ok caleb I looked but I didn’t actually “speech” that much at the start
I’m exceptionally keen to keep contributing to atarnotes in a new capacity. The first time I remember going on the forums I was in year 11 and trying to figure out if going to an underrepresented school or getting not fantastic SAC marks would stop me from getting a great study score (thanks AN for reassuring me I’d be fine). Then in year 12 I actually started posted and really became part of the community. There are far too many people who have been key to my experiences since then to thank them all, but I’ll single out two people: thank you Nick & K8 for your support and belief in me from the beginnings of my journey to now. I’m not sure when exactly I stopped viewing AN as transactional (I was given an answer, therefore I should help others get answers) and started seeing it as a community, but there is no doubt in my mind now that AN is a community.
I firmly believe that being able to see others who you can relate to striving to grow helps all of us flourish, and I suspect that without AN my year 12 experience would’ve been less rich and successful. I also believe that it would make my university experience less rich and successful. One of my goals for last year was to develop my emotional intelligence; and being able to support people going through the hectic-ness of high school has certainly helped; I had no idea how much I'd grow to care about the users here. You might’ve thought I was just helping others, but one of the keys to volunteering is that volunteers tend to be happier and develop new skills - that has certainly been the case for me - so really I was helping myself too.
Thank you, friends, for being part of a supportive community where learners can share and grow from others’ experiences, support, and advice. I know I have