The National Court Reporters Foundation Student Intern Scholarship is now open for nominations. Two $1000 awards will be given to high-achieving court reporting students who have completed the internship portion of their education. Eligibility requirements include current NCRA student membership, speed test requirements, and a minimum 3.5 GPA. Applicants must be nominated by their court reporting programs and must also submit a letter of recommendation from an instructor or intern supervisor along with an essay. Judicial, CART, and captioning students are encouraged to apply. Please visit the NCRF Student Intern Scholarship page for full submission details.
The 2020 winners of the scholarship were Andriana Bilous of Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) in Alberta, Canada, and Jessica Shines, RPR, of MacCormac College in Chicago, Ill.
Shines graduated from MacCormac in December 2020, and passed her RPR in March 2021. She is now working as a freelancer in Richmond, Va. Winning the scholarship, says Shines, “meant that other reporters believed in me. I felt supported, and I also felt like I could see the finish line and ask for help getting there. Since then I’ve seen so many times how generous reporters can be in a lot of ways.”
While she was in school, Shines served on NCRA’s Student/Teacher Committee and Brand Ambassadors Council. Right now she is focusing on her first year of reporting and planning to join her state association.
“I want to eventually be an official reporter in a small town in North Carolina,” says Shines. “Right now I’m just trying to learn as much as I can from other reporters, stay faithful in practicing, turn in good work, and learn about the business side of reporting. Being a freelancer is so much fun and a good way to learn a little of everything, so officialship can wait for a few years. Oh, and I want to be an RMR by the end of next year!”
Andriana Bilous said she feels honored to have received a scholarship as well. “This program has been so tough and such a challenge, and I think receiving this award feels like all the hours and effort that has been put into this program has been recognized. Of course, I could not have done any of this without the wonderful staff at NAIT. The support and care that they have given me and to all students really is phenomenal, and our successes really show that,” she adds.
The NCRF scholarship program promotes encouragement and incentives for rising student court reporters and newly appointed court reporters to learn and strive for excellence. The scholarship program is supported by donations to NCRF, which are tax deductible. For more information about NCRF and other scholarship opportunities, email ncrfoundation@ncra.org.
