You'll Float Too

[Gustav 6,599]

If you don't get the reference with the title, go look it up and go read the book. It's great.

 

This weekend, I had to check out of the VHL and devote myself to the biggest event of the year in my building. Something really interesting that they don't really tell you about grad programs in my field until you get there is that when you're accepted to one, the school gives you an all-expenses-paid, multiple-day visit shortly thereafter where the department rolls out a massive amount of money that they've spent all year pretending not to have and turns its faculty and students loose with it to give you and maybe 15 other nerds the time of your life in an effort to get you to accept their offer over everyone else's. When I was looking at schools, these visits actually taught me quite a bit about what I was looking for--and they were such a fun time for someone who was just coming out of COVID protocols and hadn't really lived a lot in undergrad. Don't even get me started. 

 

I mention this because these things tap into a particular skill set of mine that I realized I had here in the VHL: being part of a system and indoctrinating people into it representing it well in such a way that others want to join it. I'll save the details lest the updaters take issue with this not being league-related enough, but I'll just mention that we put on a mean campus visit this weekend and I like to think that I had a lot to do with that as the head of the committee that had a hand in almost all of the event planning. In other words, VHLM GM Gustav absolutely showed up. We did tons of stuff that was never expected of us, and a lot of this was noticed. We've managed to pull in a few acceptances off the visit already, and someone who's coming even reached out to me to send a note of appreciation.

 

On to VHL words, and I promise that you guys can check that I have 150 of them:

 

There are things that we have to do in the VHL and things that we do not have to do. That does not mean that things we do not have to do are not useful. A GM needs to be there for the drafts, put effort into considering who goes where in their lines, and be available to answer questions from players, but who's to say that someone who does all of these things will be highly valued as a GM if that's all that happens? Likewise, anyone has to do tasks for TPE and anyone except league admin and half the mod team has to do a lot of tasks to earn a lot of TPE. There are still people with lots of TPE who I am surprised to learn have as much as they do because I just don't tend to notice them. The difference is being visible and willing to interact.

 

A big issue I have with the VHL is complacency with the system and a sort of "let me run through learning the letters again so I can keep my Duolingo streak going" mentality when it comes to getting things done. It's a short article because it's late on a Sunday, but I just can't help but think that the league could achieve so much more if it brought the same sort of passion to doing things that's often necessary to get someone to sign up to spend the next five years of their life in your program. What's the equivalent of learning someone's listed interests ahead of meeting them or taking them out for drinks after all the official stuff is over? It could be as little as just commenting on someone's article and making them feel seen. It could be whatever you'd like as long as it's coming from your heart. Think about how you can express that in some way, at some point, and be more than just someone who exists on this site. People will see you, people will notice, and they'll want to have the fun that you're having.

[LucyXpher 1,994]

I couldn't agree more! 

[Triller 1,756]

For the longest time after I joined I had no idea who most of the GMs were as they didn't interact much on the forums and didn't post a whole lot.  Found out later it was mostly because they got their TPE from job pay and stuck to the discord.  There were exceptions to this but not many.  The members who simply reacted to my posts were definitely noticed and those who commented, especially the ones who had been around for a long time, mattered a lot because you are trying to basically get into this "club" that is the VHL.  Acceptance is the name of the game.

 

Go that extra little bit and make a point to try and make new people feel like they got into the "club".  You nailed this point.

[Rkhockey9 103]

Great read !!! 

[Thunder 1,298]

I like the Duolingo reference!!