I honestly don't know how I can start this... Basically, I started scratch during covid. It was one of those "projects" I tried because I was so bored. I soon found irl friends on scratch who basically started me off. (Thanks, @trombonehermione !!!) I got into the whole art thing because I loved the community and, of course, the art! Fast forward to the start of the next school year, and I'm both going to school in person, and going to a completely new school. Basically, everyone was awesome and I made friends quickly, but that introduced the challenge of juggling online friends on scratch with irl friends at school. It mostly all worked and I spent my time at school hanging out with school friends, and my time at home working on scratch projects. Then near the end of the year, my situation with grades first sunk in. (Dun dun dun) I had been used to a school where the work was pretty easy and, most importantly, I had no homework. At my new school, this wasn't the case, and my dedication to scratch left me doing a lousy job on assignments. This was alright enough because I still did my own work and I finished the required work, however, on my tests, I would leave whole categories unfinished and I once got less than 30% - a new low. This situation prompted my first hiatus, where I spent my new time studying and working on non-required school work. Just a few months later, that summer, I posted projects once in a while, though I often felt guilty for not posting enough, and when the school year started, I took another break, only posting a few projects once in a while. This was the start of my long hiatus, where I almost forgot about scratch - and it was honestly kind of nice. I got to focus on school and vastly improved. I worked hard to make awesome friends, and pretty much removed scratch from my life. But once in a while, I felt this guilty conscience that I wasn't spending my time posting results for DTAs or working on the MAP I was hosting. Otherwise, the year went pretty well. I'm working on lots of fun projects and preparing for the upcoming school year. I'm working on recovering from a mental health challenge that affected my physical health as well, and I generally feel happier than ever. I have still occasionally felt a little bit of guilt for being so inactive on scratch, so I guess I've finally decided to let everyone know why. I hope that everyone else is enjoying whatever they choose to do, and I am so grateful for everyone who has supported my art journey. I'll really miss all of you and wish you all the best in the next chapter of your life. xxx PS - The picture is me. I've been getting into drawing humans, and though it looks wonky, I think it's ok because art is meant to look like art - not a photo. Pls don't stalk me based off of it though. Edit: this is me a few months later, and I honestly thought it was super weird to see my face (even if it's a little lopsided) on my profile screen so I've changed the picture to something I painted last year. Hope ur all doing well <33
