I decided to take a look at this beautiful new blog environment and submit the first blog on this new website. What better than answering the question "why are you in the clan?". When I talk to people, this clan can be one of the subjects of conversation. A common reflex: "Why are you in a gaming clan? You don't seem like a nerd?". Because that is what many people think. That we are nerds because we are in this clan. In this blog I will give you one reason why being in a gaming clan was a good idea for me. When I get time I might write other blogs, with other answers.

My reason why I am still in a gaming clan is very particular. Indeed, it all started with gaming. I played the game enemy territory and had lots of fun with my real life friends. During my exams I went looking for other servers to take a short break. I ended up on nq2, where I played with some regulars who wanted to play objective-based, balanced games. We decided to join FA, first purely to be able to use !put to even the teams. We moved to nq3 and things shifted from gaming to talking. We all joked together late evenings during what we called "specparties". We became friends.

When I had difficult times in my life, I had the luxury to have two friend groups to help me trough. When my real life friends grew tired of my nagging, my friends on the server were there for me. To give sense to my existence during those difficult times and to thank this second group of friends, I started helping out a lot on the forums. I was the one making gameday posts, I made some tutorials and so on. Years later here I am, a leader of a gaming clan. Unplanned and never desired.

The lesson I learned from this experience and I want others to learn from it is this: you can never give too much to people who earned your respect. You will get back what you gave a thousandfold. Not only literally because these people will give you what you gave them, but also because you start feeling better about yourself when you help people. I decided to repeat the engagement I made online in my real life by doing volunteer work. As a result I now understand a lot more about the world and the people in it, my languages have improved and I get respect from people who know what I'm doing.

Be ambitious in everything you do in your life. When you lived your life, it will always be incomplete but at least you can say you took everything there was to take. To me (and of course this is personal), the time I spend gaming is better spent being part of a clan made up of beautiful, motivated people. That way you can help out and when you need it, eventually you will get something back.