becoming a realtime reporter I could parlay my court reporting talents into captioning various sporting events, allowing me to combine my enjoyment of sports with the incredible career of court reporting that awaits me at the end of this journey.
The highlight of the convention was, of course, the pizza party. Being an online student, it was fantastic meeting folks from the CCR community in person, sharing personal struggles and successes in the hopes of achieving the one, common goal of becoming a professional court reporter.
The convention was such an uplifting experience. I regret that I didn’t pursue this incredible career in my youth. My journey began a little over a year ago, and it won’t reach its climax until I achieve the seemingly impossible goal of 225. The seminars and experiences of the NCRA convention allowed me to “Dream,” made me “Believe,”and opened up my mind to allow those who have been there and done that, to “Inspire” me to achieve my goal; which is everyone’s goal of becoming a court reporter.