MINNOW OF THE WEEK CONTEST

My name is Great Udochi. I am a proud Nigerian, a liberal and a humanist. I recently graduated from the department of philosophy, University of Uyo, Nigeria.

My steemit journey has been adventurous so far, I'm less than a month here, and Steemit already is my favorite social media platform. Kudos to @ned and his team for coming up such initiative. Even though I'm still yet to cash out in naira, steemit has been highly beneficial to me, I must say.

Discovering Steemit
I honestly never knew there was anything like Steemit, until I saw a post @xpressng made on facebook last month. She talked about how Steemit rewards and connects users unlike other platforms. That was all the enthusiasism I needed. I immediately googled Steemit, read more about the platform, and was surprised when i discovered that it has existed for close to two years.
I needed to try out something new, I needed a new audience since the ones I had on facebook were basically just family and friends, and then the reward was also an incentive for me.
My account was officially created towards the end of last year, and then I later discovered @vheobong my offline friend, was also on Steemit. She did well to guide me through, attended to all my questions and introduced me to the Steemit-Uyo community.

The Journey
My voyage on steemit so far, as a minnow, has been similar to that of every other person. The struggle to be noticed and discovered has been challenging. I started with the introduce-myself post, I'm not sure i had up to five votes on it. I contemplated quitting, but then again, I read up some posts from whales like @tojukaka @surpassinggoogle @nairadaddy @adsactly @greenrun @ejemai , encouraging newbies to change their approach towards steemit.

At that point, i got encouraged to socialise. I picked up the mindset of buliding relationships and having something to offer the community, rather than just being all about the reward. I started commenting on random posts that interested me, I downloaded the discord app and got into the @air-clinic group. I also hooked up subsequently with @steemit-bloggers and @steemitnigeria on discord.
I'm still a minnow and getting discovered is still my greatest challenge. So right now, I read new interesting posts, upvote them and comment, in an attempt to meet new people and interact. Also, I try as much as possible to participate in contests, putting in my best, and hoping i get to win.

Changes in my life since I joined steemit

• First of all, I use to be a lazy reader before joining steemit. But thanks to steemit, I've started reading and writing articles more often. This had helped improve my vocabulary and broaden my horizon.

• Secondly, thanks to steemit, I've developed an exciting interest in crypto currencies. I've started to read more about crypto currencies and how they work, with the aim of investing on the long run.

• Also, Steemit has kept me busy. Am a new graduate, waiting for my NYSC, steemit has been one of my newly found side attraction.

• Steemit has helped me with learning how to interact with strangers and build connection online. I used to be coy and very reserved both offline and online. But, thanks to steemit, I'm improving on that.

Worthy Mentions and Appreciation
Firstly I need to appreciate @runicar for this opportunity to share my experience, continue spreading love.

Also, @vheobong and @xpressng , thank you for making me know about steemit.

Man with so much love for newbies @surpassinggoogle , thank you.

I also want to recognise the accounts I've been learning and getting impacted from
@steem-lagos @oluwoleolaide @stach @ejemai @tojukaka @samstickkz @fisteganos @nairadaddy @greenrun @richforever @gnomicrules @byn @vic-essien @sistem @steemnaira @adsactly . God bless everyone behind these accounts.

Values I am bringing to the community
*Steemit is really not popular in Nigeria, i plan to do a mass publicity for it. Already in few weeks, I've introduced @vinobraville and @yomispeaks to the community and helped them as much as i can.

*Also, with my steemit platform, i plan to curb vices in the society such as religious extremism, domestic violence, rape, etc. My articles would cover a wide range of topics including feminism, political consciousness, contemporary ethics, religion, sports, etc.

The goal on the long run, is to have a well respected opinion, learn from other perspectives, and have my voice heard.

The contest required a link to my best post. Here it is:
https://steemit.com/religion/@udochi/the-absurdity-of-religious-extremism-edc6704fd4b62