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Transitioning while in Uni?

Started by Empty Miroir, November 21, 2015, 11:12:27 AM

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Empty Miroir

I've decided what I want to do in my life and I'm finally going back to school to get my adult graduation diploma and get a major bachelor's degree in visual arts. It's going to take 4 or more years depending on the time it takes to get my AGD. I'm pretty much coming to the realizing of how and what I want done for my transition as well so my question is:
Does anyone here have experience transitioning during school? I've got the fundings almost planned out and I live in BC which is very liberal and my surgeon is just a ferries ride away in Vancouver.
I'm just nervous on the way school's treat people who are transitioning and if there's any protocols I need to work out with them before or if I need to tell them in advanced.
"He's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up, he'll be a different person." -Vanitas
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Peep

You can probably find the transgender protocol for the specific schools you want online - I'm in a similar situation and i managed to find the guidelines for staff + students for transitioning students for the uni i want. If they don't give you time off for medical procedures and emphasise that your rights are to be protected, maybe they're not a school you want! If you can't find any, see if there's a LGBTQ society for the particular university, they'll probably have an email address and you might get some info from them. If all else fails, email student services or admissions, most unis have the email addresses for these on their websites.

From what I've seen, most unis (in the UK at least) do allow time off for surgeries etc. You might have to make an 'action plan' for your transition so that they can be aware in advance of when you'll be gone, but your gender clinic/ therapist (if you have one) might be able to help you organise that?
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invisiblemonsters

i transitioned while in school. not uni or college, but an adult school to get my high school credits instead of going for my GED (or AGD in your case). i started t AND had my surgery while in school. i just talked to my guidance counselor but you should talk to your student advisor or an LGBT club at your school who can point you in the right direction. i finished my transition by the time i hit college so i didn't have to worry about any of that. when i did go through it all though, with T and surgery, mine all worked out so i started T before the summer so my voice dropped over the summer so starting a new semester, my voice was just deep and i had my surgery over the march break, and only took a week off school (only had one class and i didn't find it difficult to be in school after my surgery though.
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AeroZeppelin92

I'm currently a college student and started T about a month before my first day of college. So, yea, I've been transitioning in college.

Although I can't speak for colleges everywhere (I go to a California state university), in my experience I have had zero issues. I haven't yet had my name let changed, so my birth name is on all my records. At the start of each semester I just politely email my instructor or just tell them in person that I prefer a different name. They've never asked questions and have all been respectful about it.
In terms of other students, I honestly don't talk to most classmates like I thought I would. Even in the classes that I do, I'm pretty much "stealth" at this point and no one has ever questioned me.
Now my first semester in college was a bit awkward, as I had just started T, and was in that awkward stage and got misgenered a little bit, but I remained patient and by my second semester that pretty much went away.
I had top surgery during this past summer break.
I don't think there's any reason you would need to inform the school of your trans status, unless you were intended on staying in the dorms.
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Mr.X

I transitioned during uni as well. In fact, I was doing a Master's degree in Ecology while doing so.
My uni treated everything really well. My professors were understanding. During one of my internships I had a really tough time with my transition, and when I came out to my supervisor, he completely understood why I was a bit slower than usual. My final thesis had to be presented and I presented it for the first time as a guy, complete with name change and my department was very cool with it. I was about half a year on T then.

How other students react I can't really tell. I always dressed manly, and when I really started to change because of the T, I was doing internships so there were no classes with student interactions. I did go to the uni pub on wednesdays where a few guys questioned what the deal was with me. I suffered from the young boy look then, so I just told them I was like 15 and a boy genius. They were drunk, so probably bought it :P All in good fun.

In summary, my experiences have been good. Higher education teachers and professors can be very open minded, and as long as you are honest and open with them, they can help and respect you.
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Empty Miroir

Thanks for all the replies, I'll be looking at the school's guidelines on their website and it's good to know that it's not as big of deal as my mind is making it out to be. I'm lucky enough to be able to live a bus ride away from the school so I won't have to worry about dorms.

