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March 30, 2024, 12:03:28 am

Author Topic: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator  (Read 1732 times)

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Joseph41

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Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« on: March 01, 2019, 09:50:47 am »
+28
🎉 NEW HONORARY MODERATOR 🎉

Brenden (known by various usernames across his ATAR Notes life) joined the forums on 18 February 2012, and has perhaps been the single most influential member of our community since.

As of today, he is our newest Honorary Moderator.

Practically every single ATAR Notes initiative over the last five years, on and off the forums, Brenden has played a role. And often, a very, very big role.

Thank you Brenden: Honorary Moderator #25

On the forums…
Brenden has been an absolute giant.

* More than 7,000 posts. Currently the ninth most of all time and, until recently, the sixth most.
* Accrued some 2,500 respect, mostly through a time where a post:respect ratio of 20:1 was incredible. I have no doubt that Brenden would be #1 if we adjusted respect for era, taking into account respect inflation.
* Made 200+ posts in ten individual boards, including almost 800 in Victorian Education Discussion.
* This includes the VCE English Work Submission and Marking Board, where Brenden was massive in marking countless essays and investing countless hours of time.
* Administrator for more than four years since taking over duties from ninwa.
* Sole Administrator for a large chunk of that time, which honestly would not be an easy gig in the slightest.
* And, in my view, one of the most pivotal posters ever in terms of ATAR Notes Culture.

In December 2017, Brenden made a thread – From the bottom of my heart – Thank you ATAR Notes – and I just think it speaks so well for the kind of impact AN can have. And, indeed, the kind of people AN attracts. Brenden could have easily said, “well, thanks for the help, I’m done now, so I’ll see you all later!”, but instead stuck around to be the pillar of the community he was and is for future students.

Quote from: brenden
I came on AN around May this year when I started answering people's Psych questions and I've racked up a fair few posts in such a little amount of time. Really though, I fell in love with the community at ATARNotes in a way the majority of you won't understand.

And ATAR Notes fell in love with you, mate! From that point onward, just look at some of the threads he has made. This is just a tiny snapshot, not even taking into account individual posts.


Lauren says:
Quote from: literally lauren
"When I met Brenden, the first question he asked me was "what's your favourite book?" And there's pretty much no way to make a better first impression than that. One of the many reasons why he's remained a core part of ATAR Notes and the lives of ATAR Notes-ers for so long is because beneath all the philosophical rants, the sage advice, and the football discussion, there's a person with the most uncanny ability to empathise with and understand others. I can think of no better person to be pursuing teaching, and no better role for him than to be an incredibly memorable and impactful teacher."

Off the forums…
If it weren't for Brenden, things might be very different, including a lot of things we take for granted now in 2019.

FREE NOTES + ARTICLES
Brenden has played a big role in cultivating the free notes section of the site (starting it from scratch in some instances). The same is true for our free articles, many of which Brenden wrote himself. We're now closing in on 4,000 sets of free notes available to download 24/7.

STUDY GUIDES
Brenden was huge in developing our first study guides in both Victoria and New South Wales. We now have more than 60 titles across the two states, with more to come.

NEW SOUTH WALES COMMUNITY
Honestly, this could be the biggest thing of all. The NSW community we have today on ATAR Notes is awesome, and offers pretty much everything the Victorian community offers (which was established in 2007). Developing NSW was Brenden's baby, and he smashed it out of the ballpark. We know the huge NSW figures: Jamon, Jake, Elyse, Rui, Susie and so on. But literally none of that could have been done without Brenden, and even though ATAR Notes - HSC is a given right now, it didn't used to be the case.

Jamon says:
Quote from: jamonwindeyer
“Brenden was the very first person I ever talked to from ATAR Notes, and since then he’s always represented everything good about AN for me. Working with him to establish the HSC community was such a privilege; he was and continues to be a source of inspiration and motivation. His posts and respect count are insanely impressive, but even they can’t do justice to the sheer impact Brenden has had on this community. It’s not exaggerating to say that without Brenden, the landscape of the community today would be totally different - He was the spark for the HSC community altogether. Which also means he was the spark for what is now a huge part of my life. Thanks for everything, mate ❤”

TUTESMART
TuteSmart now runs across two states. Who took care of much of the day-to-day stuff in its original iterations? Brenden did.

