[At Home In Europeia] Getting to Know Europeians - Maowi - It’s a WAAnderful World






Getting to Know Europeians - Maowi - It's a WAAnderful World
An interview with Maowi.

Written by Forilian




In an effort to let everyday Europeians know more about their fellow citizens, Getting to Know Europeians is an interview project that asks Europeians casual questions about themselves. This is the fourth issue of this project, and you can expect more of these in the coming days and weeks!

Maowi, former first minister and former councillor of world assembly affairs, joined Europeia in mid-2019. Her life in NationStates (NS) actually started a few months earlier, when she joined an unnamed "tiny but cozy region, having fun there and in the General Assembly." However, she soon sought a region with more activity, and found Europeia. Maowi said that Europeia had "the most beautiful forums [she] had ever seen," which was the only reason she cited for why she joined the region. After applying for citizenship and joining discord, Maowi immediately joined the Council of World Assembly Affairs during the term led by Chief of State Prim, where "[she] had a great time." She also joined the Ministry of Recruitment, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Communication. Maowi also started engaging in spam games, where she "started actually talking to people, such as Astrellan."

Maowi was first nominated to a cabinet position by First Minister Pichtonia, where she served as minister of communications. Later, she served as minister of recruitment, replacing Bri Shakespeare. Maowi said while the term wasn't the smoothest, Pichtonia helped her implement a new column system in the Ministry of Communications. Maowi described it as "simply a great opportunity – which I'm extremely grateful to Pichto for – to learn at least roughly what it meant to run an election campaign and just be a Europeian leader."

Maowi then ran for first minister in January 2020. When asked about why she ran, Maowi said that after taking a term's break from executive office, "[she] felt excited and motivated to be a part of the upcoming race." Sopo, who was her second minister pick, actually approached Maowi for a run with Maowi as his second minister, but the pair ultimately decided to flip the ticket. While Maowi won the election, real-life issues soon forced her to resign, and Sopo succeeded her as first minister after two weeks in the new term. Maowi says that she "very much [regrets] that," and explained that this was due to her "really misjudg[ing] what [her] real-life pressures would be looking like and [she] started feeling drained pretty quickly, which led to [her] early resignation."

She then returned to the region in early April, and became councillor of world assembly affairs, serving under Chief of State Malashaan. Maowi said that "in the preceding term, of which [she] caught the tail end, Izzy had done a highly admirable job of revitalising the council and drawing in new active members," which "allowed [her] to really push that and continue that into this term, and surround [her]self with an excellent team of deputies which allowed [the council] to implement larger-scale projects such as the World Assembly 101, a real focus on proposal drafting, and continuing Izzy's work on the pokémon program." While Maowi said that she felt like she handled the controversies in her term "sub-optimally," she said that it was "probably the biggest learning point for [her] this term." Maowi said that she preferred "being hands-on and doing some heavy lifting," which she think helped the council this term, and it gave her a lot of enjoyment in the process, but "learning to actually manage people, which is what leadership means in this region," is "something that [she is] continuously striving to improve." "That's why the incident concerning Izzy's General Assembly proposal was a learning curve for me - and also why I am extremely happy to be able to be succeeded now by such a talented "fresh" face as Sky," Maowi said to conclude this section.

Maowi has stayed in the region for more than a year now. When asked about what feature of this region keeps her around, Maowi, who said that this is "the easy and potentially cop-out answer to this question," cited the community as the main reason.

"Everyone here is so warm, friendly, engaging, and smart, and seriously makes me think all the time. I don't think that's enough to explain why I and others don't choose just to hang around in #eurochat for the sole social element. In my view, it's the prestige our institutions hold and the value we place on earnest work that make it so hard to leave Europeia. We are blessed with some of NationStates' most historically rich and strongly established institutions in all three of our branches of government, which is simply incredible to me, along with the sharpest intellects and most talented leaders I've met on the site or in real life. There is always something to strive for, something worth putting in hours of work for, and what really gives me great joy about this region is that you can put in that work and you'll get recognised, praised, and rewarded for it."

Next, we asked Maowi on her future career prospects. She says that "it's not a great time for [her] to say anything about the future with much certainty," as the new school year will be "quite a step up from last year. She'll have to assess how much time she has for Europeia; if she has time for the region she'll stick to the executive branch. "I've enjoyed all my experiences there so far and feel as motivated as ever to continue. I would absolutely love to serve on the cabinet again, although I don't especially have one single role I'm set on serving in." Maowi said that this presidential election "made [her] think about lots of important issues and formulate [her] own opinions too," so being on a presidential ticket would not be out the window. That said, she will have to consider that with caution "if the time is right."

In our hearts, we all have many great Europeians we want to emulate. However, there is always one person that we hold as the example to work towards, and for Maowi that person is Kuramia. "Kura does what she does with formidable skill and expertise - which of course I'd love to emulate, who wouldn't! - but equally importantly she has a knack for directing people and getting them to work for and with her, which I admire and wish I had. She is also never afraid to speak her mind and do so frankly and persuasively, which is a highly valuable quality in a game like ours." You can read more about Kuramia here.

For newcomers, Maowi has two pieces of advice. First, "don't be afraid to leap at every opportunity offered, whether it's as simple as volunteering for EBC articles, applying for a deputy minister-ship opening, or even running for Senate. Being active and showing that you're willing to work gets you liked, gets you recognised, and gets you credentials." Second, "never hesitate to talk to someone - no such thing as a stupid question and all that jazz, and even if it really was a simple matter, reaching out to people shows you're interested and gets you noticed."

Thank you, Maowi, for your service to both Europeia and the World Assembly! Your work is appreciated.
 
It's great to read from and about Maowi. She's one of our best in the Executive, in any office she holds.
 
I really enjoyed this article. Maowi is a great leader in the executive and a fantastic person, no doubt she'll go far!

* I must add, she already has achieved what I couldn't dream of, honestly
 
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Thanks for the interview Fori, it was a genuine pleasure to talk with you!!!
 
What has impressed me most about Maowi in all her roles is that she knows what she doesn't know and is totally comfortable with learning. She has great instincts for governance and asks the right questions to the right people when she needs more information. I'm looking forward to seeing what she does next.
 
This was a lovely article to read, very well written!

I've only seen Maowi as CoWAA and she excelled in that role and I can only imagine that she did so in her previous roles as well. Looking forward to what she does next!
 
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