I joined about a week after getting Minecraft itself, so about October 2013 (though /seen lies about it :( ). I was 10 at the time, meaning I was only around 12-13 when i became a helper. I'm 17 now, a junior (about to be a senior) in high school. I originally was going to study architecture (largely because of Meep) but have been trying to move towards a science (mostly since I'm very academic). Currently, my intention is to become a civil engineer with a focus in structural. A degree in applied physics was also on the table, but an engineering degree just seems more versatile. I absolutely love history and Spanish, and would love to minor (or even double major) in at least one of them, but am not sure I'll have enough time in college.
That's me currently, but here's a separate section for my appreciation of Meep:
I grew up the youngest of four kids. My parents had a terrible marriage, and, as the youngest, I felt it was my responsibility to keep it together. I was homeschooled, so trying to support my parents as an 11 year old kinda absorbed my entire life. It took me a couple months to work up the courage (even though my family was more than financially capable), but I finally asked my parents to buy Minecraft. Meep was my only social refuge, and really helped me develop my interests and learn how to interact with people. It really helped me build my confidence when I went into public school in 8th grade to know that I had a community of hundreds behind me. In the middle of 8th grade, my parents separated, but Meep allowed me to relieve a lot of the stress of it. I lost my dad and sister in the divorce, and to some extent one of my brothers, but was able to fall back on dozens of online friends. I ended up moving around 2,000 miles at the end of freshman year. When I arrived to my new school (a magnet school full of peabrains who thought they were better than everyone else) I stopped playing as much (because of the insane amount of busy work, despite not learning anything actually interesting or useful), which is one of my biggest regrets. I lost a lot of confidence when I disconnected from Meep, and generally became a less secure person. I'm trying to reconnect to some of those old friends now, because even if we were never close, there's something about sharing this server as your childhood that bonds you incorruptibly.
Thanks everyone who has ever played with me, directly or indirectly. You helped me through some hard times.
