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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Has the EU changed your life?

Discussion in 'EU Community' started by jedi_master_ousley, Nov 21, 2003.

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  1. jedi_master_ousley

    jedi_master_ousley Manager Emeritus star 8 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 14, 2002
    I know it has mine.

    The EU is what first got me into reading of any kind, probably back in 2nd grade (approx). I started out with the Glove of Darth Vader series, which, back then, I didn't think about how strange most of it seemed. I didn't think about how "oh, Han wouldn't wear an apron" and so on. From there I read the Junior Jedi Knights series.

    Then when I got to fourth grade, I read the TPM novel near the end of the year since that's when it came out. I also started the Jedi Apprentice series then. That's when I first started really liking Star Wars, and from there I read a few other books, though at this point I don't even remember which ones.

    Then it was near the end of sixth grade that I picked up the Jedi Academy trilogy, since I was at the library and saw something Star Wars, I read it then, and liked it, and continued on to the Thrawn Trilogy, some prequel novels, and a couple other random SW books.

    Once that point came, I had already started reading some other book series' for a couple years (just random stuff) but then I really started liking to read. I read the Harry Potter series about that time, which I really liked. A year later I read the Lord of the Rings books, which I really liked.

    Then this year came the NJO, and I'm almost done with it, and have really enjoyed it.

    The way that the EU has changed my life is that it brought me to reading. Without it, I might have turned into another one of those kids who doesn't care about school at all, and just does whatever that doesn't involve thinking in my free time. But I started reading. And I've done really well in school, with just a few minor flukes resulting in nothing lower than a "C."

    And my friends who read are further along academically too. All of the top students in my grade read a lot. It may be coincidental, but I think reading can certainly help ... and it was Star Wars that helped me get a good start in school.

    And when I first started reading, I didn't care about "continuity." I had never heard the terms "purist" and "completist." I didn't know what "canon" meant. And I didn't care. I just read Star Wars and enjoyed it for what it was: A fictional universe created for the enjoyment of people.

    But it was last summer that I found these boards. And it was around the winter that I started hearing and looking into the canon wars and so on. I was confused; I had never heard the terms before, I didn't know that people didn't accept the EU to be part of Star Wars. I was amazed.

    And now here I am, caught up on the middle of canon wars, participating in a focus group that is centered around finding peace between the two factions, using logic to argue the EU in battle, and ultimately helping the EUDF in all of it.

    The EU was a way of life for me growing up, it brought me to reading and probably better grades, and it made me some great friends here on the forums ... as well as some enemies.

    And now that Episode III is closing in, I can only hope that the EU will continue being written for years to come, and will bring enjoyment to new groups of Star Wars fans. I know that I still have a lot of catching up to do (admittedly, I still haven't read the X-Wing series, though there is the fact that I couldn't find them anywhere for a while) but someday I will be all caught up, and will have read the books probably numerous times, while passing the stories on to other people.

    And that has already happened a little bit. I've had a couple of my friends from school read some novels, and they've enjoyed them. I've talked people (even a one-time stubborn purist) on these boards into reading the EU and they've enjoyed it.

    Yes, it definitely changed my life. And definitely in a good way.

    So, now that I'm done with that long post that you probably didn't read, has the EU changed anyone else's life?
     
  2. Fire_Light

    Fire_Light Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Mar 24, 2002
    Yes, it has changed mine. It has made me significantly poorer than I otherwise would have been. :p
     
  3. Jedi_Dajuan

    Jedi_Dajuan Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 30, 2002
    Here Here Fire_Light. EU is what really started my Star Wars obsession in 6th Grade. I picked up the Zahn trilogy and never put down the EU.

    An old, old friend of mine accuses my of doing the same thing for him. I brought the book to school one day. He took one look at it and announced "I'm reading that when you're done." No questions, he just told me. We met up again after a bunch of years this summer and it's like no time had passed at all.

    My b/f an I even met over Star Wars. He's not the EU fan I am but he likes to hear me talk about the stories. If I hadn't kept up with Star Wars over the years through EU, I may have lost my fire for it.

    All I have to say is... Thank/Damn you Zahn for starting all of this!!
     
  4. Stackpole_The_Hobbit

    Stackpole_The_Hobbit Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Everything you choose or do not choose changes your life.
     
  5. lexu

    lexu Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    May 28, 2002
    ^Thank you, Jacen Solo. :p

    I don't think reading results in kids doing better in school so much as it's a result itself of the same curcumstances that make kids interested in school.

    Myself, I've done better in school since I don't read as much. :p
     
  6. hudzu

    hudzu Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jun 1, 2003
    Only Bacon has changed my life.
     
  7. NaboosPrincess

    NaboosPrincess Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 14, 2001
    Stakkie, that was so profound!

    The EU is actually what got me into Star Wars, oddly enough...I had never known what Star Wars was about, borrowed a YJK book from my friend, read it, and was hooked. So the EU changed my life in a big way. Now, it just soaks up all my time and money. :p
     
  8. Stridarious

    Stridarious Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 27, 2002
    Has it not? 8-}

    I mean now it has made the movies even more clear, and has helped tremendously to enable myself to get a more broader picture of the series ;) .
     
