<p>on all my legal documents, my name is lawrence. However, since kindergarten, I’ve gone by Thomas. I put Thomas on all my papers at school and even sign by it. In high school, I would have to tell my teachers to note down to call me Thomas like in the first week of school. I ciuldn’t get my name changed officially before I was 18 (it’s complicated), and now it’s just too much of a hassle since it’s a long process and school is about to start. Do you know if I can tell the teachers at cal to call me Thomas. Some of my classes have like 500+ people, so I don’t know how that will work. Thanks</p>
<p>Go introduce yourself to the professors, get to know them. Otherwise, in the large lecture halls, they’re more likely to call you ‘you there’ than any name on a piece of paper.</p>
<p>at lectures that big, professors won’t call out people and won’t take attendance. only during discussions will the GSI take attendance and try to remember people’s name. and discussions are small so you can definitely tell your GSI to call you by Thomas.</p>
<p>meh, most profs and GSI’s wont even bother to learn people’s names unless ur in a humanities discussion. For math and science classes, don’t even bother.</p>
<p>oh, ok. what about turning in assignments and taking test? In high school, I put Thomas on everything.</p>
<p>If you want to make life easier, you’ll put down Lawrence. If you want to make it harder, you’ll put down Thomas.</p>
<p>I have a nickname that I go by more often than my given name. I introduce myself using my nickname, or during role call I point out that I want to be known by my nickname. </p>
<p>However, it really depends on how well the GSI or professor (if it’s a small class) knows my name on whether I use just my nickname on exams and papers. Most often I put both my given name and my nickname, plus my last name of course, so that there isn’t any confusion. It hasn’t been a problem so far.</p>
<p>In your discussion section for lectures, you can tell your GSI that you want to be called Thomas instead of Lawrence. They’ll probably make a note on their attendance/enrollment sheet if they call out your names during the first section. </p>
<p>In lectures, don’t worry about having them call you Thomas; they typically won’t ask for your name.</p>
<p>probably safer to put lawrence in everything. If they remember to call you Thomas, great. If not, you can live with being called lawrence for a semester, right?</p>
<p>It may not be as easy as it used to be, but in California, one did not need to get a court or “legal” name change for the name to be legal. If you use a particular name for 5 - 10 years, you can just apply for a new drivers license and check the box “name change” as the purpose. Usually a declaration or affidavit from someone who can attest they have known you for a period of time and that you have used that name is all you need. I got my passport, my social security card, and my driver’s license all done by this method.</p>
<p>O/W, even court name changes are pretty simple – fill out one form, file it, pay the court filing fee and the publication fee, and you’re done!</p>
<p>Yes, I believe your situation is not uncommon. Like, many Chinese Americans I have my Chinese name in English registered for DMV, SS, Passport, Birth certificate, etc. Although my ‘thoughtful’ parents can live with their names, that’s not necessarily true for me, who have grown up attached to a familiar American name since elementary school. If you prefer to go by Thomas you should definitely consider changing your name in the future. In the meantime use Lawrence as the name for all exam-related purposes, because that’s the name associated with your SID.</p>
<p>I’m curious—what’s the problem with your name change? It takes like two weeks max from when you file the papers to when it becomes official in a newspaper.</p>
<p>OP, not trying to be counter productive but I personally think Lawrence sounds wayyyyy better than Thomas.</p>
<p>It sounds like an amazing name, like Lawrence of Arabia!</p>
<p>^^ lolll</p>
<p>^^ agreed…</p>
<p>well there’s no problem with my name change now that i’m 18. However, my friend told me that it cost him like 300 something dollars for the whole process. I don’t have the money or time right now because I have to spend it on other things (like saving for next year’s tuition). I prefer to be called Thomas because my stepdad’s called me that since I was 5. didnt have biological father’s permission to change name (in a different country) now that I think about it, there may have been a way around this.</p>