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Danielle
01-04-2003, 05:33 PM
Hi everyone. My name is Danielle and I'm 23 years old. I have been reading this board for a few weeks now and thought I would introduce myself and tell you about my life. Feel free to comment or just feel better that you're not me...lol.

I went to school to be a court reporter and loved it. I was the second best writer in the class. I passed the state test on my first try and the national test on my second. I had found my career! I was sooo looking forward to the future. I was going to be independent, successful, rich and happy...

I lasted a year in the field. To say I hated it would be an understatement. I was in a constant state of anxiety. My body would shake as I got to where the deposition was being held, my hands would tremble as I tried to write on the machine and I would pray that every question was the last one. When it literally made me sick to my stomach to hear the phone ring or the fax machine go off, I knew it was time for me to do the best thing for myself and everyone around me...I quit. It was the hardest decision I ever had to make. I had worked my butt off for two years going to school every day for six hours, practicing/doing homework on the machine for two hours every night when I got home. It was all for nothing. I watched people struggle to pass tests, miss crazy amounts of days, never do homework and guess what? They're still in the field making a ton of money and some love it. It makes me sooo angry.

It took me a month to get another job. I worked as a medical transcriptionist for eight months and got laid off on 11/19 and have been unemployed since. I have been sending out resume after resume with no luck. I will never go back to court reporting even though sometimes I do want to start writing on it again and I don't have enough experience to be a medical transcriptionist unless it is with an agency and I still probably don't have enough experience for an agency to hire me.

I might have the opportunity, through unemployment, to go to school to get training. I'm going to take advantage of it but I'm so scared to put any more of my time into something for nothing. I don't really know what I want to do with my life. I'm afraid to pick the wrong field.

I thought I knew where my life was going and who I was going to share it with but I don't anymore. Who am I going to share it with? Well, that's a whole 'nother thread which I'll probably get to later.

Thanks for listening and sorry it was so long.

crazy-girl
01-05-2003, 03:36 PM
Hey Danielle,

Sorry you're going through such a rough time. I sort of went through what you went through. I graduated with a broadcast journalism degree. I was a big woman on campus: won awards for writing, won awards for leadership, loved my classes . . . generally just believed I'd be ruling the world by 30.

Well, I graduated and got a job producing tv news and I was good at it at first but then the stresses got to me and the people got to me and I didn't want to play the game anymore. I started having midnight panic attacks and I'd cry on the way to and from work. Just sob my eyes out. That's when I knew it was time to get out.

The economy is in the toilet so I had to take a job as an administrative assistant which is really horrid for me because I hate the work and I hate my boss and it's miles away from where I used to be at my producer job and miles away from where I thought I'd be.

One of the hardest things for me is realizing that it's OK to start over and that it's OK to be confused.

I have no real tips for you since I'm really still figuring this out on my own but I wanted to let you know that you're not alone. Not everyone out there is sitting pretty in Success-ville.

Rashelle
01-10-2003, 11:06 PM
Hi Danielle,
I just read your post, I must say that you are very impressive! You passed your state test on the first try and your national test on the second, Wow! What theory did you learn in school, also what cat software did you use? Also what steno machine did you have? Did you write realtime? I am very amazed that you finished court reporting school in 2 years. Maybe I can help you get a job as a scopist, if you need a little help finding a job, if you would not mind being a scopist. What city are your in? Please get back to me so you can tell me all about why you hated c/r. I would love to hear it.
RASHELLE