njl - 26-4-2021 at 06:36
Hi all. I wanted to save this for my 500th post but I feel like it's important. I really want to thank every member of this board that I've interacted
with for being so wonderful. My interest in chemistry began when I got a subscription to Popular Science for Christmas one year, and I fell in love
with Theodore Gray's column Gray matter. When his column was cancelled, I got his books The elements, Mad science, Mad science 2, and
Reactions. From here my interest blossomed until my interest shifted towards math. When I found this forum though, I fell back in love and
decided that chemistry is what I needed in my life. When I first posted here I didn't have the first clue what I was talking about but after 2 years
with the support of some of the most intelligent people I know I got into school to study chemistry! I am so excited to start university with this
amount of background knowledge, and it's all thanks to this forum. I have struggled with mental health since fifth grade and seeing others struggle
and be supported here has made so much difference in my life. I don't know what I would be doing without you all.
I haven't been here long, but I hope that those who recognize me do so because I can help others and contribute to conversations. If I have been here
long enough to get some reputation I can only hope it's positive. Texium, karl, nicodem, jsum, fyndium, woelen, Bromic, zed, arkoma, atara, fery...
too many of you to name.
Thank you all so much.
j_sum1 - 27-4-2021 at 17:14
I love the fact that there is such a community of like-minded nerds here. I really have had only positive interactions with felow SM members (with
the exception of trolls and spammers, but that's another story.) I think it is really important to have live and enthusiastic interaction in amateur
Chemistry. And the positive life effect you describe, njl, is so encouraging and certainly not an isolated occurrence.
One of the big ironies in life is that I am a moderator of a board with so much specialised knowledge and experience. I really do feel like a noob
most of the time. My Chem education barely extends beyond high school, which I teach. Almost everything else I owe to this board and this community.
So, thanks from me too. This has been a career changer for me.