Natalie

When did you start teaching at CCR and how did you end up here?
I started teaching Foundations of Law at CCR in 2006, back when we had to type our entire lecture into a chat, and the students had to let me know they had a question by typing a question mark.  We've come a LONG way, baby!  Then I started working full-time in career services in September of 2011. I heard about the CCR teaching job through a law student.  I was working in career services at Valparaiso University, School of Law and a current student said he could no longer teach.  He asked if I knew of anyone that would be interested and the rest is history!
Before Valparaiso, I worked in two different law firms in downtown Chicago for about five years.  I am a proud graduate of DePaul University, College of Law and loved every minute of law school, practicing, and now working in career services.

What is your favorite thing about teaching?
I definitely love hearing students' differing opinions on the subject matters we cover in the law class.  At CCR, we get the honor of teaching a super diverse student body and as much as they might learn from me, I learn more from them.

What is the best advice you ever received as a student?
When I was in law school, I was told to never NEVER talk to other students after an exam and compare answers because it will do nothing but cause you to stress out when you realize that your answers don't match theirs.  You need to believe in what you've done and let the chips fall where they may.  I think this advice was right on, and I hope court reporting students take it to heart.  Don't ever compare your journey to someone else because you have no idea what's going on with them or they you.  I've found there is no typical court reporting student - each person can hopefully look for support from their peers, but do not look for comparisons.

What do you want people to know about Court Reporting?
Although I'm not a court reporter, I've been involved with this profession for over 10 years.  It's truly a wonderful career choice that can be adapted to a variety of lifestyles - want to work full-time? part-time? nights? weekends? 40 hours a week? 10 hours a week? Want to work for yourself? For the government? For an agency? For a captioning company? For a school? The choices are endless.

 What is something most people don't know about you?
Most people might not know that after college I worked in a casino as a dealer and then a floor supervisor for about 7 years full-time before I decided to go back to law school. While in law school, I worked as a casino dealer part-time for three years on the weekends to help earn some extra money.  I loved the experience and wouldn't change it for the world!