View source for Membership Spotlight: Ivien Tarkand

Author: [[Elyss Koh'inor]], [[January 2018 Tar Valon Times|January 2018]]


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[[Ivien Tarkand]] is an {{as}} of the {{gray2}}, and the newest {{head}} of the Gray Ajah. She has been a member here at TarValon.Net since 2007, and has served the site and her Ajah in many different capacities over the years. In the past, she has served as {{mod|moderator}} for several forums and the {{OAGC|Graphics Coordinator}} for [[Outreach Activities]]. Ivien has been {{heart}}, [[Officially Unofficial#Soul of the Gray Ajah|soul]], and {{sitter}} for Gray, and continues to serve her Ajah now as both [[Officially_Unofficial#Gray Historian|Historian]] and Head.

“Real Life” activities and commitments have prevented Ivien from applying for Head of Ajah in the past, but now she is excited and ready to take on her new duties! So much so, it was difficult for her to pin down one aspect of the role she was most excited about. She did admit, “If I had to pick one thing, then it would be management part of it. I like organizing stuff, making sure things happen and run smoothly and to do paperwork.” Thus far, no surprises have come at the Head of the Gray Ajah, which she attributes to being part of “peaceful” Gray for ten years and serving in leadership roles for the group in the past.

Like so many others on the site, Ivien found TarValon.Net as her love for The Wheel of Time grew. She was attracted to the site not just via books, however, music also played a role. “Back in 2007 TV.net had Wheel of Time music playing on the website, I wanted to have it and I was search a way to download it. I discovered the forum and made an account so I could ask about music, then I saw it was a community mimicking the books and I was instantly hooked.”

Ivien recently passed her ten-year anniversary as a member of TarValon.Net, and the years have shown many changes in her own life and aspects of the site. She said that it also does not feel as though that many years have passed, and that “It feels unusual that I'm old enough to have been on a forum community for 10 years.” She said this anniversary reminded her “of my age and that 10 years ago no longer makes me a child,” and that she is “very glad for these 10 years here, people I have met, things I learned. It has influenced my life for the better a lot.”

During those ten years on the site, Ivien has committed herself to the Gray Ajah. She said the atmosphere and the people of Gray let her know early in her Guesting that the Ajah was for her. Like many members, she anticipated joining an Ajah that she connected with most in the books (in Ivien’s case, these were [[Blue Ajah|Blue]] or [[White Ajah|White]]); however, she found herself drawn to both Gray and {{Yellow}} during her Guesting. Over time she has thoroughly enjoyed the Gray Ajah, and has found that it always has the ability to make her “comfortable and welcome.”

Ivien’s favorite Tower event was the [[Summer Euro Party 2010|2010 EuroParty]], with the opportunity to spend time in a beautiful castle in Germany. In her words, “the area was beautiful, a lot of people attended and great atmosphere was created.” Her first few years of membership hold her favorite Tower memories. That is when she met a lot of the friends she has made through TarValon.Net, and like many, she feels that she would miss the people here at the site the most. She talks to people on and off of the forums, and sees TarValon.Net as a great way to bring people together over great distances.

Congratulations to Ivien Tarkand’s appointment to Head of the Gray Ajah, and here’s to ten more years of membership! 
 
[[Category: Tar Valon Times 2018|1]]
[[Category: Elyss Koh'inor TVT Articles]]
[[Category: Member Spotlights|I]]