Today I was looking through some saved e-mails I had, and I came across an e-mail that was 2 years old I had sent to one of my former steno teachers from my online court reporting days at Bryan College. In the e-mail, I was asking her a few questions about how to practice, and I will directly quote what I also said in the e-mail: "It seems like I'm never going to be able to pass these stupid 120 literary tests that always have a ton of multi-syllabic words in them that always trip me up." This made me smile. This made me laugh. HA! 120! I'm at 200/225 right now, and I thought 120 was hard?! It just goes to show you that no matter how hard it seems to you at the time, you will ALWAYS get through the next speed if you just keep at it and keep practicing. No speed is impossible no matter how much you believe it at the time. You WILL progress, and you WILL pass those speed tests if you don't give up.
Anytime in the future that I have this same mentality of, oh, I'll never pass this speed. It's too hard, I will always refer back to this e-mail. I felt so happy knowing that I DID progress even though I thought it was impossible at the time. That's how it is with every speed. Just practice 10-15wpm higher than your goal speed, and then your goal speed will sound slower. Just keep practicing that way and you will break through the speed. Also, don't forget to end every practice session with a lower speed than your goal - if not to clean up your notes, but to also feel a lot better and end your practice session on a great note.
Another bit of advice that I have found out during my steno schooling: When you're in a high enough speed to where you can go out and do intern court and depo hours, do it! Go beyond the hours you need to get a better sense of what the real world will sound like, because it is NOT even close to how it is in school. People never talk at a consistent speed, and I still find myself getting a little upset about taking down how people normally talk because my brain can't switch gears that fast sometimes. We've only been trained to write down the same sustained speed. I'm working on it, though. I'm practicing more by writing on my machine to the TV shows or news reports. The news is really great because they usually talk pretty fast. Also, HLN is a great TV station too because they will show actual trials. I've also looked up some depositions on YouTube which are still pretty challenging to me, but I KNOW I will get better at it! (I just need to constantly refer back to that e-mail I sent my teacher.) :)
Oh, and I also find that when I go and do court hours, it just gets me pumped and ready to get out of school that much quicker because I enjoy it immensely. I can't wait to be starting a job that I'm going to love and get extreme fulfillment and satisfaction from. So if you're ever feeling like quitting or you hit a wall in speeds, just go do some court or depo hours and get that excitement again. It always helps me.
