Congratulations, Melissa. I'm just a few days into waiting to find out if I'm approved for monetization. It's a long haul before you find out if it's worth it, but Medium no longer loves me so it's worth a shot. Just seeing so many people engage with my writing and my follower count grow so fast is a real ego boost. I can only hope that I finally start making money again from my writing. For two years I was in the $100+ a month club. Last month, I made less than $10.