Next month makes 3 years since I first joined Steem/Hive!
I had absolutely ZERO experience with blockchain before finding Steemit.
Once the realization of what this place was actually hit me, I was hooked! Unfortunately, by the time I found it, STEEM was on a downhill slope. The price was declining quickly and there was so much drama on the chain, something told me it wouldn't be long before it all fell apart.
In comes Justin Sun
Taking over the STEEM blockchain didn't seem to require much effort on their part. You probably remember Justin Sun convinced a few major exchanges, including Binance, Huobi, and (his own) Tron-owned, Poloniex to stake their client's STEEM to vote to remove existing witnesses. That was some shady shit, and to be honest, I wish I could find a better exchange to use than any of those listed above. I currently do most of my trading on Binance.
My hope is that the same thing is not in order for HIVE but rather we will THRIVE instead. To become a place where we can come and meet new friends, share ideas, and even earn a few dollars for our time spent engaging with others on this platform.
There are a lot of people who say that "this is just another STEEM waiting to happen all over again" and I completely agree that it's 100% possible, just being optimistic, I think we can do better this time. I really enjoy the community I have found here, there are a lot of people who seem to be pretty woke, which I enjoy.
I have also learned a lot from my time spent on the chain. Since I was completely new to investing in crypto in 2018, everything I know about it now I virtually have Steemit/Hive to thank for. Regardless of what happens, this particular cryptospace will always have a special spot in muh heart.
I will continue to invest my time and as much money as I can into HIVE because I truly appreciate the ability it has provided me with. Earning any kind of an income whatsoever for speaking my mind is not something I ever thought I was going to be able to do, prior to this. So for whatever it's worth, thank you, whoever has/had hands in/on making this project a reality.
I'm very thankful to have been recommended to the LEO community by 
Aloha!
-Crystal Human