I have been awarded the Blogger’s Recognition Award by Matt In The Hat! Thank you so much! :3 This is my first award on WordPress and I couldn’t be happier.

Here are the award rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Write a post to show your award.
• Give a brief story of how your blog started.
• Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.
• Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to.
• Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

How My Blog Began

I think it is extremely ironic that I was nominated for this award right around the time I reached the 6th month anniversary of this blog. Before I start explaining my reasons, I just want to say that this is going to get personal.

In 2013, I graduated from Rowan University, where I pursued a Bachelor’s of Arts in Writing Arts. I wanted this degree because it is my dream to be a published writer, author, and poet. However, I knew how hard it is to support oneself through writing so I decided to obtain my teaching certificate and wound up pursuing a Master’s Degree. My goal was never to be a classroom teacher. I wanted a teaching certificate so I could tutor students one-on-on or work in small group settings. But my master’s program required me to do student teaching and my professors pushed me to become a classroom teacher. I wasn’t making enough money to support myself through just tutoring, so I decided to try teaching at a school.

Worst mistake of my life.

Although I was supposed to be a support teacher, the administrators of the school made me frequently substitute and do all kinds of things I wasn’t supposed to. On top  of this, the students were terrible. They were literally out of control. Even veteran teachers couldn’t handle them, and yet I (quiet, shy, sensitive, not to mentioned tiny me) was expected to take control. It also didn’t help that the school itself and admins were extremely unorganized.

This job would be stressful for most people, but, to make things even worse, I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. That job gave me panic attacks every day. Even at night or in the morning, just imagining going into that school would send me into a panic. I got so stressed that it affected my mental and physical health. Luckily, I survived to the end of the school year, but I was damaged. The thought of having another teaching job- any job for that matter- terrified me. I had a quarter life crisis and continued having panic attacks because I didn’t know what I was going to do with my future.

Note: If you suffer from anxiety, panic attacks, or depression similar to how I did, please seek professional help. Therapy allowed me to control and overcome my panic attacks.

Then I remembered something. My original intention was to be a writer, not a teacher. I decided to look for freelance writing jobs (the idea of being in a work setting still gave me anxiety at this point) and I had an epiphany after going to an anime convention and seeing Hatsune Miku live. Why not write about anime? It is something I would enjoy and it would be meaningful to me.

I began looking at different anime and otaku sites, but I didn’t have the credentials to start writing for any of them. I was surprised, however, that some of them didn’t require a lot of professional writing experience and blogging would suffice as a credential. I realized that I needed to start writing about anime if I were to ever land a job at one of these websites.

And thus, this blog was born.

I admit at first, my main purpose was to write pieces and cover anime that would look good in the eyes of anime companies. But after a while, the blog took on a life of its own. I began writing because I wanted to. Because I enjoyed it. Because I was inspired by different anime series and other bloggers I found online. For everyone who has followed, read, liked, or commented on my work, thank you. And if you have no idea who I am, but write about anime, thank you. Everyone’s support- whether direct or indirect- has really helped me. I no longer get anxiety about my writing because my readers have confirmed that I am a good writer.

And although I kind of forget about the original intention of this blog, my wish has come true. I have been selected to be an intern at Anime News Network and I am going to be starting the internship this month. Maybe this blog actually has helped me get a place in the anime industry. But even if it doesn’t, I am still grateful that I created this website.

Two Pieces Of Advice For Other Bloggers

1. Never be afraid of others’ opinions– Some of the pieces I have written have been very close to my heart. However, I always got anxious before posting one of these. I was afraid that these meaningful pieces would be criticized by others and I would end up getting my feelings hurt. But all of these pieces have wound up with positive reactions. For example, I was very nervous before posting my first Flip Flappers analysis because I thought people would scoff at my interpretations and say there were wrong. To my surprise, that piece had a very good reception and people actually asked me to write more pieces about Flip Flappers.

2. Interact with others, even if you are shy– I an extremely shy person in real life and sometimes am shy online as well. Again, I tend to assume that people will think my opinions or comments are stupid. However, I took the extra step and replied to people’s comments. I even contacted some bloggers on my own, which is a huge step for me. In doing so, I have met some really amazing people. There are many amazing anibloggers out there and their support, as well as their love for anime, is one of the things that have kept me going. I have gotten some great opportunities by reaching out, such as joining the otaku group OWLS, where I get to write about issues I lam passionate about and help spread awareness to others.

I nominate these bloggers for this award (and I hope to nominate many more in the future!): 

• LitaKino
• OG-Man
• Rocco B
• Anime Girls NYC
• plainpastaandplainrice
• fiddletwix
• Elisabeth O’ Neill
• Arria Cross
• Rory
• LiteraryOtakuGamerGirlT
• Josei Next Door
• Lethargic Ramblings
• All Hail Haruhi
• Kausus
• lynlynsays

To conclude, thank you again to every who follows or reads this blog. My goal is to continue this blog and write about as much anime as I can :3

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