I want to say that in my first two years of college, I was struggling with majors. Almost everyone does, but I just had no idea what I really wanted to do. Forensic anthropology was a farcry from where I am currently. Bones vs. a video camera—kind of two totally odd ends of the spectrum. But I learned that the things seen on television, the glamour and the stories I loved to follow, had to be built by /someone./ They didn’t just appear. It took me a while to get that—but it took me longer to see that I wanted to be that someone. So I started at the bottom—in a fandom.

A fandom isn’t just a group. Not to me. Now I’ll sound cliché saying this, but there’s only one way to say it: "The Vampire Diaries" jumpstarted my life. Not in that fangirl way, no, but in a way that I’ll never be able to fully explain in words. It isn’t the storylines or the actors, though those are both really good reasons I stuck around, but also because of one of the most important developmental tools I even used in my life: roleplaying.

No, not the one with the kink (though sometimes that may come up). I’m talking about the connection of sites and groups that take on the roles of the characters in these stories and help you bring to life a version that you will never see anywhere else. You meet people, you gain friends (and a few enemies)—it’s stuff that, in the real world, wouldn’t come to fruition. At least not in the same way.

In 2009, "The Vampire Diaries" came to television. I was a part of that vampire-fanatic crowd, so I was suckered in pretty quickly. Not to mention Nina Dobrev from "Degrassi" was on it. That was just a plus for me. But browsing Twitter one day, I found a hidden side of the site. Accounts upon accounts were set up, mimicking the characters from a host of different fandoms. What caught my eye were the people who were playing people from Cast books, “House of Night.” Well I was about that, too. I signed up. I couldn’t wait to play around as Erin.

It wasn’t too quick to catch on. It was a weaker fandom, and people didn’t really build too much on it. But then I found out that the TVD characters were tons more successful. I changed my account to Rose, the sire of Katherine and traitor of the Mikaelsons. From there on out, it catapulted with popularity. I met a friend, I had a Damon as a mate. It was different from the show, so our shenanigans and such weren’t all that important. We were just having fun. However, treading the water around sites were another issue. I say issue, when really it was just a new experience. In-progress storylines were in need of characters, so I signed up.

I auditioned and impressed a few with my ability to write, despite the fact I was just a month or so into the RP world. I didn’t stick around long, then I went back to being rogue. I RPed openly with whomever hopped into my replies. Time passed and eventually I made other accounts—Bonnies, Katherines, people I loved on the show. Elena wasn’t one of them. I’d never be Elena. But one summer, I was asked to be Elena, then quickly I was asked to administer to the site I had been a part of but not really active on. I agreed, and my activity became a daily instead of a weekly occurrence.

People came and went, storylines played out like a charm (sometimes.) But I met people that shared interests and was grounded and sane (like I like to believe I am). People that were actually enthusiastic about bouncing ideas off one another, building on them, and planning what may happen in the end. And it was in all of this, I realized that I wanted to write for the rest of my life. And by writing, I don’t mean things like articles. No, I want to write fiction. Things that make people keep guessing. Things that people want to keep reading. More so, keep watching. I want them to come to life on the screen so every person can see them as I do. I want to have a team who wants to reach this same goal and make a riveting, mindblowing, edge-of-the-seat storyline that keeps them coming back.

So, no. "The Vampire Diaries" is not just a television show to me. It’s been a gateway to the life I’m currently living. I write now loads of fiction with familiar names just to sate myself, I create original storylines with Twitter besties. I’m not where I want to be, but thanks to a Twitter account and a weekly episode, I’ve learned what to aim for. So as for TVD and its eight years on the screen, I want to say thank you. As a fan and as an apprentice, thank you for leading me in the right direction and showing me this wonderful, wonderful world.