Members who attended the 2013 NCRA Convention & Expo in Nashville, Tenn., may remember having the opportunity to share their stories of getting through court reporting school. Those stories, from more than 60 working court reporters, captioners, and students, were then organized into a special collection, Court Reporter Survival Guide: School Success Stories, which NCRA published earlier this year and is now available in the NCRA store.
“This collection is a true Chicken Soup for the Soul-type book that offers advice and insight from the only people who really understand the ins and outs of court reporting: other court reporters and captioners,” said Jim Cudahy, executive director and CEO of NCRA.
“I felt compelled to contribute my experience to this book to add a little humor and reality to our profession. Court reporting school is stressful and difficult, but having a few laughs along the way makes the experience a bit more bearable,” said Diana Netherton, RPR, an official court reporter from Lancaster, Pa.
This book’s publication coincides with NCRA’s Take Note campaign. The campaign, which launched Sept. 8, is based on an independently commissioned study of the court reporting profession by research firm Ducker Worldwide. The study found that while currently the supply and demand for court reporters is balanced, within the next five years, the need for working court reporters will translate to some 5,500 jobs available in the United States due in large part to today’s working professionals reaching retirement age.
“I contributed to this book as a way to encourage students to ‘hang in there’ during court reporting school, which can be very difficult, because I consider court reporters to play a crucial role in our legal system,” said Marcia Arberman, RPR, a freelance court reporter from Atlanta, Ga.
NCRA has a template press release for every contributor to distribute to the contributor’s hometown media outlets. In addition, NCRA has been posting excerpts from the book on its social media sites. So far, the response has been positive.
The next book in the Court Reporter Survival Guide series will discuss work/life balance, tackling topics like challenges to maintaining balance, finding support both personally and professionally, and how to release stress at the end of the day. Go to NCRA.org/2014book to share your story.
