August 2015 anniversaries

Here are the August 2015 judge anniversaries!

15 years

Joel Lim from Florence, United States

10 years

Mathieu Carlouet from Nouaille, France
Patrick Mc Donagh from Carlow, Ireland
James Elliott from Carbondale, United States
Chris Stagno from Pittsburgh, United States
Hans Wang from Taoyuan, Taiwan
Glicerio Garcia from Angono, Philippines
Raffy Sarto from Pasay City, Philippines
Nicholas Short from Chicago, United States
Adam Shaw from Manchester, United States
Shawn Underhill from Whitehorse, Canada
Anthony Bucchioni from Broadview Heights, United States

5 years

Patrick Bausa from Manila, Philippines
Yopi Effendi from Jakarta, Indonesia
Billy Gragasin Jr. from Pasig City, Philippines
Brian Guess from Northport, United States
Joel Krebs from Worb, Switzerland
Minh Duc Vu from Cincinnati, United States
Nathaniel James from Wilts, England
Filips Kamkins from Riga, Latvia
Kaupo Liiv from Tallinn, Estonia
John O’Donnell from Cerritos, United States
Paolo Caruso from Palermo, Italy
Matthew Miles-Watson from Pukekohe, New Zealand
Camille Pouliquen from Lagny Sur Marne, France
Donato Del Giudice from Bari, Italy
Matthew Foster from Lodi, United States
Mason Whitlark from Wayne, United States
Geoffrey Marsi from Decatur, United States
Severin Wischmann from Zuerich, Switzerland
JunYue Zhu from Changsha, China
Thomas Grim from Madison, United States
Federico Donner from Montevideo, Uruguay
Jose Antonio Ugarte Chang from Lima, Peru
Zoltan Istvan Tapody from Szeged, Hungary
Gunnar Holmstedt from Lund, Sweden
Ryan LaCount from Longmont, United States
Jaime Magsi from Baguio, Philippines
Joseph McGough from Santa Rosa, United States

Congratulations, and thank you for all your hard work!

This month’s featured judge is Federico Donner from Uruguay. Regional coordinator Adrian Estoup had this to say about him:

Fefi

Fefi

“It’s always amazing to sit down and take a moment to write about great members of the community. ‌In this case, about Federico Donner (Fefi). Federico has been, since the beginning, one of the most extraordinaire members of the Latin American community. Coming from Uruguay, a small country where all the Magic Community knows each other, he started to work in tournaments in Argentina, showing since the beginning his great qualities. It was no one’s surprise to see him become a L3 in a short period of time. He’s a reference for several judges because in him, you can see how when you’re passionate and tenacious and, more importantly, loving what are you doing, you will get what you want, improving yourself and others in the process. His love for the program moved him to remote destinations inside and outside Latin America, transforming him into one of the best ambassadors of the Magic Program. Congratulations for your first 5 years in the program!”

This month, we have another Level 3 anniversary. Adam Cetnerowski certified for Level 3 in August 2000 at Worlds in Brussels. We get a couple of stories about Adam from the other two Level 3 judges in Poland, Sebastian and Kaja Pękala.

Sebastian Pękala’s story:

I would like to become a judge.

I would like to become a judge.

“Adam Cetnerowski has been a Level 3 judge twice as long as I’ve been a part of the judge program. That’s a long, long time during which Adam went from “that guy head judging our Nationals” through being a mentor to … no, wait, he still is a mentor, and now a friend from whom I’m learning multiple things. After years, when I was already a judge, I went back and read his report from the Nats at which I’ve met him for the first time and got a totally different perspective.

During his awesome career, Adam has made numerous contributions to judge program and impacted on many matters that are natural to us nowadays. Web content? He took care of it while being L4. Judge conferences? He organized the first one in Poland and presented the idea to a broader audience. Sorting decklists by pods in draft at limited GP day? His idea, go read the article “Pod people”. I could go on and on, but this well is never running dry…

… just like his never-ending stories. In the middle of nowhere, he can recollect a story from Worlds 2000 or GP Somewhere that will fit in this situation and make people around laugh. Nowadays, as RC I value Adam’s input and ideas on what else could we do, as well as his support and advice when necessary. I think our region has greatly benefited from his work as he’s been a major force behind the changes.

Adam, thank you for your many contributions and here’s to many more years to come. :)”

Kaja Pękala’s story:

“When I first met Adam back in 2009, about to be tested for L1, I had no idea what a legend was sitting in front of me. All I knew about him was that he was “level three” (whatever that meant) and that it made him one of two judges in Poland that could administer the test. I travelled alone across the country, entered a room full of strangers and sat down to an interview, scared. We chatted, and for many years that very chat was the single most educational, most valuable moment in my Magic life. I had wanted to become a judge long before, but that’s when my spark has truly ignited; that’s when I learned what the path I chose did really mean.

That was just one person, one story. But Adam has been this sort of leader and mentor for fifteen years. FIFTEEN YEARS. I can’t begin to imagine how many lives he did change in this time; how much did he impact the Judge Program itself. From Program-wide projects to one-person stories like the mine – his incredible dedication, paired with exceptional skill and knowledge, have left their traces deep within our hobby and the people who share it. And on top of that, he has been a true friend for most of that time.

But seriously: fifteen! Wow. ”

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