so i passed my technician exam about 10 days ago and have just been listening mostly, had my call sign come through and yesterday i actually keyed up on the local 2m repeater and somebody came back to me. honestly wasnt expecting it and kinda fumbled through the whole thing but the guy on the other end was super patient and we talked for maybe 15 minutes about nothing in particular. i think i forgot to say my call sign like three times and had to go back and correct myself. anyway just wanted to share because it felt like a big deal even though i know its just a repeater QSO and not some DX contact or whatever. feels like it actually clicked that im a ham now and not just someone who studied for a test

that first contact is always the one you remember, no matter how many you make after that. i still remember mine and i been licensed since 2009. dont sweat the fumbling, everyone does it and the guys on the repeater have seen it a hundred times. the fact that you got on the air at all puts you ahead of half the people who get their ticket and then never transmit once

haha same thing happened to me like two months ago, forgot my callsign mid-sentence and just kind of trailed off and the other op just waited for me to figure it out. embarrasing but also kind of funny in hindsight. what radio you running?