*Health *Hands *Homework *Help
By Margary Rogers
Happy 2026-2027 school year, Students!
As you head back to school, I want you to know this from the start: I see you.
I see the student who is excited about this wonderful career, but a little nervous about what the semester will bring. I see the student who has been at this for a little longer than expected and is wondering, “Am I ever going to finish school?” I see the student balancing school with work, children, relationships, bills, and everything else life throws at you. I also see the student who may have already had a difficult semester and is determined to come back stronger, confident, and more resilient.
My name is Margary Rogers, RPR, CRI, and I am honored to serve as your 2026-2027 Chair of the NCRA Student/Teacher Committee. After more than 25 years in the stenographic profession, I have learned that becoming a successful stenographer requires much more than learning a theory, passing a speed test, or memorizing thousands of briefs. It requires resilience, discipline, community, and sometimes it simply requires getting up the next day and trying again.
I have worked as a freelance reporter, official reporter, and CART provider. I have been a court reporting student, and I currently serve as an Adjunct Instructor at Macomb Community College. I am a parent of a teenage daughter in high school. So I can relate to many areas of your steno journey.
As we begin this school year, I want you to remember these four Hs.
HEALTH
Your health matters.
Court reporting school can consume your life if you let it. You may find yourself practicing early in the morning or late at night, working a day job and heading straight to court reporting class at night, squeezing in practice in between changing diapers and fixing a meal. But your body and mind need care, too.
Get enough sleep, drink plenty of water, and eat balanced meals instead of relying on whatever you can grab between classes. Add yourself to your calendar, block off some “Me Time.” Stretch your hands, wrists, neck, and shoulders. TAKE BREAKS!
And please do not be ashamed to acknowledge when you are overwhelmed. The steno habits that you create today will follow you when you become a professional reporter. So create systems, structure, and strategy now.
Taking care of yourself isn’t taking time away from your education. It is part of your education.
HANDS
Your hands are your tools. Treat them like the valuable tools that they are. Pay attention to your posture, your tension, your keystrokes, the height of your steno machine, and how your body feels while you’re writing. Do not wait until something hurts badly before you make adjustments.
And remember speed isn’t everything. Accuracy, consistency, theory mastery, and clean writing matter. As a student, your goal isn’t simply to write faster. Your goal is to develop the skill and confidence to produce an accurate record when it matters most. Some days your writing will feel absolutely amazing. Other days your steno machine may seem to have personally offended you. LOL. But KEEP GOING!
HOMEWORK
I know “life be lifing,” but … yes, you have to do the work. There are no shortcuts around practice. Watching someone else succeed won’t make you faster. Thinking about practicing won’t make you faster. Talking to or hugging your steno machine definitely will not make you faster. You have to put in the writing time. I always tell my students to practice smarter, not longer.
Set realistic goals, practice intentionally, and focus on the areas where you struggle. Build your vocabulary, read back your notes, analyze your errors, and celebrate small improvements. Sometimes we want the promise before the process, but the process is necessary. So, do the necessary work. Build a strong foundation so that you can stand strong and steady.
Please do not measure your journey against someone else’s. Your journey is unique to you. The student sitting next to you in class or online may pass a test you did not pass. Someone who started after you may graduate before you. I know that happened to me. That does not mean you are failing. Their timeline is not your timeline.
HELP
Let’s conclude with the most important H of them all.
Ask for help. Ask your instructors questions. There is no stupid question in court reporting. Find a practice partner. Join a study group. There are several court reporting practice groups online.
Connect with working reporters. Take advantage of NCRA’s Facebook groups, student resources, and the Learning Center for student webinars. Attend NCRA student-focused webinars that will be held throughout the year hosted by NCRA’s Student/Teacher Committee.
Subscribe to the NCRA student newsletter, Up-to-Speed, and encourage other students to subscribe.
There is strength in saying,“I do not understand this yet.” There is nothing to be ashamed of. You do not have to figure out everything by yourself. There are many helpful court reporters in our industry.
If you are an instructor reading this newsletter, remember that your students do not just need information. They need encouragement, honesty, accountability, and someone who believes they can make it.
As your 2026-2027 Student/Teacher Committee Chair, I want to help strengthen the connection between students, teachers, NCRA, and the profession. To every student returning this semester: Give yourself permission to be a work in progress.
There will be days when you will feel unstoppable and days when you will question everything. There will be tests you pass with 99 percent accuracy and tests that make you want to throw your machine out the window.
DON’T THROW THE MACHINE! LOL. Take a breath and figure out what went wrong. Ask for help and continue to practice.
One day you will look back and realize that all those hours of practice, all those frustrating tests, all those moments when you wondered whether you could do it were building the awesome reporter you were meant to become.
Take care of your Health. Protect your Hands. Do your Homework. Ask for Help. Most important: Do not give up.
Welcome back to school. Let’s continue this steno journey together.
Remember to encourage fellow students to subscribe to this Up-to-Speed newsletter.
We hope that you can join us Aug. 5-7, 2027 in Kansas City, Mo., for the NCRA Conference & Expo..
Margary Rogers, RPR, CRI
2026-2027 NCRA Student/Teacher Committee Chair
Margary Rogers, RPR, CRI, is a CART captioner and freelancer in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at mfrogers1@gmail.com.
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