A Little About Me

First I thought I'd share my history with you and how I came to have this blog...

I've wanted to be a writer since I was seven-years-old. I still have short stories I wrote as a child in a big keepsake box in my closet. Back then my stories were written in pencil and full of misspelled words. Needless to say, my writing has changed a lot since then.

In high school I was a big sports fan and decided I wanted to be a sports journalist. Traveling with a sports team, interviewing players, getting to write about games was my ultimate dream. But sadly, not all dreams were meant to come true.

In college it seemed as if I faced one obstacle after another. I attended a local school that was all wrong for me from the start. Classes were so large that in order to receive personal attention from my teachers, I had to make the initial contact. Being the shy, insecure girl I was, I found it hard to ask anyone for help. As a result, I began to languish like a grape on a vine that shrivels into itself. I became so discouraged I just decided one day to never go back.

Fast forward a couple years later to college number two. I was again in a local school, but this one was much different. This one had small classes and tons of personal attention from teachers who saw potential in me that I couldn't see in myself. And most importantly, since I loved the school, I put my all into it. Not unlike most students in this country, there was one HUGE roadblock when it came to college, and that roadblock was—you guessed it—money. I was not allowed to register for any more classes until I paid off my tuition balance, which I am currently paying off monthly.

Fast forward to yet another school, but this time I changed my major. I decided to become a different kind of reporter. I decided to become a court reporter. The idea of my work being an official record for years to come, long after I was gone, intrigued me. Also, not unlike a journalist, I would report on the happenings of the day.  I've always been interested in reporting.  Even as a child, when we would act out a story in class, I would always choose to be the narrator.  I enjoy in giving the story straight to readers and have them form their own opinions.  With court reporting I can still do that. 

 In the summer of 2011, when I was between jobs, I attended an open house for the only court reporting school in the five boroughs. At the time I was unemployed, but I decided to get a job before I would start classes. Luckily I answered an ad online and got a job in a field somewhat related to court reporting. I began my job as a hearing recorder in November of 2011, where I still work today. I audio record Department of Ed. hearings to be transcribed later by a transcriptionist. My job helps with my court reporting classes because I get used to listening to hours of testimony and I think of ways to write new words on my sten machine. I started school the following January.

All of my teachers are currently working court reporters. One teacher in particular used to travel to press conferences for sporting events such as the Masters and the Olympics, and transcribed the entire press conference for sports reporters. When I found that I could still work in sports as a court reporter, I was over the moon. I thought, this profession is exactly what I'm looking for; it combines two of my interests, sports and traveling.

In addition to stenography classes at night, I also take academic courses. This semester it's a writing and speaking class called Oral and Written Communications. The writing part of the class I definitely won't have a problem with. It's the speaking part that concerns me. I was never comfortable speaking in front of a crowd. Good thing blogs allow me to do just that. I can get my message across to a big audience without actually having to face them.

The first night of class I created this wonderful blog you see before you. I am no stranger to blogs. I used to have one about the Yankees, until I became too busy with work and school to update it. I also have expeience writing for different websites.With this blog, I'll make the time to update as often as I can. I look forward to sharing my writing with all of you in the future.