D A N D Y !

September 16th that I ranked up to C exclusively on losses lol.

September 17th - ranked up to B-.

October 14th where I finally ranked up from B+ to A- after weeks and weeks of trying.

October 29th that I ranked up to S!

And finally, November 19th that I ranked up to S+.

I'm sure normal folks wouldn't remember the dates of these things when they've gotten through these ranks in a breeze. A lot of folks in competitive seem to have a lot of history with Splatoon under their belt. They've spent thousands of hours on it and have gained years of experience which allow them to work up the ranked system in the newest game with ease.

The importance of remembering the timeline for me is the fact that this is my first serious endeavor in games. This is my first -real- experience playing games with the intent to learn and grow my skill level. I used to think I could never be good at games.. I knew nothing of game mechanics. I played Splatoon 1 a bit, but it was simple and fun. No thought put into it. I died - a lot, I remember. But it didn't matter to me. I knew I was bad at games! Or so I thought.

Splatoon 2 was a total bust for me. Life happened and with ten hours into the game, I recognized that id gained nothing from it.

It was only after playing Splatoon 3 did my interest in the competitive scene truly flourished, with my partner encouraging me to move forward with that curiosity.

The reason these dates and the progress is important is because I grew up giving up on every new thing I started because I felt I was incapable of improvement. I thought surely I can't seem to maintain any hobbies. I'm just not good at anything.

With the game, I had no idea what game mechanics were. No clue what a meta was. I knew nothing of play styles, positioning, pushes, nothing in a practical sense.

My encounter with Splatoon is solid, physical proof that I can improve. That I can change habits and learn things that help me progress, and it's reflected into my real life in a wonderful way. The fact that I can go from being so unacquainted to something I thought for certain I sucked at, to excelling in it and improving and learning as quickly as I have.. idk. I guess it gives me the strength to try other things that I felt I struggled at progressing in!

It's been a really fun experience. I never imagined I'd be a part of a team, doing tournaments and bonding with people the way I have been recently. I never knew the capacity of which I could learn and improve until I started this, and I'm so proud of myself.

Anyway, to S + 11 so that I can prevent myself from getting demoted in rank when the new season starts. That's my next goal. :) Thanks for reading.