It's been a while... (Need career advice)

[Hephaestus]

Hello everyone. It's been just shy of a year since I've posted here.. At the end there, I just couldn't stand reading all the frequent sad posts anymore, and even the good news people were posting was reminding me of my inability to do anything about my transition, at the time... Anyway.
I'd essentially been told by my doctor back in 01/2010 that he wouldn't do anything without a letter, and I was left without a route to transition... So I started using patches to self medicate (the lesser of the available self-medicating evils, I figured)

6 months later, out of the blue, I get a call from that doctor's office (a mistake from his secretary, as it turns out) telling me that the doctor wanted to see me, so I made an appointment. Well, he may have thought I wasn't serious before, but he showed me more respect in regards to my desires this time.
I'm now on hormones under his supervision, and that is going very well. Much better results than I was getting from my own blind medicating.

Moving along to the issue at hand.. I'm working at wal-mart right now, and hate it. Also, having to hide at work sucks! >_< I want to go back to college. I have an associate's degree in horticulture, but that isn't worth the paper it's printed on, down here... so I'd like to go back and get some kind of 4 year degree... I'm just at a loss as to what I want to do! I've thought going into teaching elementary science, but I can just hear the local newswoman now, talking about "WHO'S TEACHING *YOUR* CHILDREN?? " ...Anyhoo.
So, is there anyone out there with some advice on this, like, some majors that lend themselves to trans-friendly employment?
Thanks. :]
PS: good to be back

[Starling]

You're in luck, Hephaestus. Wal-Mart recently announced a policy of non-discrimination on the basis of gender expression or sexual preference, which applies both to customers and employees.

:) Lallie

[Katesback]

I have a suggestion. Get the trans friendly employment out of your mind. Assuming you changed your name apply wherever you wish to work. Do the standards interviews and NEVER EVER ever say anyting that relates to being trans. That means durring the interview as well as ongoing employment! Otherwise put just be the woman you claim to be.

Now if you dont understand what I am saying or you have not changed your name then good luck because virtually nobody will take you seriously.

[Stephenie S]

Did you get that Hephie?

Did you understand what Kate was saying? She's saying DON'T MENTION THAT YOU ARE TRANS. You work in a corporation that just announced transgender equality. Change your name and SS account in the court, inform WalMart of your new name, and then if you want to move on, move on as your REAL self. Do and go where ever you want.

In my opinion, I would consider staying right where you are. WalMart will support your transition, they might even send you to school if you show some management potential. While they dump all over their temps, WalMart does reward long term employees. Personally, I think that the economy is going to heck in a hand basket. WalMart will survive though. It might be a good idea to hang onto the job you have.

S

Hephie, listen!

You got a horticulture degree? Great. Offer to manage their garden department if they send you to management school. Be prepared to move.

Jes' thinkin'

[Hephaestus]

I'm waiting to change my name until I can change my driver's license to reflect my gender, rather than make things worse, first, having a name that doesn't match the gender on all my records.
I've only been on a proper hormone program for two months now, and I'm still pretty damn mannish looking in my body, so labeling myself with a different name isn't going to fool anyone at this time, I'm afraid...
I don't care what a bunch of students think of me as I transition... but if when I graduate, I passed flawlessly, then, that would just be dandy. I'm trying to be real with myself about what my results will likely be, though, and I'm not seeing a scenario where no one could ever see through me.

I do get what you're saying, though, and no, I wasn't planning on making a big ordeal out of it coming in the door. I understand that no one wants to hire someone who seems like more trouble than an average applicant. ...I'm just trying to accept my lot in life, that I will more than likely not ever pass 100% of the time.. I have a friend who is full time, and while she kind of ignores it, people often can tell she wasn't born that way, and she has a much smaller/narrower frame than I do.

Back to square one on deciding a major, then. :|

Stephanie: If I thought I would be working there in another year, I would wish for a swift death, tonight. Besides, wal-mart doesn't care about the plants, they want to believe they are like any other, non-living product. They just cram them up into shelves, don't water them, and then throw them in the trash when they get some brown leaves. The customers are no better, when I try to offer customers advice, they sneer and roll their eyes, at the notion that a mere wal-mart associate could give them advice about plants.

..about wal-mart: also worth noting, they throw me around the store to do all the hardest jobs, now that the garden center season has ended. I ended up getting wrote up for not putting out groceries well, when I'd never even been to that side of the store, before. After that, I had other jobs I was interviewing for, and so missed a few days of work and got wrote up again... I'm on wal-mart's sh!t list, so I can't transfer stores, or do anything, now.

[Stephenie S]

Yeah. Well WalMart is no Garden of Eden, that's for sure. I have a friend who works there. She has for 15 years or so. They take pretty good care of her and when she retires, she will own a hefty chunk of WalMart shares. But they do work her pretty hard.

If you can go to school. I always recommend healthcare. You can graduate with a AA degree in nursing or as a PA in only two years. Nobody will care about your gender. There's also radiology, pharmacology, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and a host of others. You will ALWAYS have a job in healthcare. And the pay, in most states, is pretty good.

Of course IT is good. Try to find something recession proof, because the economy is NOT gonna get better any time soon. That's why I recomended staying at WalMart. I'd hate to see you commit hari-kari over a job though so perhaps you had better move on.

S

[Hephaestus]

I had been debating going into something healthcare related... I always did well with sciences. I may look into it and see if there's not a field of medicine where you don't have to mess with bodily fluids on a daily basis. :] Thanks for the help.