When I started to use steem months ago I really didn't think I would make any money at all. My mentality was that it is a fun website with a community of people who genuinely care about about other people's posts and profiles as well.
As I kept posting I kept getting these whale votes and would have maybe 10 dollars on a post. Those whale votes are thanks to @ats-David . Because of the those continuous votes, and the votes of many others, (and I thank those people as well) I was able to transfer my steem dollars into ethereum. Because steem was worth around 16 dollars yesterday my steem was really worth around 2000 USD. So....with the help of my mans 
Money is not happiness and does not make life all grand and dandy, however this helps me pay my tuition bill. This helps me buy gifts for Christmas this year for my family. This has helped me immensely. I love steem. I enjoy the steemit community. Thank you David and everyone else. I look forward to posting more with all of you!
The most sinclerly,
-maria :)