Alice Hadden, an official from Portage, Ind., recently saw her court reporting career come full circle, a journey that started many years ago. “I freelanced for eight years and have been an official for almost seven years. I got into court reporting because my grandpa was a judge,” said Hadden.
She explained how her grandfather encouraged her to pursue court reporting: “One day I was expressing to him my frustration with the current college I was attending, and he just simply suggest that I go check out the College of Court Reporting in Hobart. I live in Portage, so it was really close for me. But without him, I never would have looked into court reporting to begin with. I feel like I owe my whole career to him. He is a big supporter of having court reporters in the courtroom!”
In October of this year, Hadden had the chance to show him just how far she’d come. “My grandpa is now a senior judge for the state. I have always dreamed of working with him, him getting to see my realtime, and seeing how far I have come. He’s always been proud of me and is one of my biggest supporters in life.” Hadden got to show off her realtime skills when her grandfather filled in for a couple of days in her courtroom.
Those two days — which Hadden described as a dream come true — went well, although Hadden said, “We were so busy that day that we barely talked besides going to lunch together.”
