Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hi everyone!
I'm wondering where on the spectrum of education we all fall. Not for any particular reason, it just seems that there's people here from all walks of life. I suppose one my biggest fears for transition is work which, for me anyway, falls back to education.

Myself? I have a bachelor's in physics with a minor in computer science and am currently working on my master's degree. What about the rest of you?

Ta ta!
~Jasmine

BA Honours degree and post graduate professional qualification.

I have a bachelors in photochemistry, I work in manufactruing (not chemistry related at all) and am in the process of starting my own business.

So much for college getting you places...

I have extensive education, both academic as well as craft-based.

BS in Naval Engineering, US Naval Academy
Master's in Civil Engineering, Catholic University
Master's in Mechanical Engineering, MIT
Naval Engineer, MIT
PhD in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

All long ago, mostly forgotten, and all thanks to the U.S. Navy

Now ask if they ever really made use of them.

Robyn
Mostly retired Naval Engineering Manager

i'm an undergrad so far in middle eastern language and culture
but i hope to graduate with my bachelor's and travel!  :laugh:

I'm still working on my BA for sociology but have enjoyed everything about my school while being here and don't want to leave it hehe. 

Hopefully I'll get into grad school somewhere though because I really like education and learning.

Bsc Physics (Major in Quantum Mechanics). Reading Uni Jun 1982

Post Graduate Diploma Real Time Control Software Design. Thames Valley PolyTechnic 1983

BBC ROTSI Diploma in Studio Videotape Operations & Editing.  Centre For Broadcast Skills Apr 1990

MA Creative Writing (Major in Screenwriting). Exeter Uni Jan 2010

BS in Computer/Software Engineering with a few years of work afterward.

I've learned far more working than I did in school, so I'd only consider grad school if my company pays for it.

Unfortunately this reminds me of the election pole they did by phone back in the early part of the 1900's. The results were skewed because only a small segment of the voting public had one at the time. With the education some of you all have, it may be a bit awkward for others of us to say we could not finish high school. Is there any way to post this as a forum pole so we everyone doesn't know our academic level?

Ginny

Good idea, Virginia.  I added the poll.  I hope I provided enough options.

Me: I had to go to school a lot to finally figure out how to do it.  BA Admin, BS Electronics, MS Computer Science, several certification programs (electronics and computers).

But what I really learned was at construction sites, working aboard ships, and at the School of Hard Knocks.

- Kate

I have two AA degrees, one in Computer Programming and another in Automotive Technology.

I feel like I am undereducated.  ;D

I have an earned Doctorate, among other miscellaneous expensive pieces of paper.

I don't really use it though.

Good idea on the poll, Virginia. And thanks for adding it, K8!

Thank you for adding the poll, Kate. In addition to the privacy concerns, I think it will be easier to see the forum statistics as a graph.

I guess I failed at life early on, I didn't finish my last year of high school. Then after a few years I completed a course in horticulture.. that I didn't follow up on.
I've had no interest in anything all my life as far as work goes. No ambitions, no great career aspirations no real interest at all. All the jobs I've had have been short lived and full of hassles. I fail in job interviews because I don't sell myself and I'm the least competitive person in the whole world.
I'm currently not working but I'm now in a situation where I need to and it's scary. tick tick tick tick. I need to find a job where being quiet, meek and passive is a requirement. ....yeeeeeeeeah.
:-\

I use my doctorate every day in every way.  Granted I'm not in the field anymore (but in a very real sense I still am - I'm the resident historian where I work), but the organization skills, the time management, the ability to explain, the ability to teach skills, my capacity to teach myself new stuff, knowing the history of what I'm doing and how that matters, the stuff I learned about administration, record keeping, executive skills stuff, the interpersonal stuff, as well as the ability to do things by myself if I have to, and the understanding of how serious even seemingly trivial stuff can end up being, all that comes into play each and every show.

And, oh yeah, if I have to write up a formal complaint, it's done in one.

One tedious and aggravating course away from a BA in Creative Writing.

Quote from: Muffin on February 02, 2010, 08:30:39 PMI need to find a job where being quiet, meek and passive is a requirement. ....yeeeeeeeeah.

Have you considered... court reporter? :P

Still in College  ::).

