Five winning stories will be selected by a panel of judges, and the winning entrants will each receive an Amazon Kindle 2 as well as Dragon NaturallySpeaking upgrades for three years.
"Yeah?"
The Proctor towered over me in the classroom doorway, eyeing me and the laptop bag slung over my shoulder.
"Can I use my computer for the final?" I asked meekly.
"Where's your blue book?" he asked. "My instructions say no one takes the final without a blue book."
"This is my blue book," I said shrugging the shoulder carrying the laptop, "I use my computer and --"
"A. Blue. Book." He repeated again, grabbing the door to shut it in my face.
"Wait!" I thrust my foot in the door as I fumbled in the bag for my headset, waving it in front of him. "I don't keyboard, I don't use my hands at all -- I "talk" to the computer, you know -- voice recognition?"
"Oh," the light dawned. "You use Dragon?" He pulls the door open, "why didn't you say that? Here -- give me your computer. Where's your extension cord? "
Okay, so I should've prepared the University before I walked into my Marketing 360 final and sprung it on them I wasn't going to use a blue book, I plan to "talk" my way through a two-hour final exam. Give me a break -- it's been over 20 years since I took a college exam, and even more years since I was Ms. Oliniski's top student in ninth grade typing.
My typing days -- and keyboarding, too-- are long gone because of chronic repetitive motion injuries. Probably you're not keyboarding, either. Like you, I knew I'd better find a way to maneuver around the keyboard world to keep moving ahead. Like you, the key to my success is Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
I'd mastered Dragon at work, and decided to move ahead with my dream to pursue a master's degree. That's how I found myself back in the classroom preparing to take the seven-essay final. In two hours. Under the best conditions I quail under pressure -- and now? I have to “talk" through a final? Can I do it?
Seated in the back of the classroom, I read the first question. "Create a marketing plan for Apex Financial Services. Be sure to include the company's positioning relative to its competitors. Outline all phases of the strategy."
I took a deep breath, adjusted my headset, and began to speak. And my words leapt onto the page: with Dragon, I found my voice.
Two hours later, while my younger classmates were shaking out cramped hands and passing in scrawl-filled blue books, I spell checked and printed three single-spaced pages and handed them in.
I hope Ms. Oliniski would be proud that I received an A on the final. I know I was. Thank you, Dragon, for setting me free to succeed in my studies and career. With Dragon NaturallySpeaking, we can go anywhere.