March Member Spotlight: KSI HIPPARU

Recently the News Team had the pleasure of interviewing KSI HIPPARU, the winner of the News’ March Member Spotlight. We shared in some laughs, idle conversation and even had a few tears at the end of it all. Overall, the conversation was enlightening about the type of officer KSI HIPPARU is. We have her thoughts on some pretty tough questions to get to know a little more firsthand on how she’s been such a great addition to our KSI family. She was captivating throughout the interview with her thoughtful answers, shared ideas and storytelling that we will save for another day. It was such a great experience overall. 

What is the best part of your rank? And why? 

• “I get to interact with a lot of the members. I’ve been a manager in real life and I guess it plays hand in hand. I get to teach people new things and help them grow. Just being able to teach them something new and help them grow as a person.” 

What experiences have you had during your time in KSI?

• “I guess there was a situation that happened. It allowed me the opportunity to step up and take this whole community situation head-on. So I feel like that was a good learning experience. And I’ve had Kakashii there teaching me every step of the way. To help me work on what I needed to improve for each promotion.” 

Would you do anything differently?

• “Honestly, and I’m not trying to sound full of myself. But I feel like I haven’t been killing it, but I feel like what is the best that I can do. With the resources that I’ve been given, and with Kakashii right there helping me every step of the way.”

After hearing her answer to this question, I could honestly relate to her in this way. I started to feel a real connection with Hipparu, and I could feel how truly blessed she felt to be a part of this moment. 

What advice would you give to your past self?

• “Wow that’s a tough one. The advice I would give my past self would be to participate in more community-wide events. It’s something I will be working on moving forward. I believe trying to get more integrated with the community as a whole is very beneficial, not just SL as a division.” 

Who is your KSI role model?

• “My role model would be KSI Kakashii 77, to be honest. I know I can annoy him sometimes with my questions. Thankfully, he doesn’t get overly frustrated or annoyed with my questions, and he’s been there more than what I feel what most people would be. I know he’s been in KSI for 8 years now, and I know there is a lot of stuff I can learn from him.” 

What is your drive to continue putting effort into the community?

• “Honestly I came into KSI because I had two friends at the time before KSI. um and they joined ksi and was like hey why don’t you join KSI. Basically they explained what it was and it wasn’t like any other community, so let me play with some of the guys and see how it is. Realized how cool some of the people were, and started to meet new people. When I first joined I never thought I would get into the officer roles.” 

What motivates you to keep pushing forward within KSI?

• “The impact that I’ve seen KSI make on people. Before joining, I mostly played by myself. And I would pick up randoms off the LFG. I don’t know how it is in other divisions, but in SL it’s family-oriented. I feel like most of KSI is like that, and I like getting on and being able to make that connection with people.” 

I wanted to do something special for this final part, since Hipparu hadn’t had a chance to read her nominations for the March AAP Of the Months. I took the time to read them to her to get her reactions to both of these outstanding nominations. Hipparu even cried tears of happiness and gratefulness for both parties. Even I started to tear up with her as I read through them. Feeling nothing but happiness, and pride for our very own Hipparu. 

HIPPARU has exceeded expectations at every step as she has come through the ranks. She never fails to impress me with abilities, and is an upbeat and very positive person. A lot of people in my squad look up to her. Shes currently heading the training of our SGTs to become SSGTs, hosting all kinds of workshops, and being a very inclusive member overall. She’s an outstanding officer in my books.

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KSI HIPPARU in March has proven to be a valuable asset for Prestige and SL overall. I always see her in discord directing the squad into workshops, game nights, meetings, etc. She and her peers have carried the activity of the squad and made Prestige truly a place to call home for her members. HIPPARU has pushed through the pressure the division has placed on her. In SL, the bar is high. She has acknowledged that, and has made that her platform for success. She party hops, mentors, trains, recruits almost daily. When she isn’t recruiting, she assists KSI Kakashii 77 as the sole captain of Prestige. HIPPARU didn’t come into KSI looking for any rank, or any whopping plans of world domination. But, she saw a need for leadership, and she dove headfirst into the position. Starting, she didn’t know what she was doing. The training was to par, but she did not have much time to grow. So, what we are seeing here is an Officer who is figuring out as she goes, while adhering to the standards the division has placed on all squads. Yet, she’s rocking it out of the park. The squad would truly not be where it is without her. With her resilience, empathy, confidence, and personal accountability, she is becoming a force to be reckoned with and I think the division is seeing a General in training at the moment.

• “Sorry, I did read that one. He had sent me a message on discord, and told me to go check the forums. I was on the phone at work with my fiance, and he asked if I was crying. This is coming from someone at the top of the division, and I was literally balling my eyes out when I read that one. That one hit me in the heartstrings, both of them did.”  

All in all, the interview with Hipparu was very enjoyable. We ended up having a good cry with each other at the end. We had a great conversation, and I can see why she was nominated for the member of the month. Hipparu was a wonderful member to interview with a wonderful back story. I can’t wait to see what her KSI future holds!