I made my first Club Penguin account when I was about 10-years-old. At the time, I had no idea what Club Penguin was going to mean to me in the long-run. As a kid growing up in the 2000s, I took advantage of the technology right at my fingertips. I remember when there were those fear mongering sentiments about how everyone on the Internet is disguising themselves as kids to cover up that they are creepy adult predators. So I made my Club Penguin account without telling my parents.
I remember my first year on Club Penguin. I made so many friends. The year was 2007 and the layout of social media sites at the time such as YouTube and MySpace were at its apex, where there were very few rules and the goal of every social media site was experimental. My new Internet friends, who were all around my age, all had MySpace and YouTube accounts, so we decided to connect away from Club Penguin because of the safety regulations Club Penguin had as a children's website.
From then on, whenever I was having a sucky situation with school friends or just frustrations at home, I went online. I met so many people that I still talk to today. We all integrated our “real life” friends with our Internet friends and created such a fun atmosphere for young teenagers to collectively angst, share, and have fun. Because of this, I was introduced to my all-time favorite bands at the time such as My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco. My first "romantic relationship" was created by the connections that I made when I was about 14-years-old. Some of my fondest memories are from when Instant Messenger was popular and I stayed up late with my friends from across the world, talking about our feelings and making each other laugh on our respective Sidekick phones.
Eventually, I was sucked into the realm of fandom. I’ve been in fandoms for as long as I can remember. Having a community to rave about whatever musician, show, or movie that I was into at the time was really some of the best experiences I’ve had in my teenage years. Suddenly, I found myself on Tumblr. I was about 15-years-old when I joined Tumblr and in hindsight, that was the turning point in my Internet history and how it collided with my reality.
I think I’ve used the Internet and the Internet persona that I’ve created for myself as an escape from a reality I didn’t want to be living in. But now, as I’m in my early 20s, I think I appreciate my life way more. I find joy in the smallest things now. I’m genuinely so much happier now than when I was younger. I was filling my need for attention and praise by completely immersing myself on the Internet. In short, I didn’t have my priorities in order and was trying to find myself by spending hours in front of my laptop screen. Now, I can appreciate and balance my loving friends that I have made throughout the years, offline and online, with a supportive family. I am able to be proud of myself in regards to my professional and academic progress.
I do believe that I do owe a lot of my current life and progress to Club Penguin. Without Club Penguin, I would have never found a supportive group to help me through some of the most confusing years in my life. Now that Club Penguin is being shut down at the end of March 2017, it feels like the end of an era and a new chapter of my life is beginning as I see college graduation nearing closer and closer. All I have to say is: Thank you, Club Penguin.
