When i first started learning shorthand i thought it was going to be impossible for me to ever be able to write it fluently. But the strangest thing is happening. As i am writing this the outlines are popping up in my head, i'm hearing people talk and in my head i am writing the outline. Many would think that this was simply me being slightly mental but for the shorthand elite out there i'm sure you can understand how important this is. In the past two days i have had 6 hours of shorthand and although it has been exhausting it has also finally started to click the whole language into place.
After two and a half hours of shorthand today my brain was shutting down and my mood was darkening.So instead of forcing onwards i sat back for ten minutes, watched others in class doing dictation and writing the outlines in my head and taking note of the words i couldn't work out quickly enough. Then i decided to try the last piece of dictation. We started at 60 words per minute and ordinarily, due to lack of regular dictation, i have big gaps where i have forgotten what was said. But this time it flowed. Words which would usually catch me out just wrote themselves. I was writing the word as it was being said which is a very new experience for me. Then we tried it at 80 words per minute and again i completed the whole passage. Finally we tried it at 100 words per minute and to my complete and utter shock i completed that one without any gaps. Admittedly upon the third time of hearing the passage i am bound to remember it better but the fact that i could still be on the pace is a huge step forward for me.
Now all i need is for everyone to take down the exam passage ten minutes before me then for me to do it since it was that which cleared my head!!
Next week sees the long awaited return of the Student Direct: Salford Edition and i get to write my favourite article of the year- an opinion piece on how much i hate Valentine's Day!! This year i have even more reason than usual to hate it, other than the usual being alone and the commercialism of the whole thing. This year i have an exam on the day of the cursed "holiday" AND the day after as well. So even if i wanted to celebrate it, i couldn't possibly.
Still, I am very much looking forward to suggesting to the readers the top ten things to do on your anti-Valentine's night. Any suggestions are welcome :)
I read on Twitter today a tweet saying that in a journalism class of 40, when asked who knew nothing about what was happening Egypt, 20 students raised their hands. Half the class of future media professionals had no clue about the huge uproar against the dictatorship, about the fatalities and the constant riots. I find that absolutely shocking. I admit sometimes news stories pass me by, i have a long day at university and the last thing i want to do is trawl through several newspapers or websites to find out what i missed but i never fail to catch the BBC News at 6 or 10 and i always try to read the top stories before i go to bed. I urge anyone that is reading this and wants to be a journalist to follow suit because there is nothing more embarrassing than admitting you don't know what is going on in the world you live in.
Thanks for reading, follow me on Twitter @gemmathejourno
:)
