This may trigger some.
Hello, my name is Samuel (Sam for short).
Birth name is Sarah.
I'm currently 19 years old, and am very early in my transition.
When I was younger, I was very tomboyish. Male clothes, body wash, cologne, all that.
When I was 12, I realized I was attracted to girls. My only problem was, I was currently attending a private Christian school.
I began dating a girl in 8th grade at this same school and was eventually "caught" (a few people who I thought were friends told the headmaster what was going on). We were both expelled from the school.
I went to a public school for my freshman year of high school and became severely depressed, was bullied (thrown in trash cans, etc), and started doing some nasty drugs at the age of 15.
After the year was over, my parents were unwilling to put me back into the public school, but thought it was grand to put me back into the private school I was expelled from. They let me in because they needed money.
I stayed for sophomore and junior year, mostly because I didn't have a choice; I was in the district of the public school I got into drugs at.
Those two years at the private school I fought very hard against the staff. The whole student body was perfectly fine with the way I dressed and who I liked--but the staff hated me. I hated them. They would make fun of me and I would cut, overdose on pills, etc. I got to the point where if they made fun of me, I would either a) punch them or throw a chair (it happened a lot, like twice a week) or b) bring a blade to school and cut right in front of them. They couldn't tell me parents because if they said they would, I would cut more and more right in front of them.
After going through hell there, at the end of my junior year they announced that they were in debt and couldn't keep the school going. Turns out the headmaster and high school principal were pocketing tax money. They ended up to be 5 million dollars in tax debt.
I finally was accepted into a different public school in a different district and it completely saved my life. I graduated May of 2014. Very friendly there, even in the rural south of Georgia.
I was accepted into a college in Colorado and moved there August of 2014. I have been uncomfortable in my body since about 14... Well that's the earliest memory of it. It wasn't until I moved to Colorado I realized I could do something about it.
I changed my preferred name to Sam in November of 2014. Everyone in Colorado is very very chill about it, and very respectful.
I started seeing a psychiatrist at my school's health network, and she was trained specifically for transgender health. She walked me through the transition and starting testosterone. We just did counseling for a few months, and then I finally started testosterone on March 6th of this year. I feel so great!! I've been depression-free since the end of March, and completely stopped taking anti-depressants and anxiety meds. Lots of things have gotten better for me.
For the summer I had to move back to Georgia, which is okay... I just really have to stand my ground. And my girlfriend's family hates me because of religious reasons, but that's okay. I am very nice to them and try to just remind them that Sarah is not who I am anymore.
So that's my back-story, in a very short version. It's nice to meet everyone!!
Also, question: How do I get a profile picture up?