Quote from: Ketsy on February 02, 2010, 09:10:42 PM
...Have you considered... court reporter? :P

A court reporter? eek I hate the system especially lawyers I wouldn't last five minutes without sighing at everyone lol!!!!
I'm considering being a driver for a pharmaceutical distributor. I would get to spend a great amount of the day by myself with no boss breathing down my neck, no co-workers teasing me and only having to see people for a split second at a time!! Or any delivery position that is not connected to the blue collar industry really, ack they're the worst for judgement.
People that are connected with hospitals, doctors, chemists etc more often care and want to help people rather than judge others for their differences, possessing the rare quality of empathy :P ...I hope!?!
Fingers crossed, one last IPL session to go then I'm back out there in the big bad world again >_<

No where near enough in this day an age.  I am highly considering going back to school for either a counselor, or psychology.  Manufacturing jobs are basically gone, and it seems service industry jobs, are hot....

Lots of degrees and certificates up and beyond PhD. Does education matter?
I think it does for many reasons other than knowledge. I think a good education teaches you how to manage time and to cope with uncertainty. To have ambition.

All of these are achievable without a "formal" education.Indded some of the most succesful people in the world, monetary wise, have few if any academic education.

So don't get put off by people with letters after their name. Just go out there and do what YOU want to do. Learn what you need to do it. And most of all, smell the flowers and be happy.

A case in point Sir Richard Branson had little formal education. He owns Virgin airlines etc, obvious failure in life :laugh:

One of my regular taxi drivers has a PhD in physics. He prefers driving a taxi (cab) to anything in the academic world.

Both are succesful in my opinion.

Muffin BTW have you thought of being a courier for a Pathology business? They have to drive and collect specimens from different places and don't have to interact with people too much, but have to be reliable and committed and do a very important job. It could be a way into the workforce and get your feet.


Cindy

Quote from: CindyJames on February 03, 2010, 01:59:22 AM

Muffin BTW have you thought of being a courier for a Pathology business? They have to drive and collect specimens from different places and don't have to interact with people too much, but have to be reliable and committed and do a very important job. It could be a way into the workforce and get your feet.


Cindy

Yep I have basically anything in that area will be perfect for me.
Speaking of pathology I had a blood test the other day and the guy that did it was a complete novice and even before he put it in I knew it was going to hurt and bruise. I could feel it moving around and it made my stomach turn, it took him ages to get through the eight tubes which only prolonged the pain. I had to sit down afterwards for ten minutes before leaving, and yeah big red spot and bruising, I'm not going back to that place, I'm getting the feeling from the fact it's always different people there that that's where a lot of phlebotomists do their training. >_<

MA in Political Science, tried to get my PhD but fell short..

My education is both acedemic and craft based

BFA Photography
BA Colonial Architecture
BA Facilities Engineering/Construction Management
Certified Tax Assessor
Home Inspector
Minister, Church of Spiritual Humanism

I've finally given up on ever achieving a Masters in anything. I love to but I doubt I would ever use it.

BSc Environmental Biology
MSc Ecology

now I'm about half way through my PhD in biology.  I love being a student, I have been a student or worked in a University for the last 14 years.  I joke that doing a PhD would be too easy so I decided to do it in a different language (french) and transition at the same time.   ;D

Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics.

Cindy is right. Many wealthy people have made fortunes without a university education.

Yeah, but if you check they tend to have two things, one being a level of drive and determination coupled with an almost ruthless ambition, the other is they come from money.  Sure Richard Branson did not go to college, but he did go the best schools in England including Stowe^*, which pretty much gave him the equivalent of a college education by the end of high school.  His grandfather the Right Honourable Sir George Arthur Harwin Branson, was a judge of the High Court of Justice and a Privy Councillor - and in England that stuff matters, a lot.  Yeah, Bill Gates never graduated college, he dropped out, but he dropped out of Harvard, which means he was good enough to get in, and came from a family rich enough to pay for it.^**


* - Stowe is also where Roger Hodgson of Supertramp went to school, and is pretty much the basis for The Logical Song.

** - his father was a prominent lawyer, his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way, and her father, J. W. Maxwell, was a national bank president.

This is one of those rare moments that I agree with Tekla :P

So, is the conclusion that if you were born and matured surrounded by success, that you will succeed?

