Finding direction

[Asako]

Basically, a rough draft of things to do is being made with help from my therapist.

They are:
1.GED - I never graduated high school
2.Start learning make-up
3.Working on my voice
4.HRT

How did each of you find your direction? How did each of you work toward your goals in the beginning?

[Kaitlyn Michele]

Day by day....by day.....

I think you are off to a great start.

If i skip all the stuff in between, thats pretty much the order i did it in..

[Bree-asaurus]

While you're doing 2 and 3, try to find a job that can pay for normal living costs in addition to the costs of transitioning. Doctors appointments, therapy and HRT are just the beginning. Transitioning gets very expensive, very fast. So doing your best to improve your current and future income will help keep things moving.

[Asako]

I've taken a bit of time to think out each direction I'm going in and what the heck, lets elaborate on each one to see what I lack so I can fix that lacking of mine.



1.GED - I never graduated high school
I'm not so much worried about this. If I had put forth effort in school, I could have been a straight A student. The only reason I didn't is because I was almost always bored to tears in my classes. I just need to contact the local college to see when they do the testing and how much it costs. A study book or two probably wouldn't be a bad idea either. It has been about 7 years since I've been in a class room. This is the gateway to a better paying job...if there are even any available.


2.Start learning make-up
I don't know how well Mom will receive the idea but...it's a possibility. After all, it's not like my parents are against my transition. =)


3.Working on my voice
Youtube...other than that, finding additional sources to read over as I experiment with resonance, pitch, and tone are necessary. Pitch isn't an issue. My speaking habits have my voice going all over the pitch scale, depending on how I feel and what's being talked about. Resonance? Eh, I CAN lift my voice out of my chest(damn you bass voice!) but it's not easy. Tone...tone is important to me because I LOVE TO SING.


4.HRT
It's a decision I'm not taking lightly. It is costly. It is permanent. If done incorrectly, based on what I do know, I'll either die, have medical issues arise from it, and/or see little to no effect. Hormones are powerful. They impact practically the whole bodily system. So, the only thing I can do at this point to take care of my apprehension is to speak to an endo or three and get all the facts. If at all possible, I'd like my mother with me since naturopathics medicine is something she's gone to college for. So, she'd be able to hear drug names, treatment options, etc. and know what they're talking about and be able to explain it to me in layman terms.


How did each of you find your direction? How did each of you work toward your goals in the beginning?
This question still stands to the board. I'd like to hear how people started their journey.

@Kaitlyn:Aye, day by day is basically how I make it through everything these days. It is a great start, even I know that. =) Took me 5 years to come to terms with it and actually start doing something about it.


@Bree:Aye, a better job is all but required for me to get. $7.53 USD an hour at 40-50 hours a week isn't going to cut it. Hell, FFS and SRS combined is worth FOUR OR FIVE YEARS OF PAY at my current job. If I hope to get far, I'll likely need to DOUBLE my income. Hard to do that since around here, you can't expect more than minimum wage without a GED(city won't hire you if you don't have HSD or GED). So, my GED is required for me to do this.

[Kaitlyn Michele]

i was bored out of my mind in hs, college and business school..
but i got my degrees...it will cost you big time...you have to do something about this...

$15/hr will not be even close to what you need..
you need $100,000 to transition.

you need a GED , then you need to figure out a career..

if you do have the talent or smarts ,
think of a career like IT or nursing, where you can transition on the job and maybe even get health care benefits...

day by day is sooooo frustrating..but it is possible to be patient and benefit from good planning if you know what you want