See initial thread here.

FREE LECTURES
For context, when I was in Year 12, free lectures didn't exist. They just didn't. If you wanted to go to revision lectures for your subjects a few times per year, you'd be forking out hundreds - even thousands - of dollars. Now, you can do that for free - again, largely thanks to Brenden (for both states). Literally tens of thousands of students have benefitted.

What I love is that the chances are, lecturers today were either trained by Brenden personally, or trained by somebody who was trained by Brenden. His influence has been significant.

See initial thread here.

On a personal level…
I am honestly really thankful to have been able to work with Brenden over the last little while, and to be able to read his posts (which will hopefully be the case in the future, too!). He’s had a big impact on me personally.

We actually joined the forums about ~a month apart, when we were both just starting Year 12, and then, very coincidentally, made our first posts on the very same night, in the very same board. Brenden got actively involved in the forums much earlier than I did and was, in a sense, from a forum generation before me, but that allowed him to be a really fantastic mentor as I gradually became more involved in subsequent years.

Brenden (with Lauren) was, if I’m thinking straight, the first person I ever met from ATAR Notes. He was probably the most welcoming person I’ve ever met. On that day, his enthusiasm for ATAR Notes was very clear to me, and I think that’s something that has rubbed off onto the community more generally over the years. Which is huge.

I am genuinely proud to call Brenden a friend and to be able to make this post denoting his transition into his next ATAR Notes role as he pursues other ways to positively impact students' lives.

Thank you, Brenden, for everything!

Thank you Brenden: Honorary Moderator #25

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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #1 on: March 01, 2019, 10:17:24 am »
+11
This is, truly, the end of an age.

Brenden, you were AN's Atlas for a long time. You held us up, carried us through and not only helped us to improve academically, but you improved us as a community. Honestly, meeting you in real life was like meeting a celebrity - you embody everything good about AN, and it has been an honour to see you at work.

I have so much admiration and appreciation of both your role and you as a person, but if I tried to explain I'd be here all day. So, see you around, and #ThanksBrenden.
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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #2 on: March 01, 2019, 10:19:26 am »
+9
Thanks for everything Brenden! It’s strange to think about a life without AN... so thank you for bringing it to NSW and for all your contributions over the years!
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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #3 on: March 01, 2019, 10:20:53 am »
+10
Even after reading back through posts from years before I started I simply cannot imagine ATARnotes without Brenden. Like many others, I remember going to the lectures and hearing Brenden speak - this is where I learnt about the forums.

Thank you so much Brenden for everything you have poured into this community, and for playing a MASSIVE role in making the forums a highly supportive community rather than just a place you go to get answers and share info.

Best of luck for your future - your students are incredibly lucky to have you, and so were we.

Joseph41

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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #4 on: March 01, 2019, 10:35:46 am »
+8

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Bri MT

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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #5 on: March 01, 2019, 10:38:28 am »
+6

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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #6 on: March 01, 2019, 11:27:30 am »
+10
Thank you Brenden for all your wonderful contributions to ATAR Notes !! <3
It's crazy to think how much an impact one individual can make on a huge community and that is something to be commended.
Wishing you all the best with all your future endeavours.
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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #7 on: March 01, 2019, 11:39:53 am »
+10
Saying that Brenden is a legend is an understatement. The impact he's had on the AN community is IMMENSE and it's something that has been really really cool from what I've seen!
 
#ThanksBrenden <3
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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #8 on: March 01, 2019, 11:46:28 am »
+10
Coming from someone who has been on AN for 5 years, I cannot remember a time I was around without Brenden being around. Even when I began, he was already a pretty big presence in the AN community. He’s only ever risen since. That’s saying something.

Honestly, if anyone deserved to be Hon Mod, Brenden would definitely be one of the top candidates I’d think of immediately. Brenden was, is and will continue to have his impact exude across AN for an extremely long time.

Best of luck for the future, whether it be teaching, still being around on AN or otherwise.

#ThanksBrenden
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Re: Brenden - Officially an Honorary Moderator
« Reply #9 on: March 01, 2019, 06:01:08 pm »
+16
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