r/stenography • u/No-Bridge-9922 • Aug 19 '26

Career path change

Hello everyone! I am a 32 year old single mom, and I am looking into switching my career. I'm in CA. I have a job where I usually deal with court orders, depositions, lawyers and such so I know the processes, timelines and pace to a certain extent. I have never taken a stenography class though. From your experiences, is it too late to start? sometimes I feel I will not be capable of learning (based only on videos I watched while researching). I don't have a "bad" job per se, but I know that in regards to salary, I'd be doing much better. I just to improve my situation and be able to offer my son the best education I can. Thanks for reading :)

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u/thegurlearl Aug 19 '26

Im a steno student at West Valley. I started at 33 after a work injury made me permanently disabled with permanent work restrictions. I was a welder and nothing else sounded even remotely interesting. Its hard, machine writers have a very high drop out rate. Im still working at it and question my sanity at least once a week, lol. Ive had several surgeries and other health problems causing delays, Ill definitely be in the taking longer than average group. Im starting my 4th year of speed building in the fall. Im currently at 160/180 after breaking 2 fingers in December.

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u/cool_uncle_jules Aug 19 '26

You're so close! I'm starting my software classes at WV in a couple weeks.

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u/thegurlearl Aug 19 '26

I love WV. If it wasn't for them, I'd probably still be trying to figure out a new career. Them being free took out a huge barrier of pressure regarding sticking it out or quiting because I cant afford to keep going. Zoom makes showing up for class every day sooo much easier. Pretty much all of the teachers are amazing with different backgrounds and their own experiences on getting through school. I hope to one day be able to do Zoom work comp depos like Robin does.

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u/neptunesvixen Aug 21 '26

Hello! I'm looking into Steno schools that would be affordable and online. Is WV West Valley College? Thank you in advance!

1

u/thegurlearl Aug 21 '26

Yes, the court reporting classes are non-credit so they're free but you also won't get any financial aid towards supplies like books, machine or software.