Court Reporter Spotlight: Collen Young
Name: Colleen Young
How many years experience do you have being a court reporter?
25 years this November.
What made you want to be a court reporter?
After graduating high school it is hard to know what you want to do
the rest of your life. My mother encouraged me to try court reporting.
After 12 years of a catholic education I did try this, and after 3 and
a half years, sometimes goofing off, sometimes serious, decided to push
myself and finish. I did it for me. Just to prove to myself that I could
do it. After that I put "court reporting" in the closet. I
was intimidated by it. It scared me. I was at 20, still immature, I
suppose, dealing with reality. I worked at another job, had a good time,
but I knew I needed to do something real with my life. I decided in
1983 to give it a try. I basically hated it, only because I was still
scared, but stuck it out. I matured, lost the intimidation of lawyers,
of deadlines, and finally grew confident in myself.
What is your favorite thing about being a court reporter?
I like the flexibility of my job and the money is not bad either. I
find the medical malpractice very interesting. Professionals make better
witnesses than your average Joe. Many times think that I made the right
choice sticking it out. It works great having kids that you can work
around your schedule, but it does take dedication and responsibility.
You have to have a team-work ethic to your agency and co-freelancers.
When you are home, and you think, wow, I could just lay here another
15 minutes, but you don't, you get up and edit 15 pages. It's all very
psychological.
What advice would you have for someone who is thinking about becoming a court reporter?
If at first you don't succeed, hang in there. No one said life is easy. Court reporting is a good profession. For some reason it not very well known even after all these years. Just because you complete school writing 225 per minute there is so much more that goes into it. Being a good writer is only part of the job, and it takes a couple of years for that perfect fit.