Academia SE is the best SE!
Hard to argue with that!
However, as a student, I have very very little experience to offer back to the community. In addition, I don't want to misguide others with my inaccurate information and my immaturity.
It is admirable that you recognize this! Unlike some other SEs that are based on technical "facts" or verifiable references, we rely heavily on "personal expertise" from those with experience in academia. We are lucky that our user base represents a wide cross-section of students, lecturers, post-docs, professors, industry researchers, and former academicians. But we must all recognize our limits, and avoid the temptation to overgeneralize from our experience or knowledge. I am sometimes reminded of this "the hard way" when I answer a question I shouldn't, and end up saying something stupid about law or theoretical math. :-)
I feel guilty if I don't give back in return. How can I effectively contribute?
Eykanal gave some good suggestions, but let me underline three in particular.
- Ask questions. As discussed here, crafting a well-received question is difficult. Long-time users are familiar with our site's norms, and can be a good source of interesting questions.
- Edit. This is definitely something that not everyone can do: it can be a tricky balance to make (sometimes major) revisions while still respecting the asker's intent. But if you have good writing skills (which you seem to) and are familiar with our norms, this can be really impactful: I have seen edits turn a soon-to-be-closed or largely-ignored question into an HNQ. And it is largely thankless work.
- Vote and flag. If you've been around for a while and are familiar with our norms, your votes (including close/reopen votes) are very helpful. And as for "there is no fight, no politics, no troubles"...well, the view as a mod is a bit different, but flags are a very helpful way to bring (potential) issues to our attention before they turn into trouble.
