u/Key-Interaction8180

more of a vent than a rant. i just finished my first year at ucr and it was really messy. i withdrew from fall quarter due to a psychiatric hospitalization. in fact, i was hospitalized every quarter. my grades were pretty good in winter, but shit hit the fan in spring. i was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and i was going through stuff with my mom who was struggling to accept my trans identity. and instead of being there for me, my “friends” used my diagnosis and situation as a gossip topic. and said some fucked up stuff about me. namely, a premed student saying i was attention seeking. i found out one of the situations about my second hospitalization was spread, and my roommate for next year found out about it. luckily, he was very nice about it and very understanding, and i have no issues with him or my other future roommates whatsoever. but i ended up failing two major classes because i was never able to recover mentally and academically ever since that situation with my “friends” happened. now i am dreading going back to ucr and i wish i would have applied to northern california schools. any advice or words of encouragement are appreciated.

hello everyone,

i am going to be auditioning for mallets in BDA. the plan was to audition for BDB, but i ultimately decided to go for A corps, as i am pushing 20 and i only have two tries to get in.

i went to a high school in northern california with a strong percussion program that consistently placed top 3 in competitions. in my freshman year, i auditioned for vibraphone and got marimba. in my sophomore year, i was on xylophone and crotales and got many positive comments from judges about my musicality and such. in my junior year i was marimba again.

this is where i start to fall off. senior year, i was going through some stuff. despite this, i was drum major for the marching band and my leadership led us to win 1st all season, and i personally earned 1st as a conductor as well. things were going great, i got too ahead of myself, and i always assumed i was going to be center marimba for winter percussion. i was used to automatically being a leader. except i didn’t get to be center marimba. i was marimba 2 for the third time, beaten by a sophomore.

i was really crushed. i loved being a leader as the drum major. i wanted to lead again as center marimba. on top of my personal stuff, things got too heavy. i won’t go into details, but basically, it was NOT pretty. i didn’t take it out on the center marimba though, just kept it to myself.

i eventually pushed through and decided to stick to percussion. i ended up winning my circuit’s annual scholarship. so things worked out in the end.

so now i am here, an incoming sophomore in college. i have many doubts about this. i dont think im cut out for A corps. but i love this activity so much that i am willing to try.

so, any advice? what tempos should i do the exercises on the audition packet (it’s a very wide range)? how do i believe in myself? how do i stand out?

thank you very much for reading :)

my first disc was a disposable flex disc. it leaked. then i got a pixie disc with the applicator. still leaking. i also can’t seem to find my pubic bone. i’m also wondering if it may be too big. what do i do? what am i doing wrong?

i’ve been on birth control for a year, slynd since september. i experienced breakthrough bleeding for a couple months or so and then it stopped. i only bled on the placebo pills. however i am a week and a half into a pack, no missed pills, and suddenly i got bleeding. why?

i am a trans man who started taking testosterone a few months now. i’ve been on bc for about a year. i understand that placebo week causes a drop in hormones, which causes the period. i am wondering if this effect will still take place while on testosterone.