John here, highlighting another outstanding judge for his work in his community.

San Ramon-based judge Jonathan Ma has had a whirlwind six months, joining the judge ranks in February and taking on several big assignments in that short a time frame. He’s become a key and important part of the judge community, and it has not gone unnoticed.

Here’s what San Leandro-based Jason Long had to say in his recent Exemplar nomination for Jonathan:

I’ve been fortunate to see you grow as a judge over the last several months. Thank you for always stepping up when needed and always being there for the players and fellow judges. Your efforts to educate and instruct have reinvigorated our inactive judges to participate in more events and have inspired many others to look into the program.

In addition, Baltimore-based Eric Lee highlighted a moment with a more personal touch from Jonathan:

I’ll bet you didn’t expect this. From what I’ve been told, you recently helped a group of kids learn how to draft, to the point where the father was very grateful to the store for having you there. Your acts of kindness and generosity have not gone unnoticed, and your willingness to spend your time helping strangers for nothing will always be appreciated.

Lastly, San Jose-based Alex Bui highlights Jonathan’s work at ChannelFireball’s large-scale pre-release events, as well as his work ethic.

Your willingness to learn and eagerness to take on any tasks given to you will make you a very valuable asset to the judge program. In working with you at the Pre-Release and at Comp REL events, it has shown me that you have the right attitude, and will have no problems advancing in the judge program.

All of this work culminated at the World Magic Cup Qualifier in Santa Clara in June, when Jonathan joined the L2 ranks.