  9. Protege-of-Thrawn

    Protege-of-Thrawn Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Mar 14, 2001
    Yes. Now I can travel through most of Europe without having to exchange my money all the time!!

    [canned_laughter]
     
  10. Stackpole_The_Hobbit

    Stackpole_The_Hobbit Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2002
    ^Thank you, Jacen Solo

    Didn't even occur to me :p

    PoT: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :p
     
  11. Lank_Pavail

    Lank_Pavail Jedi Knight star 7

    Registered:
    Sep 26, 2002
    And there's PoT with the obligatory Euro Union vs. Expanded Uni joke. :p

    I think the EU has increased my love of the SW as a whole, mostly thanks to the works of Zahn, Stackpole(the author not the hobbit. :p ) And of course, Allston. :cool:

    Nut, like the rest of you, it's sucked away a lot of money and time. Ah well, should a vortex ever suck me into the SWU, I'll be fairly well-prepared. :p
     
  12. Mortimer_Nerdly

    Mortimer_Nerdly Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Sep 19, 2002
    Boba Fett gave me my morals (Picked em up from an EU book). :)

    []=====#[]<---------------- M_N! ----------------
     
  13. Deak_Alder

    Deak_Alder Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2003
    The EU definently changed my life. I first picked up Jedi Search in 5th grade. I ahve read basically every Star Wars novel printed and thanks to all that reading I have a rather large vocabulary and do really well when writing papers. Now I know that reading in general will give you a bigger vocabulary and better writing skill but other that SW, Harry Potter, and LOTR I can't read anything. So I'd say it has impacted me in a huge way.
     
  14. jedi_master_ikrit

    jedi_master_ikrit Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 2002
    Because of the EU I got a C in english last year.
     
  15. coney_1_kenobi

    coney_1_kenobi Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 2, 2002
    Because of the EU, I am now involved in a fan film. It is based on Expanded Universe stories (pre-Episode 1)
     
  16. Jedi_Dajuan

    Jedi_Dajuan Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 30, 2002
    Because of EU I now write papers on Star Wars in college.
     
  17. CptCorranHorn

    CptCorranHorn Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2002
    my first experience with Star Wars was when my cousin started collecting the figures in the mid 90's, and he started telling me the whole story. he was coming over to spend the night once, and I decided to have one of the movies to watch, so I made my mom buy The Empire Strikes Back.

    We watched it, and a couple days later, my cousin told me about the books. I was skeptical, but I went out and bought the jedi Academy Trilogy, which had me hooked.

    I had been a huge fan when I found these boards last year. Immediately, I headed straight for the EU Forums, and the Community first.

    The way the EU has changed my life is through the people I've met here in the EUC.
    I've become more outgoing IRL thanks to these boards (Dont ask me how 8-}) and better with girls (although I dont need to be good with girls anymore, thanks to a certain poster on here ;))

    overall, I would be in a worse place if not for the EU, so I thank everyone involved in this wonderful story
     
  18. KenKenobi

    KenKenobi Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2002
    Heck yeah it changed my life. I might have a girlfriend if it wasn't for the EU. [face_mischief] :p


    Ken Kenobi- And you have a nice day ;)
     
  19. Stackpole_The_Hobbit

    Stackpole_The_Hobbit Jedi Master star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2002
    Bah, that's crap. Corrk and I have girlfriends. ;)

    Free Trell ... he hasn't got a girlfriend.
     
  20. WarmasterDan

    WarmasterDan Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 2002
    that self-mutliating aliens are cooler than Imperials, that the prequal era is a lot more interesting than the Classic era. Plus it help me come to this site, that books are better than movies, and aliens are better than fighter pilots.
     
  21. Jedi_Dajuan

    Jedi_Dajuan Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Dec 30, 2002
    Yeah Ken, I have a boyfriend and I'm still into the EU. You just have to find one that either shares your interest or has a similar serious hobby of her own.
     
  22. CptCorranHorn

    CptCorranHorn Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 16, 2002
    Bah, that's crap. Corrk and I have girlfriends

    Yeah, I met mine here 8-}
     
  23. lightsaber_wielder

    lightsaber_wielder Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 24, 2002
    Or you just find a girlfriend that will put up with you anyway. ;)

    I don't think that EU has majorly changed my life, but it's certainly made the "reading" part a whole lot more enjoyable. It definitely didn't get me into SW - that was the original trilogy's handiwork. :)
     
  24. Bib Fortuna Twi'lek

    Bib Fortuna Twi'lek Jedi Youngling star 10

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 1999
    The EU made going to college 2 years ago a lot more difficult than it could have been. I had to lug all of my book there and back home again. Those books can be heavy!
     
  25. KenKenobi

    KenKenobi Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2002
    Well yeah, it's not a problem in finding the girl, it's finding the time to get off the JC and stop reading the books to spend time with her. :p


    Ken Kenobi- And you have a nice day ;)
     
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