Support Dakota's Legal Name Change

I've been known as Dakota since April 2020, but I have never been able to make the jump to change it legally. Currently, I am regularly having to be aware of what name I should be using. I only associate myself as Dakota, so when I go to doctors' offices or other places where I need to use my birth name, my name gets called multiple times. There have been confusion points where my legal name came up and not my preferred, and people don't know it's me. I want all of this to be an easier process. I just want myself to be associated as Dakota in every area of my life. Now that I'm looking at grad school, I have an extra push to change my name as I want my diploma to correctly reflect the person who got it.

It is $380 to file. I'm also putting away money, and I'm just hoping to raise what I can't before I have enough between personal funding and this. I appreciate any help with this.