<p><br/></p><p>I was told!</p><p>I was warned!<br/></p><p>I was cautioned!<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>I won't lie.</p><p>Everyone reached out to stop me, but I refused to listen. I tagged them bad. I called them names.</p><p><br/></p><p>My parents talked, threatened, and begged me. They warned me that not everyone who smiled at me wished me well. They tried to make me understand that the world wasn't as harmless as I imagined.</p><p><br/></p><p>They weren't trying to stop me from living. They only wanted to protect me from dangers I wasn't prepared to face.</p><p><br/></p><p>But I had already made my decision.</p><p>I wanted to be free! <br/></p><p>I saw their protectiveness as a cage.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>“Am I a bird? Must I be caged forever? Do I look like a domestic bird?” I asked them.</p><p><br/></p><p>No, I had freedom. I won't lie about that.<br/></p><p>But I wanted more.<br/></p><p>I wanted to mingle with the big boys. I wanted to explore, meet as many ladies as possible, and fly wherever I pleased.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>I was told I could enjoy life without going astray, that I could explore and still know my limits.<br/></p><p>But no!<br/></p><p>I wanted more!<br/></p><p>Because, tell me...<br/></p><p>What is life without going to the north, south, west, and east?!<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>Eventually, everyone got tired of reaching out to me. They stepped back and let me make my own choices.</p><p>Everyone except my parents.<br/></p><p>But even their love couldn't stop me from going behind their backs.<br/></p><p>I opened the very protection I had mistaken for a cage.<br/></p><p>Several times!<br/></p><p>I flew here and there, chasing the life I had always imagined.<br/></p><p>But each time I flew, I lost feathers.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>It wasn't as easy as I thought. The world was rougher than I expected.</p><p> I got involved with junkies and found myself in situations I had once been warned against.</p><p><br/></p><p>What was I doing?</p><p>I was being free!<br/></p><p>I was uncaged!<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>Until...</p><p>Until it was too late.<br/></p><p>I got drained!<br/></p><p>I got manipulated!<br/></p><p>I got used!<br/></p><p>I had lost so many feathers that my wings could barely carry me anymore.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>And suddenly, I understood.<br/></p><p>I understood the warnings.</p><p> The tears.</p><p> The desperate pleas.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>But understanding came too late.</p><p>At the end...<br/></p><p>I left.<br/></p><p>Not because I wanted to, but because my time had run out.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>I left my parents childless.</p><p>The same people who had tried so hard to protect me were left with memories of a child they couldn't save.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>Everyone tried their best for me, but I chose my path.</p><p>And that path led me away from the very people who wanted me to live.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>Perhaps not every restriction is a cage meant to imprison us. Perhaps some are forms of protection against dangers we are not yet prepared to face.</p><p>But we may not understand the difference until it is too late.<br/></p><p><br/></p><p>Sometimes, the cage we fight so hard to escape is the very thing keeping us alive.</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 between 7 and 20 community members with the best insights in the past month.
The 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.
Below is a list of badges on TwoCents and their designations.
Content Contributor
Eligible to Earn
Most Viewed in a Space
Monthly Prize Winner
Mini-Competition/Flash Contest Winner
Essay Competition Winner
Spoken Word Competition Winner
Hundred Insight Club (HIC) (100+ Insights)
Contributor (500+ Score)
Top Contributor (2000+ Score)
Elite Contributor (5000+ Score)
Trusted Contributor
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