I payed for some of my education but I also took advantage of every opportunity I was offered in furthering
my areas of understanding. One company I worked for would pay for an elective after every 3 required.
At this point in my life I feel that I am continuing to be educated, I'm curious by nature but only in selected directions.

I don't have anything!  :embarrassed:

I've got a Master's in bull plopping & a BS in babbling.  Currently in university to get a doctorate in "semantics". ;)

lic:Genie Electrique
bts :informatique de gestion
...

masters in computer forensics.

My education is follows:

• High School transcript
• Associate Diploma in Civil Engineering
• Certificate in Office Administration
• Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems Engineering
• Bachelor of Science (Mathematics)
• Diploma in Engineering Practice
• Graduate Diploma in Education

Currently enrolled to do a Masters by Research in Physics.  It seems that the more I know, I find out that I know actually nothing and learning and teaching is part of my life and will be until the day I die.

Kind Regards
From Germany
Sarah B

Be who you want to be.

Construction engineer - concrete stability
Master in Applied Computer Science
Business Administration ( bachelor )
Electricity ( contractor degree )

I manage all short and long term investment funding ( derivated products, ... ) for a + 10 000 employees organisation as a job, which is strangely enough not at all what I was educated in.

From Belgium

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Post Merge: February 06, 2010, 04:36:07 AM

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Quote from: Kimberley on February 04, 2010, 12:56:11 AM
Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Economics.

Cindy is right. Many wealthy people have made fortunes without a university education.

I think the important thing is to act. Just do it, something, anything.  Having a degree makes you relax because you think you don't need to prove yourself any longer. Because you already proved yourself.

Having a degree can also work against you because people will see you as a danger, especially if you search for a job. The one that hires you must have a higher degree than you. Otherwise you become a threat to him/her.

Quote from: Kaeren on February 06, 2010, 04:27:28 AM
Having a degree can also work against you because people will see you as a danger, especially if you search for a job. The one that hires you must have a higher degree than you. Otherwise you become a threat to him/her.

I agree that it can work this way.  I went into military service to get technical training because I couldn't get it as a civilian.  I already had a degree.  (It was just as well.  It is funny how things work out sometimes.)

- Kate

I have a two year degree in the field in which i work.

At the time I was young and single, life was fun, I was working with a group of really smart people doing some really advanced things, and I was making way more than a young man should at that age.

The degree was almost an afterthought, and I already knew the subject material.

Now, 25 years later - manufacturing is almost gone from this country, and there are a lot more people trying to squeeze into fewer professional jobs.  Having a degree is almost a requirement to get a good job, along with a good personal "network". All my 2 year degree is good for now is toilet paper. I have a good reputation in my field, so i'm skating by on that for the moment, but I suspect that will eventually be less useful as time goes by. I'll have to reinvent myself at some point.

Moral: Never pass up an educational opportunity when you are young. Getting an education when you get older gets harder because of obligations and responsibilities.

Quote from: Sarah B on February 05, 2010, 10:27:58 PM
Currently enrolled to do a Masters by Research in Physics.  It seems that the more I know, I find out that I know actually nothing and learning and teaching is part of my life and will be until the day I die.

You learn more and more, until you know everything about nothing. :)

Quote from: Pippa on February 02, 2010, 12:26:51 PM
BA Honours degree and post graduate professional qualification.

Me too.

BTW, I think that gender dysphoria crosses all educational back grounds and more. However the higher educated and perhaps higher earners have more chance to transition (just a thought).

Stardust

Quote from: stardust on February 06, 2010, 02:01:03 PM
BTW, I think that gender dysphoria crosses all educational back grounds and more. However the higher educated and perhaps higher earners have more chance to transition (just a thought).

You need the means to change.  That is more than money.  Obsession can certainly help.  Information by sharing ideas on a forum also. Money also. It all costs something.  If higher education is correlated to higher earnings then of course. Yet, I know some very stupid, that are very rich. Once I had dinner with 2 other people, one of them was my boss. The 3td was talking about a very high position.  He claimed that at that level one does not need to be able to do much anymore.

Nature changes continuously, slowly but surely. Nobody believes me but I think that transgenders are at the front line of evolution and not some unnatural freeky thing.  2 genders simply are not enough.

