Friday, July 8, 2016

The Decision That Changed My Life (My Animal Jam History)

Hey jammers! Panda here...

So, the other week, I was thinking about Animal Jam--how I first started the game, how I met some of my buddies, how I started this blog... and it got me to realize something.

Animal Jam has changed my life. So has this blog. 

Sorry--this is starting out kind of sappy and sentimental. XP But I'll just start my story from the beginning and hope that it all makes sense to you...

(This is going to be kind of a long post, so if you're not interested, I'll add a break directly below so that you don't have to scroll through the entire post to view some of our past posts. Also, I'll be including little tidbits from my real life, so if you're also not interested in that, then all the more reason to keep on scrolling and take a look at some of our other posts. ^.^)

I first heard about Animal Jam from one of my real-life best friends (at the time) in 2013. She had been playing Animal Jam for about... 2 months, maybe? I had gone over to her house and she had showed me Animal Jam. I was fascinated by the intricate, detailed world, and the adorable animals. The thing I ever did was play the Claw, and I won several wolf and horse plushies for my friend.

When I went home that day, I made an account. I chose the username awesomepanda868 because I loved pandas and my favorite numbers are 8 and 6. My first animal was a panda, named Flora Daisypanda, whom I still have and play as.

I played Animal Jam for awhile that night. The first item I ever bought was a bamboo fence (which I also still have).

I soon grew bored with the game, however. I neglected my account for several months.

Around October, however, I was bored one day and logged back into my account. I played a bit more, and was soon absorbed into the game. I traded, played games, went on adventures... the whole dealio. My first rare was a set of rare butterfly wings, and it was at that moment that I became interested in rares.

I spent nearly 2 hours per day for the next several months playing Animal Jam, collecting rares and making new friends.

My friend, who had originally introduced me to Animal Jam, was going to get a membership for Christmas. We excitedly planned out what she was going to buy when she became a member during our bus rides to school together each morning. We were both so obsessed with the berets and the pink sofas! XD

We continued to play Animal Jam together for the rest of 2013 and the first half of 2014. However, I had a sort of falling out with her. She had been my best friend in real life for almost 3 years (I had moved to her town about 3 and a half years ago, so we had been friends for the majority of that time). We always had a good laugh together, and I couldn't imagine life without her.

But she soon began to change. She became obsessed with clothes, shoes and how her hair looked. She would always gaze longingly at the "popular girls" whenever I was talking to her, and that was when I realized that she wasn't enjoying her time with me as much as she used to. I think she considered me a sort of roadblock in the way of her becoming one of the popular girls.

This angered me. How could my friend so casually throw away our friendship?

We sort of passive-aggressively interacted with each other for the last 2 months of school. There was another girl in my class whom I was friends with, and my other friend was getting jealous of all the time I was spending with this other girl.

The school year ended at an awkward moment with me and my friend, and we didn't talk at all after we were forced to spend time together in school everyday. I wasn't too sad though, because this new friend that I had (we'll just call her "S") was super nice and we had a great time together.

S soon joined Animal Jam too, and we had a blast together playing online. We'd trade, go on adventures, and we soon became pretty rare together.

In July, I finally got a 1-year membership. I am still thankful to my parents to this day for purchasing the membership for me. It gave me so much joy and happiness to finally be able to buy and wear and use all of the features and items I had always dreamed of using.

Then, I learned that I was moving. I wasn't moving super far away, just to the next town over. But it meant that I wouldn't be in the same school as everyone else.

What was sort of weird was that S was also moving away that summer, but to a place much farther away. I would definitely miss her, but I hoped that we could stay in touch through email and Animal Jam

By this point, I had started my own blog. It wasn't this blog, but those of you who have known me for awhile know what it was called and such. I fell in love with blogging, and this is the part where the whole "decision that changed my life" things comes into play.

Without joining Animal Jam, I never would have seen all of the AJ blogs out there. Without seeing those blogs, I never would have started my own blog. If I had never started my own blog, I never would have found my love for graphic design and web communication that I have now.

Thanks to Animal Jam, I'll definitely have some sort of career with graphic design and/or writing/blogging.

I soon devoted my blog to a different purpose (I still have that same blog up right now, and I use it for more "professional" reasons, and I make some money off of it--about $10/month).

In October of 2014, I made this blog. Animal Jam Graphic Central.

I blogged every single day for months without getting noticed. I hardly got any traffic, and it was discouraging. But I found blogging so fun that I never stopped.

Eventually, I began to get more traffic, and it was the greatest feeling. To be recognized for your hard work and effort.

When I did end up moving to a different town, I hardly had any friends. Nobody wanted to talk to me, and I fell into a sort of depression. Not anything serious, but I wasn't as happy as I should have been.

Blogging really saved me from feeling too depressed. Coming home from a hard day at school and getting to work on my blog felt too amazing to be true.

