Thank You Sndbox! Way to Go Alpha... & Good Luck Beta

It was in November that I got into @sndbox through the nomination of @themanualbot, and my Steemit journey since became all the more meaningful. With the graduation of the first cohorts happening in half a month, this post is to thank the incubators, the stewards, the cohorts in @sndbox-alpha, Steemit Inc., and everyone who made @sndbox possible.

Continuous Learning & Self-Improvement

Being in a group of 100 creatives, and community builders have its perks, but it doesn't come without pressure. Being lined up with some of the most talented new Steemians while at @sndbox encouraged me (more like forced really) to continuously learn for two reasons:

• So I can continue to contribute contents, and initiate projects that may make @sndbox proud, and will not be seen inferior in comparison to my friends' in @sndbox-alpha.
• So I can always have something new to share in my engagements with Steemians in the Philippines paying the @sndbox incubator gift forward.

The pressure to continue improving myself, and learning new things may be the most important gift I received from my time in @sndbox. It is the gift that will not stop after I graduate from the incubator program, a gift that I plan to share with newer Steemians in the Philippines beyond what we have already done in the SteemPH Meet Up Caravan.

Steemit Projects Funding

Many of the projects we have done were funded from the support we were getting from @sndbox through their upvotes. I say we because this is not only true for myself, but with many if not all Steemians in @sndbox-alpha.

For me specifically, I've been able to go to four cities within the Philippines in SteemPH Meet Up Caravan.

• SteemPH Meet Up Caravan #1 - Bulacan
• SteemPH Meet Up Caravan #2 - Cavite
• SteemPH Meet Up Caravan #3 - Antipolo
• SteemPH Meet Up Caravan #4 - Davao City

We were planned to go to the Steem Summit in Cebu, but some family concerns came up, we had to deal with that, then to go back to our home in Luzon. @SteemPH.Cebu being a SndCastle, @sndbox admins @hansikhouse and @voronoi spoke about the importance of communities in Steemit, and explained what @sndbox is to the participants. The Cebu Summit looked brilliant, and we really feel sorry for ourselves for missing it.

With @sndbox'es help we were also able to touch the lives of 50 students from a poor community in Island Garden City of Samal. We left them with seeds and basic education on how to grow some of the easiest crops to manage in the Philippines. That should allow them or their parents to grow their own food. Their school supplies for the coming school year has also been sorted thanks to @sndbox.

While there are varying opinion about giving to charity from Steem, as oppose to keeping the value within the ecosystem, I believe that there is a way to keep this balanced in the same way that centralized corporation are able to maintain profitability while allotting some of their earnings to corporate social responsibility.

Gratitude & Forward Looking Attitude

I was anxious about the impending graduation, mainly because I haven't really been able to engage with the community as much as I wanted, and this has resulted to not being able to build a strong following and support. The two gentlemen who leads @sndbox, carry themselves and the incubator project with finesse, gratitude for the support they were (still are) given by the community, and keeping the interest of the project more than their own personal agendas.

@sndbox has had its share of challenges, at one point or another baseless accusations, but they have continued marching forward towards that they are set out to do. Always thankful for being able to do that which they love doing; supporting, mentoring, helping creatives and community builders in their Steemit journey.

Accumulate, Accumulate, Accumulate!

One of the things both @hansikhouse and @voronoi encouraged and actually rewarded is accumulating Steem Power. Most if not all of the @sndbox-alpha cohorts heeded their advice, and as a result they have helped build half-a-whale level aggregate Steem Power holding.

It's a shame that PowerBI was only able to capture 56 of the 100 cohorts sorted by Vest. Every single one of the 100 contributed to the total 645.77 MVest aggregate Steem Power holding of the first cohort. I changed some of the bars to (red) to show that 10 out of the 56 are our friends from @SteemPH, including the communal account @SteemPH.Cebu (one of the first SndCastles).

There Is A Bigger Community Out There... Engage w/ Them Too!

I am also thankful for the short gig as one of the curators for @sndbox-alpha. It was fun getting exposed to posts from Steemians from all over the world who are sharing the love to the Steem community and beyond through meet up and philanthropy.

Having worked closely with three of our friends in the first cohort was also a wonderful experience. It is amazing to see how all four of us worked together to bring the @sndbox experience to the rest of the Steemit world. I am quite sure all the other groups felt the same way.

There isn't enough words how thankful I am for all these things and more. I wish all my friends in @sndbox-alpha continued success, and am excited to get to know the new batch (@sndbox-beta) who will get no less than the great experience we had while in the incubator program.

To @hansikhouse and @voronoi, you guys are the best. May you continue to blessed with creativity, and support from the community. You both are inspiration to many.

Credits:

Modified Cover Photo - @sndbox
Philippine Map - freeusandworldmaps.com
GIF Created via giphy.com/
Thank You Word Cloud - WikiMedia
Sndbox-Alpha Thumbnail Art - @sndbox-alpha