(Insert clever goodbye message here)

[schticklick]

Hi everyone, you might have noticed my significantly-reduced board presence as of late, and I'm afraid I'm going to be reducing it even further, to virtually zero. I've just gone through a rough patch in school, and I feel like I've let too many distractions get in the way of my overall academic success. My midterms went pretty well in most of my courses, but I dropped the ball on a couple of them, and I need to make some major changes if I want to keep my GPA where it needs to be. I have a particularly-difficult schedule between now and the end of the semester, and I'm going to have to do some serious restructuring of my priorities if I want to continue being successful.

There's a psychological term called a "commitment response," whereby an organism makes a conscious decision to remove a mildly-fulfilling stimulus (eliminating temptation) to ensure that it receives a larger reward at a later date. That's what I'm doing here - I'm taking steps to eliminate my access to these boards, so that when I'm doing online research for my courses, I'm not tempted to drop by to see what's going on. Essentially, I need to condition myself to avoid online distractions, and this is one of the sites that I need to stay away from, so that I can remain focused on my more important goals.

This choice isn't an easy one to make, but it's a necessary choice nonetheless. I'll still be involved with SPOC, though we'll probably be slowing things down anyways until the case reaches the Ontario Court of Appeal, and I'll still be working, when time allows. But I won't be participating in any of the online banter that makes these sites so addictive.

I'll miss a lot of the characters that make this site interesting, but it's definitely the right choice for my long-term goals. If I think I can balance my life more effectively after the semester ends, I'll come back in the New Year; otherwise, I wish everyone the best. I'll still be answering my emails when I can, so if you'd like to stay in touch, you know how to reach me.

Take care everyone - be safe, be happy, and be satisfied!

 

[Riley A]

"I can resist anything but temptation" Oscar Wilde.

See you later Wally Gator.

 

[Veronika [:]

Take care and good luck. Kind of new here but read your posts, intelligent, fun and sometimes funny.

 

[mami_pabon]

Good luck with school, Nikki. You'll be missed. :arf:

 

[Pompal 09.]

Good luck Nikki. SG I am rimming your avatar, please stand still for a few minutes!:whip:

 

[emorain]

Good luck and all the best.

 

[Answer King]

What's the big deal?
You have a goal, you focus, you achieve.

See you back here in a few months once you have achieved.

But it is nice that you let your friends know in advance so that we do not worry.

Your new temporary avatar

 

[arcticjx]

All the best Nikki!

:great:

 

[Nikk]

Although your words on the massageplanet have ended, your thoughts linger on.

 

[Onya]

Good luck gurl!!! All the best and many thanks for what you do. Take good care and hope to see you back when you are ready. MANY hugz!!! Tristan

 

[Hawt Chiq]

Dont be a stranger forever Nikki!! Good luck babes...remember, all work and no play leads to permanent insanity.

BTW we all still expect you at the holiday parties arty:


Love,
Emily & Riley

 

[Lauren]

Like many others here, Nikki, I will certainly miss your stimulating conversation.

Thank you for opening my mind, girl, not so much to anything in particular, but in general. I'm a better person, Nikki, for getting to know you.

I applaud your focus on academic and career goals and appreciate your tireless volunteer work for SPOC.

Now, forget about everybody here and just go kill those term papers and exams. You've got summa cum laude written all over you.

Art

(For all you idiots tempted to make "cum" jokes, that Latin phrase translates as "with highest honor." So skip the wisecracks and join us all in wishing Nikki the very best in every possible way.)

 

[Hannah T]

What he said!. Good luck. Your insight will be missed by many. I mean it.

 

[Jonny Mick]

+1

you'll be back Nikki.

 

[gowebsolution]

Nikki,

You will be missed for sure, but you will be back.

You got your priorities set right and I wish you much success in your academic pursuits.

 

[Umbra]

Farewell for now, Nikki. Good on you for having you priorities straight

 

[Pompal 09.]

:whip:

You can still advertise & ask those who are interested to email you instead of PMing you, this way you don't lose business (assuming you are available) without having to check the board and being distracted.

Best of luck on your studies and getting those top grades that I know you can attain. :happy:

 

[Anabelle]

I'm not planning to leave for good, and I'll still be working when I'm not studying, but I know I spend way too much time on random web-crawling. Like many others of the internet generation, I sometimes lack impulse control, and need to take more forceful steps to stop myself from bouncing between the variety of tabs left open in my browser. Many people have theorized a link between early internet access and shorter attention span. I'm actually on the cusp of this cohort, because I started using the internet in my late teens, but I sometimes wonder about my younger classmates, who always seem to have MSN and Facebook and all kinds of things on their laptops, while they're supposed to be paying attention to the lecture. Does getting online early in life make you more easily distracted?

Interestingly, I'm doing a research proposal to study that very subject, to see if people who accessed the internet very early (before 9 years old) have shorter attention spans than those of us who started using it later in life. Considering the detail required for a proposal of this sort, I wouldn't be able to get it approved if I were constantly distracted by the internet - that very thing which I'm theorizing is responsible for the shortening of attention spans. So, in a way, I'm actually conducting my own experiment on myself, while designing the same experiment to perform on others. Such delicious irony!

The key here is that making a public announcement about my departure means I'll be more likely to live up to it. Making a promise to myself doesn't always work, but if I make my intentions known, I'm more likely to go through with it. So, I'm deleting the bookmarks to all the boards, changing my passwords to a set of random characters, saving them on a memory stick, and locking it in my safety deposit box. If that doesn't keep me away for a while, nothing will!

Besides, I know you guys will give me the gears pretty hard if I don't live up to my commitment, which is plenty of incentive to stay the course! Anyways, I'm quite sure the place won't fall apart while I'm gone, so have fun, and I'll be back when I finish the semester from hell... :666:

See you in a couple of months!

 

[Big Yoda]

People DO that???? Give other members "da gears"??! For shame! Who would do such a thing! :angel: :roll: :he:


Ya never know... CB (or maybe his just as short and bald evil twin) showed up shortly after you announced your sabbatical! :shock:

 

[jessika721]

You're right! Hmmmmm!