*This is a Essay that i've made during 7th grade about the website and How I Got started on Newgrounds

Part 1 History of the website

In order to know the context of the website i’m talking about in this life story, i must talk about a site from the 90s and 2000s called Newgrounds.com, it started in 1995 made by a teen named Tom Fulp as a hosting site called new ground remix for his online works like (club a seal or pico’s school and assassin) until other people started to ask to see if they can post their own stuff on there, and what really made it a

staple in the 2000s in the form of The Portal, a user generated system which allows people to upload Flash games and animations (at least at first) and vote on if a submission stays on NG or get “Blammed” and the website got a massive change in the mid 2000s with the tank inspired logo by Andrew Brozyna later revised and redesigned by JohnnyUtah or Jeff Bandelin (his real name) and the website opened 

Up a lot of possibilities for users and creators alike and made some of the talent we have today in the animation industry and while it is a obscure website today while it still known for users posting stuff to that have a “Anything can go” attitude and ruanchy humor, there still some art that go into it and it depends on the user’s style of humor and without Newgrounds. we would not have Phantom Arcade ( Friday night funkin) and (game grumps) and this site slogan is “Everything By Everyone” which embodies the all ages aspect of it with content being from mostly from adults or teens and now that i provided some Much Needed context, it time\

\how this site changed my life forever.

Part 2 the life story

So to set the vibe of the life story it started in 2022 when i was just about 9 or 10 years old and i 

was on the web when i clicked on a link to NG on accident it was a art link and did not know what the site was at the time and it was only until Early to mid 2024 when i started to be around this website, now the Age requirements for signing up was 13 at the time, so since I knew i was 

turning 13 last year and thought to my self about creating a NG Account i thought that “i should create my Account the day I turn 13 and when i turned 13 early in the morning of 12:00 of July 2, 2024 I first Made a tumblr account since i’m now allowed to go on social media now along with twitter which i rebranded it to reflect that and when at the dead of night while mom was talking to someone at 11:50 I created my Newgrounds Account the early Morning of July 3, 2024 under my Online name of Thecoolaligator and after that at first I felt Awkward kinda like the New kid on the block (get it!) and i did not what to do with my Newgrounds account and i messaged a random artist on Newgrounds by the name of JamesCrock and Gave me very helpful tips on how to be on newgrounds and be an artist and it wasn’t until August (since i was just watching animations on NG and viewed art) that i made my First post on Newgrounds and after that i started to post infrequently on NG and this in Between the time of July through September. our internet got cut off, meaning that i could not get on Newgrounds and was using my Mobile hotspot in order to get on it and it was not until late september that Mom got us a Internet router that enabled our access to the Internet that i started to post stuff Again using my Fire tablet to draw my stuff and there was issues going on between these time frames mostly us moving out of barrymore and Living at bo a bit and finding a house to live in and i was still posting on Newgrounds and my art style evolved and grew with new inspiration from Newgrounds Artists and Animators and i was active on Newgrounds in late 2024 and started 

to get the feel of the culture and footing into the community and i was beginning to fit in since i 

slowly grew a fanbase of like minded teens that were either around my age or 1 year or 2 years older than me and as i diged down the rabbit hole of Newgrounds users (some of them i did not know was on NG) like Piemation PhantomArcade DeadlyComics, Joley Moley (whose works are very funny) along with Speedoru which his works are in the (Very funny and quite ruanchy category) espically this https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/969212

and last but not least BracedYeti which his art style is very cool very stylized and looks too cool for school, and all of them became my inspiration for my very Own art style which already looks like a combo between if PhantomArcade had a baby with Bryan Lee’o Mally and JohnnyUtah and as i diged and diged down the rabbit hole of users, i got 

accustomed to Newgrounds and it users by the end of 2024, and my way around the site and 

how it works and i felt like I Acutally fitted in with the NG community i am on the way to become a well known artist and now animator on Newgrounds and i got a lotta friends on NG including Typhond JohnnyUtah (who the creator of Tankman) and as i messged around and started to participate and interact with the community on NG forums, Art, Games, and i sorta felt good about being on the Website and it gave me a sense of community and a place to show my freak flags and art and animations that people find weird and i now know the ins and outs of the website and

when i was starting out on the site and as i experienced the site offerings and content and as i posted stuff on there, I felt like i fitted in with all the other freaks that are on the site that post their unfiltered true honest to god content that although can be edgy they care about freedom about what they can post and stuff and heck! Some of the site's principles that it was founded on was freedom of content and not holding back on your creativity and the slogan that NG use now “Everything by Everyone” showing that this site content comes from every age range young or old. The site is made for everyone to post stuff on (except kids) and at the end of the day just like jordan, by the end of 2024 i felt like i finally starting to become a legend and fit in with the community and i very Much feel pride for NG being my luanching pad

for my art and animation career and as it about to get a Documentary called Once upon a time on the internet by Connor Nyburg that interviews NG animators and artists and everyone alike about their start on NG and how NG came to be documenting the history of Newgrounds from the 90s to the 2020s I am happy to be on Newgrounds and just like jordan by the end of 2024 i felt like 

a “Newgrounds kid because i now feel like i am a kid that knows NG and to end this on a happy note i am Rondell Taylor and i’m proud to be a Newgrounds artist.

-Rondell