South Bend woman finds her calling as a court reporter

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - Stephanie Oldeck wanted to be a book editor.

She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Central Michigan University and set out to fulfill her dream of editing the great American novel. But, she had no luck finding a job.

'œAll of the avenues that I tried to pursue never worked out,'ť she said. So, she had to make a career shift before her career really started. She worked as an archivist in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, before moving to South Bend to take a job as a microfilm specialist at the county archives.

Then Oldeck's mother suggested that she try her hand at court reporting.

Anyone who has watched a courtroom drama on television might have missed the person sitting near the judge busily tapping on a stenography machine. The court reporter seems oblivious to the drama swirling around them right up to that moment when the judge or one of the lawyers asks the court reporter to read the testimony given by a witness.

The court reporter reads that testimony back verbatim. They make it look easy. It's not. Yet, Oldeck, who is a student at the College of Court Reporting in Valparaiso, has proven to be a quick study.

She entered the college in February 2019, and got hired as a court reporter in Elkhart Superior Court with Judge Stephen R. Bowers earlier this year.

She's one of five court reporting students to win a scholarship from the National Court Reporting Association. While the market for book editors is soft, judges like Bowers say certified court reporters are hard to find.

'œWe were happy to hire her even though she has not completed her training,'ť Bowers said of Oldeck. 'œShe's eager to learn and works diligently at developing her skills.'ť

Court reporting is one of those jobs that does not require a four-year college degree even though Oldeck has one. At a time when economists, politicians and educators worry if those without degrees can find jobs that pay a living wage, court reporting is a career that people should consider, said Christine Phipps, president of the National Court Reporting Association.

Phipps said court reporters have opportunities that extend far beyond the courtroom. If you turn on your television and watch senators or congressmen debate, a stenographer is there making a verbatim record of history, she said.

The captions that allow the hearing impaired to read the dialogue while watching TV is also done by stenographers. Still, there is a shortage of people going into the field, and there are several reasons why.

Phipps said high schools often focus too much on sending students to four-year colleges, often at the expense of careers like court reporting that could be the gateway into the middle class for people who do don't want to go to college.

That said, court reporting is a challenging job, requiring focus and attention to detail, she said.

'œCourt reporting requires people to develop proficiencies in different parts of their training, and the goal with machine shorthand is to have someone who can reliably transcribe the testimony of all those testifying in the case without having to rely on a recording to be accurate,'ť Bowers said.

Before she became interested in it, Oldeck said, she didn't know much about court reporting.'ťI knew there was someone who took down the record, but I didn't really hear about stenography in everyday life,'ť she said.

'œIt's one of those trades that fell by the wayside as everybody flocked to college.'ť

Coincidentally, Oldeck's mother had a friend who was a court reporter, and that person told Oldeck's mother about a program called A to Z that exposes people to court reporting.

She gave it a try.

What her mother learned from the experience is that court reporting might be a good career choice for her daughter.

'œShe thought I would like it because I am an English major and I like editing and language really fascinates me,'ť she said. 'œI also have a passion for true crime and I find criminal court very interesting.'ť

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Source: South Bend Tribune