…And here we are.

365 days ago, Team Hudgens was a concept being battered between blackberries with big grins and even bigger dreams. A couple of hours later, it came into being with a total of three members and three threads.

Yet here we are, a year later, looking back at our journey of evolving into what we dreamt of;

a fandom where Vanessa Hudgens will always come first, where she will be the focus and the highest common factor;

a fandom that will increasingly begin to reflect all the qualities we admire in her, that respect her and the boundaries she’s drawn; and

a fandom where she is accepted and loved for who she is, not making her more or less than she is;

And what a journey it’s been.

From mere hopes and dreams, we’ve really evolved into a community of people from all walks of life, countries, cultures, and of all ages; providing an unwavering and meaningful support to Vanessa and her career with a lot of fun and laughter and sighing along the way.

As with all communities made up of humans with different backgrounds we’ve had our ups and downs, our points of agreements and differences, we’ve weathered good and bad news, we’ve had excitements and hair-pulling, lots of opportunities to fangirl/boy together and lots to rant.

We’ve made mistakes and learnt from them, we’ve surged forward and pruned back so we can grow with quality rather than quantity. Yet in all this, the community continues to flourish and provide the core of what is TH.

YOU are this core, this community that refuses to be ripped apart or be distracted or be dissuaded. There will be no TH without you. We’re always amazed at so many of you that support Vanessa unwaveringly, within and without TH.

We’re grateful for those that use their talents not just to support Vanessa but to serve other members whether it’s making artwork, sourcing news, buying and posting magazines, translating articles, making scrapbooks, explaining stuff, being enthusiastic etc.

We’re grateful for those that provide their support by showing up, whether English is their first language or not, whether their needs are being met or not, whether they get attention or not, whether they comment or lurk, whether they understand all the comments or not.

We know that many of you lead busy lives and possibly face difficult and stressful situations in real life, yet you show up, quietly providing support in the way you can, being enthusiastic, being quirky, cracking us up, stimulating conversations, keeping to the rules, cheerfully accepting our boundaries, bearing with us and steadfastly playing your part in keeping TH what it is, what it’s designed to be.

We don’t say it often enough so we want to say a big thank you to all of you. For showing up and being the core of TH.

Here’s to hoping we have many more years of great memories as we support Vanessa together.

So…HAPPY ANNIVERSARY EVERYONE!

And from Vanessa:

Credit: Marilyn for animation

For discussions, please visit the Team Hudgens forum