Edit: My uni seems to have a pretty good code of conduct for trans issues https://www2.viu.ca/positivespace/glbtissues.asp so that's a load off my shoulders too.
"He's leaving you behind. And by the time you catch up, he'll be a different person." -Vanitas
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selfcurlingpaes

I started transitioning during my third year at uni. I came out in the summer and started taking testosterone two weeks into the beginning of Fall semester. Interestingly, school is the only place I don't worry about being transgender. I have Title IX (US law) to protect me, and I know if any professor gives me a hard time, they will likely lose their job. The uni has my birthname, since I haven't changed my name yet, but the school has a program where you can put a preferred name that will show up everywhere that matters, like rosters. I still email my profs before class starts to make sure they have the right name, just in case. I have received not even a weird look from my classmates or my professors, and I do not pass AT ALL. I look and act and talk like a girly female, especially at the beginning of the semester, and no one had any issues calling me "Jack" and "he", because that's who I am.

You should also remember that people around our age are the most likely to be accepting of LGBTQ issues, and professors tend to be liberal (read: more accepting). You should also connect to whatever LGBTQ organizations your school has, as they can be great resources if you do run into any trouble. I think you may be surprised about how accepting colleges are. Every transguy I've met at school so far (yes, there are others, three that I've met) gets his injections at the student health center, from the school nurse. ie: THE SCHOOL IS PAYING FOR THEIR TRANSITION and the guys have nothing but great things to say about how easy it is to get the prescription and how understanding the staff is.

I hope it goes well for you. School should not be a place where you are afraid to be yourself.
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haeden

I haven't really transitioned yet and probably have a year left so probably won't be in college when I do, but I see a therapist on campus and she offered me an off campus therapist that handles trans issues and even told me there was a place on campus were students meet. I also know that there is at least one mtf that goes to my uni because she lives at my complex. So I think uni is fairly a good place to transition. I mean you will always have your difficult people but it shouldn't be from the professors
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Polo

It was actually my first day of my program that tipped me into realizing I was trans.  I was already presenting masculine and being read that way by strangers, but hadn't quite gotten to the whole transgender thing yet; I just thought I was butch. A girl in my program started treating me and referring to me as a guy, and I didn't correct her out of habit. At one point we were getting our student ID badges and she casually asked to see my drivers license which was still decidedly female.  She looked, handed it back, and proceeded to treat me and refer to me as "he".  It filled me with such a strange, giddy, amazing feeling that I couldn't ignore it.

I'm located in Texas, which usually gets bad press for LGBT issues, but I haven't had any problems with my transition.

I'd recommend transitioning while at school, having that all done will simplify/streamline applying to jobs and getting into your career.


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Sam Alexei

I started my transition when I was at community college. I was lucky in that at 6 months on T, I transferred to a (California State) University and for the most part, am able to go stealth with classmates that I don't know so I don't have to answer a bunch of questions. 

My first semester I had not legally changed my name and gender yet, and thus had to email teachers beforehand, or if they didn't have a reachable email, talk to them before class. It was awkward and not fun but it made roll-call time a lot easier. My second semester starts in January and my paperwork will have been legally changed by then, thank god.

If your campus has LGBT or even better, a trans-specific organization, I would for sure ask them for tips. They can help you with bathroom issues, give you tips, and at my school, they'll even contact teachers about name and pronouns for you.

Best of luck with university, I hope you have an amazing time!
On T since early March 2015.
Expected Top Surgery: Summer 2016.
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Andre87

I changed my name to gender neutral before Uni in order to decrease probability of being misgendered.I was blessed with facial hair and almost flat chest even pre-T so I passed most of the time..the major obstacle was very girly voice that left some people suspicious...At that time,I've decided to come out as intersex(though I'm not,it was my impression that people are more ready to accept such diagnosis and won't question me further).I was accepted as a boy in casual communication and among friends.No dating at Uni in my case.No bullying in bathrooms.I was a guy with genetic disorder...that's all.

7 years later,after having baby I'm back to Uni.There's huge generation gap,and that's the main problem..different jokes,different interests..10 weeks ago I started T.No problems with passing..this time I didn't come out as intersex..but that's why I feel uncomfortable if a girl is too kind..so I mention my son so most classmates think I'm married..
Every man is a star whose light can make shadows dance differently and change our view of landscape permanently***
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