<p style="text-align: center; "><strong><sub>A Year in the Life of a Tree </sub></strong>🌲 </p><p><br></p><p>Tree Name: The Old Oak by Miller’s Field</p><p>Location: Rural countryside, edge of a small farm</p><p><br></p><p>🌱 <strong>Spring – Awakening</strong></p><p><br></p><p>As the frost retreats and the days grow longer, the old oak begins to stir. Tiny buds appear along its gray-brown limbs, each one a silent promise. Beneath the bark, sap begins to rise, like blood waking from sleep.</p><p><br></p><p>Robins return, flitting among its branches. A pair builds a nest in a crook high above. Bees hum softly around the opening blossoms at the base, pollinating dandelions and early flowers that sprout nearby.</p><p><br></p><p>The tree has seen 100 springs. It knows the rhythm. It waits.</p><p><br></p><p>☀️<strong> Summer – Shelter and Growth</strong></p><p><br></p><p>By June, the oak is in full crown — a towering canopy of deep green. Its leaves absorb sunlight, creating sugars that feed its massive body. Its roots dig deep, drinking water that lies meters beneath the soil.</p><p><br></p><p>A squirrel scurries along its branches. Children from the nearby farm climb its limbs, laughing and dangling their legs from its arms like it’s always been theirs.</p><p><br></p><p>Birdsong, buzzing, wind, and sun — the old oak is a living world in itself.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>🍂 Autumn – Letting Go</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Come October, a chill rides the wind. The tree’s leaves shift — deep reds, golden browns, burnt orange. It begins the slow work of shutting down, withdrawing energy from each leaf.</p><p><br></p><p>One by one, the leaves let go. They drift to the earth and form a soft blanket below, nourishing the soil that nourished them.</p><p><br></p><p>Squirrels bury acorns in its shadow. The tree knows only a few will survive — but that’s enough.</p><p><br></p><p>❄️<strong> Winter – Stillness and Memory</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Now bare, the oak stands exposed against a pale sky. Its branches stretch like bones into the cold air. Snow clings to its bark. No birds sing. No bees buzz. But the tree is not dead — it’s waiting.</p><p><br></p><p>Under the frost-covered ground, roots still stretch and grow slowly, quietly. Deep inside, its memory holds every storm, every summer breeze, every child’s voice, every fallen leaf.</p><p><br></p><p>It dreams in wood grain and sap. A year has passed, as they always do. And soon, it will begin again.</p><p><strong><br></strong></p><p><strong>🌳 Closing Thought</strong></p><p><br></p><p>One tree, one year — yet it carries the wisdom of centuries. In a fast-moving world, the old oak teaches us that life isn’t about speed. It’s about staying rooted, adapting with the sea</p><p>sons, and always, always growing — even in stillness.</p><p><br></p>
At the end of the month, we give out prizes in 3 categories: Best Content, Top Engagers and
Most Engaged Content.
Best Content
Top Engagers
Most Engaged Content
Best Content
We give out cash prizes to 7 people with the best insights in the past month. The 7 winners are picked
by an in-house selection process.
The winners are NOT picked from the leaderboards/rankings, we choose winners based on the quality, originality
and insightfulness of their content.
Here are a few other things to know for the Best Content track
1
Quality over Quantity — You stand a higher chance of winning by publishing a few really good insights across the entire month,
rather than a lot of low-quality, spammy posts.
2
Share original, authentic, and engaging content that clearly reflects your voice, thoughts, and opinions.
3
Avoid using AI to generate content—use it instead to correct grammar, improve flow, enhance structure, and boost clarity.
4
Explore audio content—high-quality audio insights can significantly boost your chances of standing out.
5
Use eye-catching cover images—if your content doesn't attract attention, it's less likely to be read or engaged with.
6
Share your content in your social circles to build engagement around it.
Top Engagers
For the Top Engagers Track, we award the top 3 people who engage the most with other user's content via
comments.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Engagers" tab on the rankings page.
Most Engaged Content
The Most Engaged Content recognizes users whose content received the most engagement during the month.
We pick the top 3.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Contributors" tab on the rankings page.
Contributor Rankings
The Rankings/Leaderboard shows the Top 20 contributors and engagers on TwoCents a monthly and all-time basis
— as well as the most active colleges (users attending/that attended those colleges)
The all-time contributors ranking is based on the Contributor Score, which is a measure of all the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
The monthly contributors ranking tracks performance of a user's insights for the current month. The monthly and all-time scores are calcuated DIFFERENTLY.
This page also shows the top engagers on an all-time & monthly basis.
All-time Contributors
All-time Engagers
Top Monthly Contributors
Top Monthly Engagers
Most Active Colleges
Contributor Score
The all-time ranking is based on users' Contributor Score, which is a measure of all
the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate your contributor score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
Subscriptions received
2
Tips received
3
Comments (excluding replies)
4
Upvotes
5
Views
6
Number of insights published
Engagement Score
The All-time Engagers ranking is based on a user's Engagement Score — a measure of how much a
user engages with other users' content via comments and upvotes.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate the Engagement Score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
A user's comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's upvotes
Monthly Score
The Top Monthly Contributors ranking is a monthly metric indicating how users respond to your posts, not just how many you publish.
We look at three main things:
1
How strong your best post is —
Your highest-scoring post this month carries the most weight. One great post can take you far.
2
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
We also look at the average score of all your posts. If your work keeps getting good reactions, you get a boost.
3
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
Posting more helps — but only a little.
Extra posts give a small bonus that grows slowly, so quality always matters more than quantity.
In simple terms:
A great post beats many ignored posts
Consistently engaging posts beat one lucky hit
Spamming low-engagement posts won't help
Tips, comments, and upvotes from others matter most
This ranking is designed to reward
Thoughtful, high-quality posts
Real engagement from the community
Consistency over time — without punishing you for posting again
The Top Monthly Contributors leaderboard reflects what truly resonates, not just who posts the most.
Top Monthly Engagers
The Top Monthly Engagers ranking tracks the most active engagers on a monthly basis
Here is what we look at
1
A user's monthly comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's monthly upvotes
Most Active Colleges
The Most Active Colleges ranking is a list of the most active contributors on TwoCents, grouped by the
colleges/universities they attend(ed)
Here is what we look at
1
All insights posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels)
2
All comments posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels) —
excluding replies
Below is a list of badges on TwoCents and their designations.
Comments