[member="Undin Jaii Kryze"] That usually stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what a Padawan is. It's often presupposed that a Padawan will be younger, know less and be less capable than a Knight or Master, which is true on some levels, but often not in others. Raw strength can be rather considerable as a student (and, indeed, too many write themselves that way), but the areas lacking in tend to be those revolving around understanding of the Jedi path and in the nature of one's abilities: Padawans have had less practice, therefore their skills might be powerful but ultimately undisciplined.
That noted, there's a distinct difference between a Padawan and a Knight on an IC level, beyond simply skills and abilities: the key lies in their responsibilities. A Padawan's responsibility is to act as instructed, to learn from any who would teach them (their Master or any other Jedi of rank), to develop themselves as a person and as a Jedi, and most importantly, to build relationships and field experience, such that might be an asset to them when they are granted later responsibility.
If you're rushing the process because you want to be a powerful Knight/Master, or because you feel that being a Padawan is too limiting, you've missed the point of the process. It gives you time to improve your writing such that you can stand with most of the Knights and Masters on the board, many (but not all) of whom have developed some superb writing skills. Furthermore, on an IC level, you're looking at developing your character through RP, and not just because your profile says you're capable at x, y and z. You build relationships with other characters, forge your own in ways you might not have expected (unless you're one of those daft writers who has their entire roadmap planned out from the very beginning), and you find yourself building a character history that is far less boring than the ones we often have to write at the outset.
I got promoted to Knight by the admins a few years back, as part of the monthly promotion thingy, back when we put together the precursor to the Levantine Sanctum and SSC. And you know what? I turned it down. My character hadn't done enough, learned enough, spent as much time developing and growing, becoming a personality above and beyond whatever it was I wrote in my original profile.
If you're going to rush, go right ahead, but realistically, you'll be skipping out on some of the best experiences you'll have as a writer. Past that, you'll be expected to fight every battle, train Padawans and teach classes, perhaps even work on creating content for the entire Faction. Maybe that's what you want, but a lot of that will detract from your own character's development. I'd very much encourage you not to rush into it just because you want to beat up a Sith Lord or two. It's not worth it in the slightest.
