Congrats, and it seems you ranked up the right way and showed that it can be done--we all know damn well that there are 1000s of noobs who think they have no chance in hell of ever reaching a rank higher than Jr. Member (and for many of them, that's probably true).

This is how the merit system is supposed to function:  it's Darwinian, and only the best and most worthy members are going to increase in rank, while the rest will linger as the kind of chimps who are so low on the social ladder that all they do is groom the alpha monkeys to avoid getting their food stolen and their ass kicked.

Word.  Everyone should be learning that lesson around here.