Education
I should've graduated from high school in 2003, but due to a violent home life and untreated mental illness, I didn't have enough credits to graduate. I got my high school equivalency degree in 2005. To escape the violence, I had to leave home and begin working full-time as soon as I turned 18. I'd love to go back to school, but I currently have no choice but to work to support myself and my spouse, and my disability makes me unable to do coursework on top of 40-hour work weeks on top of self-care and home maintenance. I struggle with the latter two even without coursework on my plate.
I qualify for various grants and loans, but as far as I know, no resources are available that would cover my family's living expenses while I go back to school full-time. At my therapist and others' recommendation I've looked into various online school-like programs, and not only do they not cover living expenses either, but unsurprisingly they've all turned out to be scams. Additionally, the US student loan system in its current form is also a scam, and undischargable lifelong debt with no guarantee of positive career movement would make my life considerably worse. I try to learn as much as I can on my own, but I hope I can somehow, someday enjoy a formal higher education.
Gender
The umbrella term for my gender identity is nonbinary, meaning I don't fit into the gender binary. The specific term for my experience is agender, meaning I don't identify strongly with any gender. There are traits from multiple genders with which I identify, but I don't lean strongly in any one direction.
Privilege-wise, I am perceived as a gender-nonconforming member of the sex I was assigned at birth, but I don't experience dysphoria or discomfort at being misgendered. I experienced a fair amount of bullying for my gender as a child, especially by my dad, but I've been lucky not to have faced much violence or harassment as an adult. I don't identify as trans, but terms like "queer" and "genderqueer" are ones I'm beginning to be more comfortable with---which is hard, because the former was often hurled at me as a slur as a child.
The pronouns that feel most accurate for me are they/them, but I have no issues with masculine or feminine pronouns when applied to me. I feel no differently about any of them.
Relatedly, I'm demisexual and grayromantic. Subjects of gender, sex and romance don't hold much general interest for me, and I rarely discuss them except with people I'm close to. Obviously I support trans and queer liberation in all forms, but due to my differences I struggle to feel like I belong in trans- or queer-centered communities; My neurodivergence makes me struggle to feel like I belong anywhere, but that said, I feel more accepted in queer and trans spaces than any part of "mainstream" society.
Housing
I live in public housing, an apartment in a block built as a public works project during the FDR administration. The plan was to start renting an apartment or house once I started making more money, but a month after I started making more money, we elected a president who's vowed to destroy the US economy. The apartment isn't that bad, except that we don't have control over the heat; it's on from October-May no matter what temperature it is outside, so we often have to run the air conditioning in winter on days when it's too warm to just have a fan in the window. Also, we're subject to humiliating and dehumanizing monthly inspections, and the knowledge that someone from the government can enter my home at any time makes me feel fundamentally unsafe. Also, it's not in easy walking distance of anything. I wish we lived somewhere that felt like home, but I'm grateful to have a home when so many with my background don't.
It should hopefully go without saying, but I believe housing is a human right, and the way to end homelessness is by giving people homes.
Minimalism
I wouldn't describe myself as "a minimalist"---I try not to think of myself as an ideological anything---but I definitely think I'm a lot happier with very little stuff, and that most of the stuff society has conditioned us to want makes our lives worse. You can read more on the archived blog post When I Ended My Relationship With Stuff, and read about a few of the things that do improve my life at Every Day Carry and Computer.
It's obvious, but I feel compelled to mention that the ideology of stuff is hugely responsible for accelerating the destruction of the planet, and we should all try our best to want less things.
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Parents
I grew up with an abusive father and a neglectful mother. My dad is dead, which is good. My mom lives on the other side of the country, which is neutral. I'm glad for my independence, but if things go south in the country/in my life, I don't have parents I can move back in with, I'll just become homeless. It's not likely, but the possibility hanging over my head is one of many factors that contributes to my poor mental wellbeing.
My mother-in-law cares about me and my spouse very much, and does everything she can for us in spite of her struggles, which are many.
Work
I currently have a full-time spreadsheet job at a hospital. I make $19.07 USD an hour. A few years ago, this would've been a lot of money to me. I was previously making $9.95/hr since being hired in 2021, so the pay raise was quite welcome; but the employer-sponsored health insurance costs a lot, and doesn't cover as much as when I was making $9.95/hr and receiving Medicaid. Additionally, a month after my pay increase, we elected a president who has vowed to destroy the US economy; two months after that, my rent increased by about 40%. Add in the ever-increasing price of groceries, and my higher paycheck doesn't stretch nearly as far as I had once hoped. If you enjoy the work I publish for free on this website, and you have the means, please consider buying some of my games or supporting me with a contribution on ko-fi.