27. TIME Opinion Leaders Panel

This post is as dorky as the goal is.  As many of you know I have been reading TIME magazine for a few years now and one of my goals is to submit a letter to the editor that gets published.  Every Friday I go into the office at my school and pick up my magazine (I get it delivered free to my school) and read as much of it as I can right away.  I try to get a letter written to the editor as quick as I can hoping that earlier submissions have a better chance at getting looked at. This is definitely a lofty goal, I know that. I feel like it is one that if/when I do get published, I will have an incredible sense of accomplishment.

Up to this point I haven't even heard from TIME regarding any submissions...until today.  I got an email asking me to join the Opinion Leader's Panel.  I am sure it is a mass email out to anyone that has submitted a letter to TIME over the past few months, but it is still my first validation that I have done something that they have recognized as being important.

Here is the letter that I recieved:

"Dear Eric,
You are invited to join the TIME Opinion Leaders panel.  This is an exclusive community of TIME Magazine readers who, like yourself, are interested in communicating with the editors to discuss what you like about the magazine, and what you feel may need improvement.  By joining this panel, your opinions will be used to make our magazine better."

Yep, the wording definitely has that mass email feel, but still, for all the hours I have read the magazine and written about it's contents it feels good to hear back from them.