Achievement 4 | Applying Markdown by @elvis101

Early Adventure through the forest of steemit

I joined steemit on 11th May 2021. I was invited by @richben, who told me how great the platform is. I was excited and decided to join the platform. And here I was on the platform like a child’s first day in school. Here I am thinking this is a really strange world. It felt like a thick forest.

I wanted to hear the voices of people but I didn’t. I only heard the tweaking of branches and the chirping of the birds which were the "Announcement", "steemit crypto"," learn more", "useful links", and "Trx integration", etc. to the left, then the community pane showing "leadership board", "subscribe", and others to the right.

All these proved there was life on this platform, but what gave me the greater assurance and yet heightened the suspense is the middle pane; a presentation that looked so lively but unfriendly at first glance. I saw "Trending" languages and presentations of posts that can be likened to be the first human lives I saw in the forest.

The little problem there was that they all seemed to be mute. Though they were active, they all seemed to look at me and say nothing. They spoke strange languages like "resteem", "greeter helper", "mod" and they had these funny names, that I, at that point, also seemed to have. Now, I could relate to a point, seeing some commonalities. No, these people were not at all mute. How did I know that? While going further into the forest, I saw a few others who seemed to be having a conversation. I overheard one of the natives telling the others how * he spent his day*.

They call it diary game. At least now I know better. He didn’t only speak my language, he also seemed to be cool. At this point, I was reassured that I was at the right place. Though I was happy to see there was life in the forest (steemit platform), I still had questions. This was because the people did talk, but it seemed to me like they had no interest in speaking to a gringo like me– Among Latin Americans, gringo is a term for a “foreigner”, often a white person from the united states.
Note: The word “gringo” is connotatively used here.

While I was yet thinking about how to get along in the forest, it occurred to me that I had seen a signpost that reads “Newcomer’s Guide”, which I thought was important but could wait. It sounded like Terms and conditions. Here I was, rethinking my decision. I knew it was time to take the road that the signpost directed me to.

Oh great! Now here was someone: a guide who was very much interested in speaking to me. He told me a lot about the forest and a lot I needed to know to survive in the forest. He handed me over to some other guides through a medium they call link. The subsequent guides I was handed over to were also great people. After my encounter with some of the guides, most of the puzzles I was faced with were already solved. idle dots in my head had become connected.
Everything began to make sense; Even more sense when I was encouraged to participate in the forest people's games. They called them “Achievements”.

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I saw some persons who were new to the forest hold up papers with some written text on them. I thought it was funny until I saw that the people who seemed to be the forest chiefs were not joking about it. They called it
ACHIEVEMENT 1:
There was a particular forest chief that kept on appearing and disappearing. I thought he was everywhere because he seemed to be everywhere I went. They called him @cryptokannon.

I later realized this chief was no man but a woman. Maybe I am still wrong. Anyways I think the Achievement games

are insightful because they gave me more insight into forest life. I had suddenly become a teacher of the culture of the forest, participating in these games. It felt good: really good initiative, they got on that one. It helped newcomers cross milestones that would have taken a long time to do so. The games had their reward (upvotes), and would oftentimes be acknowledged by some of the forest chiefs. They call it Verification. What seemed to be a little challenging was that the upvotes were not forthcoming at first. By and by, things started taking a more positive shape. I got my first upvote from a black chief called @brightobias.

He welcomed me further into the forest. He is a great chief. The forest people have their banks – where they keep their money. They call it a wallet. I noticed they already opened an account for me, and also credited it with some strange money; feels good!. Probing into their bank details, I remember thinking that these people had too many unnecessary currencies. At least now I know better. The names of their currency I know about are steem, trx, and steem dollars, They may have more, who knows? Something else that seemed odd to me with these banks was that everyone could see the amount that was in someone else’s account. Wow! Such a communal life, I am thinking. Where I am from, we don't see the money in others' accounts. Thanks to the sophisticated security of their bank accounts.

What was and is still the greatest attraction for me in the forest is their communities for different people of diverse interests. In my first few weeks into forest life, I had joined so many communities.

I soon realized that not all these communities were appropriate for me. I had to narrow down the list of the communities I joined to those of interest. And so far, it has been great. They organize these grand games termed * contests* that members of the community are encouraged to participate in.
There is so much more to say about the forest life but I would like to draw the curtain here
Off the record: Did I mention that the chiefs are usually regarded as whales? They are. This makes me feel like a jellyfish at times.
I can say my journey on the steemit platform has been wonderful, but not without some glitches. I love the interactive nature of the platform and the opportunities it presents. There is beauty in its diversity and its overall simplicity is highly commendable.

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ACHIEVEMENT 1

Thank you for reading.
Cc: @brightobias
Cc: @richben

Forest games	Level
Orientation game	Achievement 1| https://steemit.com/hive-172186/@elvis101/3ddhb9-achievement-1-introduction-of-myself-to-steemit-by-elvis101-mentor-rich-ben
Familiarity game	Achievement 2| https://steemit.com/hive-172186/@elvis101/achievement-2-basic-security-on-steemit-by-elvis101
Knowledge game	Achievement 3| https://steemit.com/hive-172186/@elvis101/achievement-3-plagiarism-explained-by-elvis101