This community of bloggers, jammers, YouTubers, artists... we're all so epic and supportive of each other. Animal Jam has connected me with people I'd never have met without the Internet.

I will be forever thankful to all of you for your endless support, and to this amazing game for all that it has done for me.

Thank you, Animal Jam. Thank you, blogging. Thank you, Animal Jam community.

You have all changed my life, in a way that I will never forget.

-Panda


17 comments:

  1. Wow...even if the AJGC seems like a simple, regular blog...this post explains how it is so much more than that.

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  2. Wow Panda, this post really got to me. I'm so glad that your blogging experience has been a positive one :) you're such a great friend and I'm glad to have you by my side in the blogging world. Love ya <3

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! <3 You've also been such an amazing friend to have with me throughout my time in the AJ community! You are so unbelievably kind and caring, and I'll never forget the support that you and others like you have given me!

      Love ya too! ;)

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  3. I'm so happy that life lead you here, I really love this blog, and read it every day!

    Random fact: Your first animal's name was Flora Daisypanda? My signature wolf's name is Flora DaisyPRIDE! Woah, so similar, hehe!

    Anyways, I'm so sorry about your friend, and how you had to move, but I'm glad you have made some great new ones!
    I keep thinking: What if all of us bloggers went to the same school? I bet we'd all be best friends! You all are AMAZING, though, and even though I don't see you in real life, I will always consider you my friends. :) Animal Jam, and blogging, changed my life as well, and for the better. If Nafaria hadn't posted about this blog on the AJW, I might never have found this great blog!
    So I guess friends really do change the world. :)

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    Replies
    1. Wow, going to the same school with all the bloggers would be A-MAZE-ING!!! XD Even though I haven't gone to public school before, I would LOVE to be friends with ALL of you guys!! Ack, me and you, Swirl. XD We'd probably whisper and laugh too much during class. XDD

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    2. @swirlshine
      Thank you! <3 I'm really happy that life lead me here as well... I got to meet all of you guys and discover some of my hobbies and interests.

      And wowza! What a coincidence!!! LOL

      I've always thought that as well--it seems like the people who get into AJ blogging have very similar personalities, or at least personalities that are very compatible with other bloggers' personalities. We all love writing, we all love our viewers, and basically everyone in the AJ community is insanely mature and considerate!

      I think we'd make an unstoppable group of friends! I wish we all went to the same school--that would be awesome!

      And yes--friends do change the world! :)


      @Lostfairy
      I know, right? It would be so much fun!!! :D

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    3. @awesomepanda
      Yeah! All of us bloggers seem like we were made to be friends! Almost every one I meet, they're so much like me!!

      @Lostfairy
      Haha, I bet we would! I can imagine it...

      Teacher: Okay everyone, so today we will be talking about the Yellow River in Asia.
      Me: I think I know why it's called the YELLOW river...
      Me and you: * Laughing*


      XDD!
      I based this play/story thing off of a real-life situation with my two crazy friends in Social Studies. Except my friend was the one who wondered about the yellow part. XP
      Oh gosh, what am I doing? I'm so weird. XD

      Delete
    4. @awesomepanda
      Yeah! All of us bloggers seem like we were made to be friends! Almost every one I meet, they're so much like me!!

      @Lostfairy
      Haha, I bet we would! I can imagine it...

      Teacher: Okay everyone, so today we will be talking about the Yellow River in Asia.
      Me: I think I know why it's called the YELLOW river...
      Me and you: * Laughing*


      XDD!
      I based this play/story thing off of a real-life situation with my two crazy friends in Social Studies. Except my friend was the one who wondered about the yellow part. XP
      Oh gosh, what am I doing? I'm so weird. XD

      Delete
  4. Aw, that's an amazing story! Never forget your an an amazing blogger and let's not forget an amazing friend:)

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    1. Thank you so much, Violet! This made my day! ^.^

      And you're ALSO an amazing blogger and amazing friend! :D

      Delete
  5. Wow, this story... It's so good. It means so much to you and to everyone. <3 I am sorry you went through some hard times with your friends. I had a friend who moved on too. It was hard. And then my new friend moved away too. 15 hours away. So we are kinda samies. :)
    I love this story! You are really an amazing writer and friend. <3 Thanks for sharing it with us, Panda. ^-^

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Lostfairy, your comment means a lot to me. And yes, having a friend move away is really hard! >.<

      Thank you again! <3 You are such an amazing friend as well! I don't know what I would do without the endless support of amazing people like you. :)

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  6. Wow panda! Such a touching story. Mine is so similar though, weird XD.
    I've moved far away from my best friend too, and I also had the same friend situation as you, too!
    I know how you felt that day, and I'm sorry you had to go through that moving experience. I had to go through the same thing.
    Panda, reading this post made me feel so good about myself. And not only that, happy for you and this blog. Thank you SOOOOOOO much panda!!!

    ReplyDelete

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