Hello everyone, Felix here. wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Soon enough, our region will be part of the Judge Academy and as we journey into a new chapter of Judge Life, let’s all look into a project which played a major role in the Judge Program. The Exemplar Project.

The Exemplar Program, was a project that is commonly linked to judge foils is a program of recognition. A program that highlights the “exemplary” actions of various judges. It is very important to note here that it is the “action” of the nominated judge, not the actual “judge” that is being highlighted. Because such exemplary actions can be emulated by other judges in the program.

Wave 18 marks the end of the Exemplar Program and for us to give it a good send-off, we asked some judges from our region to share the “most memorable exemplar nomination” that they’ve authored.

Join me as some of our fellow judges share nominations that they’ve considered to be the most memorable:

Of all the nominations you’ve authored what nomination is the most memorable to you? *
The most memorable nomination was one that I gave to Benjimin Chong, which was my very first opportunity to give a nomination after receiving my L2 advancement.

This nomination is long overdue, but I think the recognition of excellence and the encouraging spirit of the judge programme, to quote Tay Tay, “never goes out of style”. XP. During my the first few judging gig early 2017, I was completely new to the community, not to mention the LGS I am judging in. You noticed that I was new and feeling kind of awkward, and despite of being only there to participate in the PPTQ as a player, you reached out to me and assured me that I was going to be alright. The support and encouragement did not just stop at the initial part of the event, continued throughout the entire swiss rounds. Honestly speaking, your positive and nurturing act was one of the main reasons I continued and persevered till now, the feeling of wanting to show the same comforting and warmth you showed me when I was really new to the community. I believe you exemplified the true spirit of the program, as well as someone who really enjoys Magic gameplay. Continue to shine and spread the joy!

Why is that?
Benji really impacted my first Comp REL, even though he was a player, he was patient and guided me. Not to mention that it was his first time meeting me. This experience stuck with me and after I finally became L2, I had the chance to share this exemplary example through the nomination.

Wave 18, marks the last wave of the exemplar program. What would you miss most about the project? *
I think highlighting the good works of judges at various levels.

Of all the nominations you’ve authored what nomination is the most memorable to you? *
To Nicolas Glik:

I will never forget how I was introduced to the global judge program. I was a wided-eye newbie, fresh off his first-ever event bigger than a store-level event – my first ever GP. You were my team lead, and you were tall and intimidating at first glance, which made me even more nervous than I already was. But you took the time and have the patience to walk through the things the team needed to know, and answered my stammering questions with a smile, and made me feel welcomed, and that I belonged in the team. You made the day fun, naming the teams by colors but based on pop culture and made sure everyone learned something throughout the day. That was the first time I worked with someone outside my region, and it really opened my eyes of what the judge community was – a big international family. From the way you lead the team and your guidance, you showed how it was like to be a part of this amazing community and made me want to be part of this community so badly, which I still am, and will be after all these years. Thank you.

Why is that?
GP KL 2014 was my very first GP and Niko was my very first team lead. A fantastic experience working that Friday opened my eyes to what an amazing international community the judge program is and got me addicted. I felt a NEED to be a part of this, and I felt that Niko (who was also my Saturday TL) was very much responsible for it.

Wave 18, marks the last wave of the exemplar program. What would you miss most about the project? *
Having an incentive every few months to carve out a significant amount of time to reflect and to have retrospection on all the people who’ve had an impact on me. It’s time-consuming and exhausting, but I’m always happy with the end results of the hours of work I put into them every wave.

Of all the nominations you’ve authored what nomination is the most memorable to you? *
The most memorable one for me is definitely the one I wrote for Jutamanee (Pym) in the wave of winter 2019 (#16).
Hi Pym, thanks very much for showing great leader’s quality in the past events. Not only you had to take up the job within short notice, but you also led the whole team like we’ve been working together for a long time. You showed to other fellow judges how time management is very crucial when it comes to judging in big tournament. Furthermore, you also pointed out mistakes or things they could improve, assuring that each of your team member would have something to take away from the event. I’m very sure many L1s did learn a lot from judging under your guidance. Please keep up your love of the game and be an inspiration to the next upcoming generations of judges as you’ve always been.

Why is that?
The inspiration originally came from the fact that she took the role of being HJ of Nationals Thailand 2018 with only less than a few week notice. In that event, we also had a big shortage of judge personnel. To make things worse, we had over 220 players in the event, which was the biggest event we had in Thailand for over many years. Nonetheless, she has shown great quality of leadership and mentorship during that whole event, and everything went very smoothly. Players were very happy with the event, and all the judges learnt a lot from this single event. At that time, we had few L1s that were also very new participating as well, and some of them are now new L2s in 2019. With so many conditions in such short time of preparation, I couldn’t find any other recognition to be as memorable as this one.

Wave 18, marks the last wave of the exemplar program. What would you miss most about the project?
I have very mixed feeling with this end of the program. On one hand, we know full well that there were a lot of troubles and abusing happened in the past, so ending it is a good news in a way. However, in realm of judging, there are so many things we judge fellows could do to help improving the community, and those effort usually go unsung. I believe having Exemplar Program or something similar is a great reward encouraging people to always step further than their normal role, and that would make the community better as a whole. This is the part I will definitely miss because not being able to reward those unsung heroes is just painful.

Of all the nominations you’ve authored what nomination is the most memorable to you?
The most memorable nomination I’ve given was during Wave 12 to my (former) mentee – Nicholas Keith Seah. As follows:
“Nicholas, I want to commend you for the tremendous amount of energy and effort you have put into pursuing your dreams of becoming a Competitive L2 judge. Throughout my time of mentorship with you since your L0 days, you have shown nothing less than full-on determination in your academic preparation for any Judge exam. Despite failing to meet the expectations of the L2 exam twice, you’ve never shown waver in your motivation to aid the Judge Program in an alternative way. (Such as volunteering to draft out an amazingly-detailed report on our Judge meetings on two occasions) Your actions goes well above and beyond what any Level 1 would normally do and you set a masterful example of what Level 2s in our region can do to aid the Program. I encourage you to continue your amazing contributions and expand your knowledge in the game. Well done!”

Why is that?
In essence: this nomination is easily my favorite as it exemplifies the camaraderie and effort required for strong mentorship in the Judge Program.

Nicholas was my first mentee shortly after receiving my L2 certification and I took him under my wing to begin his training. Today I am really proud to see how his determination and perseverance have helped him rise in the Program to become one of the best local contributors to the Singapore Judge Community and SEA as a whole.

Furthermore, with the help of a second mentor: Chaunjie Seow we were also able to help him achieve his personal goals of attaining Level 2 by continuously coaching him on finer points of IPG and CR. Since then, he has actively contributed to many MTG events and regional conferences across SEA.

Wave 18, marks the last wave of the exemplar program. What would you miss most about the project?
The exemplar program was a major step forward in giving visibility to judges who have made significant contributions behind-the-scene that would otherwise be unrecognized for. I hope this project will surface again with the same values and system in JA sometime down the line!

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, part 2 of this will be published soon. Cheers everyone 🙂