Shorthand
Some students ask my advice on shorthand.
I'm not a good judge of this question.
I squibbed-out of learning shorthand when I was a cadet journalist in the 1960s.
I wish I HAD learned it.
But after five decades in journalism (1961-2011) I can honestly say that not having had shorthand skills never held me back from getting or doing a job.
You be the judge in your own case.
Shorthand is mighty handy.
But incidentally . . .
When you see a media conference on TV, notice how every journalist is holding up a tiny recorder?