After her career as a flight attendant was grounded, Catalina Chiang Yuri, from Orlando Fla., found a new path to success. “It is not an exaggeration to say that a career in stenography has the capacity to take you so many places,” she says. “There are infinite tracks and opportunities if you stay the course.”
UTS | Why court reporting? What led you to the profession?
CC | Before court reporting, I was working as a flight attendant for a major airline. At the height of the pandemic, I was furloughed and forced to reconsider my career. A friend of mine had just begun studying stenography and she urged me to look into it, believing it would be a good fit for me. I haven’t looked back since. With the support of my family, I have been able to use this time in school to be home with my daughter in this critical period of her development. Now that she is finally of school age, it’s my time to shine.
UTS | What do you love about stenography?
CC | It is not an exaggeration to say that a career in stenography has the capacity to take you so many places. There is so much flexibility in the field between working as an official, freelancer, or CART captioner, and you can take your skillset and apply it to any of these paths should you need a change. I love that this career challenges us to be constant learners.
UTS | What does NCRA membership mean to you? Has it opened up any new doors or opportunities for you?
CC | Being a student in stenography can be a long, lonely, and arduous process and I find that my NCRA membership motivates me to keep the end goal in mind. Our industry is ever evolving and there are so many resources that students can find to supplement their learning. You can attend webinars and even view recorded NCRA Conference sessions [through the NCRA Learning Center ]. A student membership also delineates the path to becoming a professional, giving you access to mentors, certification, and the tools you need to be a competitive applicant.
UTS | Tell us about your service on the NCRA Student/Teacher Committee.
CC | This is my third year serving on the Student/Teacher Committee. It’s been a really gratifying experience. I’ve been fortunate enough to help plan and lead webinars and sessions at NCRA Conferences, and most importantly, bring student issues to the forefront. Everyone I’ve come across here has been so enthusiastic about student success. I really admire the professionals I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside. They put in countless hours to make this organizational better for us all.
I was nominated for this position after attending the NCRA Conference & Expo in Orlando, but I don’t think many students realize that this is a position that anyone can apply for. I encourage you to apply – you never know where this opportunity could lead you!
UTS | What would you say to someone who is considering a career in court reporting or captioning?
CC | People will try to convince you that stenography is a dying art, but that is simply a lack of understanding of how stenography works. There are infinite tracks and opportunities if you stay the course. We all need reminders of this, so it’s important to build community through mentorship or by speaking to other students who are in a similar age or point in life. Everyone in this community is eager to help and excited you’re here!
UTS | What is your dream job/Where do you see yourself in five years?
CC | My dream job is to work as a CART captioner at a university, and in five years I hope to be able to make the move to a larger city with more disability advocacy. I like that generally, when you caption for a semester, you have the consistency of captioning the same classes every week. I plan to have my CRC (Certified Realtime Captioner) certification to help me stand out and have more access to work. During the summers, when jobs for educational CART are not as frequent, I want to caption for meetings, theatre, and other events.
Catalina Chiang Yuri, from Orlando, Fla., is a student at SimplySteno. She can be reached at cchiang15@gmail.com.
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