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Feeling Defeated...

I've been in school now for almost a year. Unfortunately, this will probably be my last term. Up until the beginning of this year I have managed to only work 3 days a week, and go to school. I currently work for the airline industry as a Flight Attendant and have been employed by my company for over 10 years. I guess I should of saw this coming, but every since our economy has been offiicially "tanked", I now only have about 2 years seniority. I am back "on-call" and can't hold a schedule which will allow me to only work Fri-Sun, which is what I had been doing since I started school. Still, I thought I would just take my time and work as hard as I could to finish, but the director of my schools program is pushing everyone to be done within 2 years. Initially I was hopeful that I could be. Now, I have to be realistic, there is no way. I was even called into the directors office for missing a few days of class, which was due to me having to work. How embarrassing. I felt like I was in high school again. And I am almost 40! I also can't afford to pay almost $4000 a trimester for more than another year. Realistically, 3- 3 1/2 years is the time frame that most students, I have spoke to, say it takes.....Then there is financial aid. I make too much to qualify for any type of grants, but don't make enough to continue supplementing my student loans with monthly payments. Especially without knowing if I will even have a job within the year if the economy gets even worse.
I am planning to finish out the term with the hopes that something changes. Hell, I've paid my tuition. I just feel so defeated and at loss what I should do next.

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Comment by Jonathan on March 19, 2009 at 20:34: Thank you for the encouragement. Haven't thrown in the towel yet..

J

Comment by Janiece Young on March 19, 2009 at 20:08: Jonathan,
I went to court reporting schoo at night and it took me way longer than you're talking about to finish. I finished and now I am an RPR , I do realtime for attorneys and I just did my first internet streaming job the other day. Court Reporting is a second profession for me. I LOVE it. It is worth all I went through to get here so if you think you like it, do whatever it takes to complete it and don't worry about people that get done faster than you. Just keep on truck'in, be the little engine that could and you will get there. You're in a bit of a rough patch. We've all been there. It will get better.
Good luck,
Janiece

Comment by Diane Hickman on March 19, 2009 at 8:46: If you want to do this job and still have the drive in your heart, you will find a way to get there. When I started school, I was 35 working full time w/an out-of-work husband and an 2-year old and an 8-month old baby. The first day of class I knew I made the right career choice. Three months into theory I was pregnant with our son. After theory I took one year off to watch him grow, but I still took an English class just to stay in the program. I didn't have to, but I didn't want to lose touch with my goal and went back to school after one year. Long story short, through job layoffs, babies, money worries, and balancing life, I reached my goal of becoming a court reporter. My point is, if you still feel the wind in your sails, you will find a way to get to your destination. Find out if there are any local colleges or adult schools that offer court reporting programs. They are much, much cheaper than private schools. And whoever told you to finish in 2 years isn't being realistic. Everybody has a different learning curb and some people can do it in spite of what life throws at them. But there are those (like me) who needed more time.

Comment by Jonathan on March 19, 2009 at 7:24: I am determined. I don't want to give up. AND I hate the feeling of defeat. I'm checking into SimplySteno, which is an online course. Wish me luck..

Jonathan

Comment by Jonathan on March 18, 2009 at 17:03: Thank you for the advice. I will look into it.

J

Comment by Glen Warner on March 18, 2009 at 16:10: Hi, Jonathan.

Since you've finished Theory, perhaps you should enroll in Simply Steno.

While the initial cost is a bit steep, since you have some time before you enroll, you can probably save up the $600 it will take to get started fairly easily.

As for how long it will take, that (of course!) varies from one student to the next ... but there are a lot of happy Simply Steno students out there.

Good luck to you ......

--gdw
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