A MidWestern transgender woman trying to survive in the real life.

Tag: mental health

Going Into Teaching Secondary School

I usually never discuss anything about my employer publicly over the internet. Yet, I thought I would share that I’m going to have a career change.

I have mentioned in a post about my agoraphobia and how it caused me to lose my job at the United States Department of Agriculture. It is a long story on how I was eventually let go by my employer, so I won’t get into it. Ultimately, I managed to get on disability retirement. It is enough to pay the bills and live comfortably. I am very grateful for it.

Back in about September of 2022, I decided that I would start working as a substitute teacher for the local school district. I would be able to pick and choose the days that I wanted to work, and I could ease into it. I got all of the required paperwork completed and started early December 2022.

I eventually thought that I would try to obtain a license to become a secondary education teacher. I looked around at a number of universities and eventually decided to attend National Louis University (NLU) to obtain a Master at Teaching (MAT) degree along with my teaching license. It was just two more courses to take to get my MAT, so I thought I would work towards that to spruce up my resume.

I was required by NLU to take two under graduate courses prior to admission.  I enrolled at Elgin Community College to take courses in economics and human geography. I completed these requirements on Tuesday.

I was also required to take a content area test in either history or geography. I elected to take the geography exam. I took in in late March and passed it.

If everything works out as planned, I will start at NLU on July 3, 2022.  I’ll start to student teach in January 2025 and obtain my degree in about May 2025.

My Mental Health

I suffer from some mental health issues. I had suffered from depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. Yet, it has gotten worse especially since I transitioned.

I went to see a therapist for my social anxiety. I use to ballroom dance and I was so anxious when I would preform in front of people. I never experienced a problem like this, but I gradually learned it was because I identify as a woman. Ballroom dancing is very gender specific and I knew there was something wrong with doing the steps and movement that were for men. I began Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) on February 2014 to have the physical appearance of being a woman.

I was feeling better once I started but I began to get very anxious of being clocked (viewed as being my wrong gender or of being transgender). I began to develop agoraphobia. I didn’t want to leave the house and run into people. I didn’t have a fear of leaving the house, but rather being around people, mainly because of my gender dysphoria.

I will talk more about my mental health in this blog. I’m currently in therapy now and I loss my job chiefly because of my mental health. I’m still unemployed but I hopeful that I will be getting disability retirement soon. I already got approved for being disabled, but I have not received any payment yet.

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