I am 41.  What I have learned in this time is most of all that you get things moving by focusing on them.  OBSESSION ! For whatever.  And even more important. By acting, once you are ready for it and after you made your homework.

Quote from: Kaeren on February 07, 2010, 04:52:11 AM
2 genders simply are not enough.

If you don't mind my asking, how so?

And to the thread- still in HS. We'll see what happens from there, eh?

Quote from: Kaeren on February 07, 2010, 04:52:11 AM
Nature changes continuously, slowly but surely. Nobody believes me but I think that transgenders are at the front line of evolution.  2 genders simply are not enough.

What an intriguing concept. I like the way you think, and I may quote you on that.

Quote from: SilverFang on February 07, 2010, 04:55:27 AM
If you don't mind my asking, how so?

Because it gives you peace .... or is it excitement ?

Quote from: Kaeren on February 07, 2010, 05:04:25 AM
Because if gives you peace .... or is it excitement ?

Wait, what? Don't get it.

I think that gender dysphoria crosses all educational back grounds and more. However the higher educated and perhaps higher earners have more chance to transition

While that may well be true,  It's far more likely to find people on the net with higher levels of education.  So any net based survey is going to skew that way.

Quote from: tekla on February 07, 2010, 02:17:52 PM
I think that gender dysphoria crosses all educational back grounds and more. However the higher educated and perhaps higher earners have more chance to transition

While that may well be true,  It's far more likely to find people on the net with higher levels of education.  So any net based survey is going to skew that way.

That might have been true 10 years ago. Nowadays just about everybody is on the net.

Current level: 2 yr in CS/Psych Equiv no Certificate (Dropped out of a 4yr program)

In general, I've found that a degree is a nice thing to have but not necessary. I currently work at a high level in a technological sector. The money isn't stellar but it's more than most so I don't really think too much about things like transition costs outside of making sure to transfer the funds over each paycheck. I've also found that, now that the whole transition bit is out of the way, going back to school and finishing up seems a bit more important because I really know what I want now and part of that is to advance my career to a more academic point rather than industry.

As far as the higher levels of education on the net: please see livejournal/myspace... that'll cure that theory fast.

To the thing about  degree meaning success: I do and don't agree. Without a degree, you indeed can become very successful, however, the few who do make it out of the non-degree world into something akin to commonly understood success also typically had one thing in common: the relentless drive to learn and improve. Both Branson and Gates were and are know-a-holics who, from all reports tend to pick up new interests about as often as most of us eat. That goes for anyone who is generally successful. They have a serious drive to be who and what they want to be and continuously refine that through learning and trying out new things. This is not limited to simply knowing things but can also be true for any course of intense study from art to sports. The focus and discipline that are required to maintain top-level performance in any area is something that comes from the start or something that was strived for from within later in life (I'm trying desperately to kick start that again. Things got muddied when I got depressed for years over... something.) This is more of a parental (nurture) thing, in my opinion, for more people than not in the world. Granted, there are certainly schools in the world that instill that kind of rigor in it's students by the nature of their training, but those do tend to be the schools for the upper-echelon of the tax-bracket system.

I'll make the blanket disclaimer that this is not always true, as in all things. You do have the schemer types who more or less bumble into wealth and prosperity (I have worked for some.) They find monetary success but they're always hungry for something. Perhaps because they're not at peace with themselves. There are those who achieve success through the complete lack of ambition (Buddhists) There are also those who have a paid-for because they won the lottery, got talented for acting/pop group, or wrote a book about something useless but otherwise fascinatingly catchy in the context of the current zeitgeist (pop-psych books tend to be my targets here... that or pundits.) Again, however, many of these people tend to be relatively unhappy because of the lack of that sense of self that comes from being your own person completely, from what it seems.

Or I could be entirely off base. Just my two cents.

-tori

Quote from: Keroppi on February 06, 2010, 11:25:28 AM
You learn more and more, until you know everything about nothing. :)

Knowledge has no limits and science does not end.
The wise thing is to learn to realize that the science is infinite.
Who knows he does not know better than who do not know he did not know.

I'm finishing up a ba in psych, with minors in sociology and social work and I'lll keep going without pause.