Member Spotlight: Qamra Daielin
Author: Atane Valthon
Published: November 19 2020 Tar Valon Times Blog
Qamra Daielin, Gaidin of the Dai M’Hael Company, Mistress of Novices and Recruits, Tech Documentation Orderly, and Tower Gatekeeper is our guest for this month’s Tar Valon Times Member Spotlight. She graciously made time between her cryptid documenting schedule*, her professional life as an airplane broker/appraiser, and her “spare time” being married with a 7 year old. Qamra Gaidin and her family also have two Havanese puppers: Denver (17 months) and Keeper (8 months); Keeper is an aspiring show dog, so one may see Keeper as the winner of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show one day. In Qamra Gaidin’s spare time, she is a gamer who enjoys playing “anything from WoW, to Animal Crossing, to Stardew Valley, to Sims. I play on both PC and consoles.” In her spare, spare time, she uses her musical talents to play in her Community Band and is getting more involved in the Reddit Symphony Orchestra. The instruments that she plays are the flute and piccolo, so one could say that she’s familiar with the woodwind family.
Picture of the two good puppers.
Why did she join Dai M’Hael? Well, according to her, it was the inclusive nature of the Company. She came to the Company after she demoted, as a female (a year after integration), and felt welcome and accepted for who she was. And that is one of the things she loves about the Company, that the Company accepts guests (Accepted/Soldier), Bonded, and Aspirants and desires and works to help them feel like they belong there.
Qamra Gaidin, as listed, is one of the Tower Gatekeepers; but what does the Tower Gatekeeper do? Well, along with her fellow Gatekeepers, she is in charge in of a lot of the access members get. As she explained, “If you are a Citizen and are summoned to the Tower, we are the ones that set you up with access. If you’re a new member on the site, we are the ones that activate the account to try to keep the spam bots out. As Accepted/Soldiers guest, we are the ones that move people around to the different groups”. As you may surmise, this is an important and busy position.
This position is not connected to her position as the Mistress of Novices and Recruits, or the MoNsteR, as she likes to be referred to. So, what does she do as the MoNsteR? First, she is open and available for answering questions, concerns or needs with absolutely no judgment. She is available via email, discord, or site pm, and will get to it as soon as possible. She says she’s around 90 percent of the time, the rest of the time she’s sleeping or documenting cryptids*. And then, even when she should be sleeping, she’s an insomniac, so…she may still be around. Another one of her goals is to find ways for novices and recruits to interact with Senior Members, so that when the Junior Members begin guesting as Accepted/Soldiers, they have good relationships with which they can start and see faces they recognize within each Ajah and company. Qamra Gaidin is also always looking for more ways that Junior Members and Senior Members can interact. She’s also planning a Virtual Field Trip, and so she’s requesting the Heads of Ajah and Company Commanders to check their emails soon.
Why the fondness for the term MoNsteR though? Well, it all started when she was a novice, and in her own mind, she called the MoN that, because it amused her, not because that MoN was mean. So, when Qamra Gaidin received the position of MoNR, she thought MoNsteR fit even more. She’s also a fan of monsters in general, with Sully (from Monsters, Inc.) as her favorite.
Her role as Mistress of Novices and Recruits connects with one of the changes that has been made over the years. Much is covered about Voluntary Demotion and Integration, but there have been more changes that have been very substantial. One of these changes was the decision to eliminate the ability to send a Junior Member to the Mistress of Novices and Recruits Office. Sometimes Junior Members would pull little pranks or jokes or forget to use honourifics, so they’d be sent to the MoN’s office for penance. “Usually, it was silly things like writing a haiku or I remember one JM who was rather spammy having to go a WEEK posting without using the letter “e”. However, in time, it was felt that it was overstepping bounds on the site and it was made aware that it was intimidating, some JMs felt nervous about “what if” and we didn’t want that kind of negativity on the site so the rules around that were changed. We hope that it is a much more positive environment now.”
Another change has been the change from essentially life-long terms. “If you were a Head of Ajah/Company Commander/Mayor/Mistress or Master of Novices/etc. it was basically until you decided to step down. So, it was not unusual to have a HoA for 2 to 4 years+. Same with a lot of the director/administration positions.” As Qamra Gaidin stated, this allows more people to get involved with the Tower in a different way and brings fresh ideas and growth to the site.
So, what does Qamra Gaidin want citizens and guests who eventually want to apply to the Tower to know? “That we would absolutely love to have you! Each person shapes the Tower, and the site as a whole and we really DO like meeting new people and learning more about them through the journey through the Tower.”
Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed getting to know our very own Qamra Gaidin.
Note* Qamra Gaidin has been silent on the existence of cryptids and the existence of an observation society within the Tower.
