The East PacificBoard

Day 1: May 19, TEP Day
Flag selected:

Flag significance: The unembellished, official flag of TEP
Former Delegate Announcement: None today!

Day 2: May 20
Flag selected:

Flag significance: Recognizing Former Delegate Ramaeus, TEP's 9th and 11th delegate, serving two join and one disjoint term in 2014 and 2015. The "Loligarch"'s flag inspired the flag Atlae and I designed for our winter design in January.

Former Delegate Announcement: From Zukchiva
This is weird and I do not know how to start this so I’ll just start from somewhere and see how it goes.

I don’t like being in a leadership position. It’s hectic, it's stressful, and oftentimes you need to get answers to questions others cannot or are not willing to answer. It’s not the most fun thing for me to do, yet when needed, I’ve done it for a community I care about. And ever since my Delegacy ended and I’ve been punting around NationStates, I’ve been wondering - why do I care about TEP? To the point where I would ever decide to serve in a position that was, while fun, quite stressful?

The main answer I keep getting back is TEP’s inclusivity.

See, something that’s always been said about TEP is that we “are laidback” or “rely on good faith”. Those sayings are all symptoms of a simple fact: TEP is a trusting and open region. The sympathy and comradeship I’ve constantly witnessed in our region are amazing. It’s like we all have a common, solid understanding that we are here to be together and that our disagreements on anything should never get in the way of that. This train of thought is present even in the most contentious IC and OOC conflicts we have. Rarely is someone personally insulted by a TEPer - a level of respect for the individual is almost always maintained no matter the topic. As someone who has witnessed several regional communities in action, our kindness as a community is something rare and it is something to be cherished. It has allowed us to build a community that cares for itself and wants the best for its members. It makes this game so much more fun. And really, it makes our region a place where others can be themselves and, in both an IRL & NS sense, become better people.

This is not to say that TEP’s inclusivity is limitless and perfect. As a region, we have driven out individuals who we unjustly made feel unwelcome. Our government structure is not reflective of some of the needs and desires of our population. And in some cases, our sense of unity can manifest into a regionalist outlook which can blind us to beneficial perspectives. Some may use these facts as evidence that TEP isn’t inclusive at all and is a despicable, mean-spirited region. But to me, all it shows is that we are still on a journey to improve ourselves as a community, and we haven’t yet reached the end.

To put it simply, what makes our region so awesome is its inclusivity. Its respect. Its tolerance. And while we still have a ways to go before we can truly be the inclusive place in NationStates, we have already shown that we are a great community working together to be welcoming to those around us - and we’re getting better at that every day. In my opinion, that’s what makes working for TEP serving as Delegate worth it. Because any community that can be so caring is absolutely, and without a doubt, worth it.

So thank you, TEP, for being an amazing and caring region. Y’all make playing NationStates something worth looking forward to.

Day 3: May 21
Flag selected:

Flag significance: Recognizing Former Delegate Libertanny, TEP's 21st Delegate serving two joint terms from 2020-2021. Libertanny today flies a variant of this flag with a Pride rainbow across the center shield.
Former Delegate Announcement: None today!