Why wait?

Vanese Killinbeck, RPR, CRR, a freelancer from Palm Coast, Fla., is the winner of a $100 Amazon gift card from NCRA for renewing her membership early. “When you know something is good for you, why wait?” Killinbeck says. “NCRA gives us all the resources we need to be successful. NCRA needs monetary resources to keep the community going, so my early renewal is an act of faith, the least I could do. NCRA has done their part, so it just makes sense for me to do mine.”

JCR | How did you learn about the career of court reporting?

VK | Court reporting was introduced to me in my junior year of high school in New York City. It was going to be removed from the curriculum, but they decided to offer it for one final semester. I cannot remember the theory taught, but I absolutely loved it. I lived for it. I would never miss a court reporting day. The year was 1999. We had paper and lots of it. I remember traipsing through the halls with paper steno notes that only I could read.

Everyone else was complaining that this class was an absolute waste of their time, and they would never ever use these concepts in real life. While they didn’t put those skills to use later in life, I certainly did. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have been introduced to it so early in life.

Who knew in that class I would find my first love. Court reporting is not just about the Q’s and A’s, transcript production, and the daily grind. As court reporters we are preservers of the record. Court reporting is a love that I never knew existed. If they would not have offered that class for the final semester, I would still be looking for my purpose in life.

Court reporting has provided me with a host of opportunities. I’ve traveled to places I have only dreamt about. It introduced me to a whole new world and way of life.

I became a court reporter because I was fired from a job. Imagine that. Firing me? Talk about steps being ordered. Considering I had free time on my hands, I decided to browse the help wanted ads for a new job. The year was 2003. I came across an ad for a court reporting school in my area. I enrolled in school because I was unemployed, and the rest is history.

JCR | What does NCRA membership mean to you?

VK | Reporting before having an NCRA membership meant there was a lack of clarity and direction in my career. Yes, I had love and purpose, but as we always say, it takes a village to raise a child.

In the beginning of my court reporting career, I was a child. And with NCRA’s help, I have become a mature, distinguished, and highly motivated court reporter. NCRA has created a community of like-minded court reporting believers who desire to provide the resources, love, and the mutual respect needed to not just survive but to thrive in the field of court reporting.