The pros and cons of going paperless as a student

I recently upgraded my student writer and made the plunge into the world of paperless. I admit, my initial excitement has officially burned off and now I’m wondering if I made the right decision. I think it is fair to say that the transition has not been as smooth as I had hoped or thought it would be. As a student, there is much to learn and we rely a great deal on the wisdom of those who have gone before us. The problem with that is you can talk to five different reporters and get five different opinions. Sorting through these varying opinions to determine what is right for you can be a bit challenging, and at the end of the day you just have to make a decision and go with it. I do think there is a slight bit of a disadvantage in regards to the opinion pool as many of the reporters went through school with paper machines. With paperless being a relatively new phenomenon, especially in the realm of student-writers, sometimes it is hard not to wonder how much of their thinking is just (dare I say) “old school”. I know, I know. I’m probably not supposed to say that out loud, but you know you, too, have had that very thought. There are also those who seem to almost embrace every advancing technology almost a bit too eagerly and snub the idea of a paper machine as nothing more than a mere relic. In light of all this, I’ve decided to share a few of my own personal pros and cons of going paperless as a student. Now, please note. These are merely my own opinion based on my own experiences. You can take it or leave it as it makes no difference to me.

1. After using a manual writer for so long, I sometimes get irritated with how smooth and light the touch of the paperless is. I know…even as I write that I think that must sound totally crazy. It’s just that it is so drastically different from the manual that I feel like I often press keys I’m not intending to merely because the touch is so extremely gentle. If writing on my paper machine, I doubt I would get even a hint of a shadow. I wonder if I had learned on a paperless from the get-go if this would even be an issue. I think not.

2. On the flip side, I find my hands and fingers don’t get tired nearly as fast as they used to with my paper writer. I’m sure this is due to the fact that the touch is so extremely light that keystrokes are practically effortless. This is definitely not to be undervalued as it is beyond important to be actively taking care of our body. After all, our hands are quite literally our bread and butter.

3. Due to the ultra-light touch, I have trouble with stacking and being able to determine what I was intending to right. Often words transcribe in reverse. So for instance, I might write the words “the car” (T/ KAR). I will write it quickly and correctly, yet it will pop up as a mistranslate stroked reversed and appear on one line as KART. Maybe not the best example, but you get the idea. Sometimes it is easy to figure out, sometimes it isn’t. With a paper it seems to be a bit easier to decipher shadows and stacking.

4. I do miss the convenience of having good old-fashioned steno notes to stash away in my purse for those spare moments that pop up here and there where I can read back on the go. If I want to do that, I now have to print out my notes. I must admit, this is a total pain. I find I rarely do that and as a result I don’t read my notes back as often as I probably should. Shame on me for reading back is an essential form of practice.

5. With paperless there is no ink cartridges to deal with or steno pads to order which is actually quite heavenly. I think I had a stack of paper notes in corner of my office that seemed to grow like a bad weed. Plus, my new-found paperless-ness is stylishly green.

Overall, my opinion is paperless is still definitely where you want to end up, but when and how you get there seems to be a choice that is as personal as whether you prefer 2% or skim milk with your latte. Like most everything in life, you will find someone to agree with you and someone to disagree. I think in hindsight, I may have chosen to wait until I completed school before going paperless…maybe even until a year or so after starting work. But then again, there’s nothing like taking the bull by the horns. So whether it was bravery or insanity that overtook me, I’m currently in the wrestling phase and one way or the other I will come out on top. Watch me.