For nostalgia purposes, I thought that it'd be fun to relate what your newbie experience was like. Things to mention:
1. How you discovered the site
2. How long you lurked before you joined
3. What your first days on the site were like
4. Your very first SCP/Tale or draft
5. Influential people during your first few days
I'll start. I joined in late November of 2013 (jeez, that feels like a lot longer than it is) after lurking for only a week or so. I discovered the site through Youtube Let's Play's of SCP:CB, and I decided to do some follow-up research on the game.
I didn't really do much for a while, though I eventually made my way onto chat. My first draft was absolutely terrible, and got destroyed in the forums. Second one wasn't much better, and it was trashed as well. I went through the standard newbie "OMG, gotta write something nao phase," and tried to comment on everything.
I remember Voct being extremely helpful, and he helped me through writing my very first piece, a tale about SCP-326. After that, I kinda got the ball rolling, and stopped being such a dingus about giving unwanted critique and exploding over the whole site.