Jose Lopez is a Court Reporting student with the goal to complete his coursework and graduate by Spring semester 2025! Upon finding out he was nominated for the Student Spotlight, he expressed “I’ve never received an honor like this and appreciate my Professors for choosing me. It’s a great feeling that they see me as going above and beyond, and doing my best to excel in this program.” Jose was inspired to pursue a career in Court Reporting during COVID when he had jury duty. “It opened my eyes to a career path forward. CR has given me a chance to shine. I have an affinity towards Court Reporting because I am legally blind and this profession has helped me because I need to pay attention to detail. I also have good listening skills.” Director Santucci says, “I am so happy that Mr. Jose Lopez was nominated for Student Spotlight. He is dedicated to his studies in Theory and Advanced Theory. He possesses all the qualities needed to be a successful Court Reporter.”
Jose enjoys Professor Lemmo’s class because she shares first hand experiences of working in the profession. “I like getting a sense of what’s to come in the future. I like being challenged. It’s intimidating to start a new career but she teaches me not to be scared, to speak up, and to be positive.” This semester, he looks forward to enhancing his skill set in speedbuilding. “I keep hearing stories about this and I want to see how I can handle it. For now I need to get stenotheory right.” Jose shares that the Professors in the Court Reporting Program at Plaza College are willing to invest time in supporting students and are very communicative. “They know this field is difficult and are willing to provide guidance.” His dream job is to work for the criminal courts and grand jury to provide essential record keeping. Professor Lemmo shares that, “Since my initial meeting with Jose in the A to Z class, I felt he was very interested in court reporting and that he would work hard to be successful in this field. He is now in his second semester and is a straight A student. He has had to overcome some obstacles that have made him an even better student. He is helpful in class and I have the utmost respect for his dedication and hard work.”
To maintain a strong academic standing, he always gets his assignments done as soon as possible, and never leaves them until the last day. “I break it up as needed but stay consistent to get it completed.” His favorite beverage is Snapple Iced Tea and his favorite activity is video games because they have taught him skills he can apply to his future career when using the controls to direct the movements of a character. There’s speed involved and your fingers must have dexterity.” He also looks forward to watching season two of Loki, a series based on a Marvel comic.
