1 year. 12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days. May 31, 2014 is when I got Staff, today is May 31, 2015 :)

As told by the title above clearly states, I have been on Staff for one year now! Throughout my time on Staff I have gone through many experiences. Most of them positive experiences, of course many aren't positive as well, because honestly whose life can be only fully positive. Throughout my one year on Staff, I have met many new players, made many new friends, and learned many life lessons.

I'd like to start off by thanking a few people for pre-Staff things that lead to me applying for Staff. From the very start, literally minute one, I had help. Without that initial outreach, who knows if I would have stayed passed my first day. I'd like to specifically thank @pat2100 for helping me on my first day. Sure we've had ups and downs, but that's any friendship for you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even know how to play in my cities and build gardens ;) xD You helped me learn how to get Resident, but clearly I didn't listen very well. I'll be honest, my Resident app sucked! (http://www.ecocitycraft.com/forum/threads/resident-application.33761/) Even with my messed up app, you still stood there for me through some time.

The next major key to me working to get Staff was @TheHolyStick22. Without the endless time building with him, and working together to get things like star tools and run countless towns/stores/things together, I don't know if I would have ever gotten the courage to apply. He was one major push toward applying for Staff, his motivating character, his true kindness, just everything about him has been a true inspiration. Though he may be a few years younger than me, I have learned (and can still learn) many new things from him.

Now to the part where I actually got to applying for Staff. I applied a total of 8 times before I got Staff. With 7 prior applications, and being banned once before, I thought that there'd actually be no hope and that I'd give it one more shot. I guess it's true that patience is key. One thing I find funny, being a GameAdmin now, that every time I have been promoted, I was mid sentence. When I first got Moderator, I was in the middle of SG getting hyped up for the new Staff getting announced. My picks were one of the first (if not the first) to be picked without needing a restart, therefore causing it to seem a little different for everyone. I read the alert that was said about new Staff, and my name didn't even register when I read it. I said "congrats new Staff!" and then sat there for a moment, screaming once I realized that I too had been promoted in the first round of a few rounds for those picks. I had @Nicit6 calling me a nub in pm to try to join Staff chat. I learned many things as a Moderator, learned a little bit about how the team worked, got to have fun with learning forum work and finally being able to help with complaints. Honestly, Moderator was the longest feeling rank. I though know exactly why. It was because I didn't open up a ton to all the Staff, only a select few I got really close with. I did try to talk to everyone to at least feel somewhat welcome, but it didn't make much change. At that point, some issues happened that caused different things to happen amongst Staff, but I won't expand too much upon this. Shortly after these issues calmed down, I got SuperMod. I had Moderator for exactly 3 months.

As a SuperMod, I looked back at myself as a Moderator. Questioning how I got to where I was, unsure why I was even picked. That was partially due to the incidents happening just before my promotion. Throughout SuperMod, I got close to a few more Staff members, and was always excited for new Staff to come so I can welcome them with loving arms and attention and being willing to help. Once I got SuperMod, I was always told that I'd have to be a leader to the blues, teach them how to Staff, how to handle situations, and anything else that may come my way. I felt at that point like I started to belong. SuperMod was when I first learned about leadership, and acted upon my leaderlike impulses. When I was SuperMod I got the opportunity to help lead some portions of Staff, which I really loved! I love leading people, helping people, and seeing people respond to what I've done for them, it's a good feeling! When I was SuperMod for a few weeks, one of the two GameAdmins remaining had resigned, leaving only one. I knew that happening we'd need a new GameAdmin. Of course I never thought I'd get it. I mean I had only been SuperMod for less than a month. Of course that's what happened. Less than a month of SuperMod and here I was getting GameAdmin. Of course I was asked first, since I had literally just gotten SuperMod, and GameAdmin is one of those ranks you don't normally just throw someone in, unless you're 1000% sure they want to. I never thought I'd reach GameAdmin to be honest.

Now here comes the part about GameAdmin. GameAdmin is by far my favorite rank on Staff. I have been it for just over 8 months now (8/12 months. 2/3 of my time on Staff has been GameAdmin). It is by far my favorite rank because of all the applications I get to do. That was always something I wanted to handle even before getting Staff. Something about applications is just, fun. I love the ability to do applications, welcome Staff, help answer questions, do fun things, and yeah. I feel like I've grown VERY close to Staff. Many of the Staff I have very close connections to, and have had hours on end with completely unintentionally. Pokemon, Clarinet, Phys, nicit - just to name a few. I could never imagine leaving. The community of Staff, the community of the server, just everything is making me want to stay on Staff. Especially after shouting my name in orange, I decided I don't want to go back!! It's SO ugly in orange! I'm too adapted to red :p That and I'm too adapted to doing Staff related things. Just yes. Staff. I love it. Never wanna leave it. Never gonna give it up.


So what's the point of this massive wall of test you may ask? It's a summary of my "journey to/through Staff"! I want to say thank you to everyone who has made a positive impact on me through the server, whether it's hearing me vent, making me laugh, supporting me when I'm conquering my fears or anything else (trust me, it's not just the few people I listed in all this writing, many many many of you have positively impacted me :happy:. I just want to thank the ECC community in general. Without you guys, there wouldn't be a server for me to watch over, monitor, have fun with. You guys are awesome.

For anyone looking to apply for Staff, I recommend it. Don't do it for the "fame, fun, or whatever else you may think it comes with". Honestly, living by that WON'T get you anywhere. If you apply for Staff with the right intentions, stick to your guts, ask questions, and just want to help an amazing server, then you're headed toward success.

Again, thank you for all the fond memories. I've learned to be a better person, more mature, learn to manage people/tasks, and just learn to be more helpful. Hears to a year, and hopefully several more!