Here are my ramblings... sorry if they are long-winded and not all that well thought out! Hope it helps Lily!
1. Why do you submit? What is the drive? What is the reward?
I haven't gotten to the point of total submission just yet with anyone. I have had those moments where I submit enough to sit back and wonder how I ended up having a particular conversation, performing a particular task, or even asking my fiance to help me try certain things.
As for as the drive/reward... A lot of it is wanting the rush from having a new experience... from expanding my horizons. I love the feeling of nervous anticipation... of being unsure but feeling safe.. Also, I have always wanted approval from people...always wanted the positive feedback from my parents, my teachers, etc...

2. How did you ever start down this path? Any bumps along the way?Couple years ago my friend told me about another website with free sex stories... I found myself turned on reading some of them. Over time, I realized that it could sometimes take me hours to read through various stories until I found one that turned me on. It took me awhile (probably because I was partially in denial) to realize that all of the stories had a related theme... and one of them had a link to this site... started reading the stories here and became more and more intrigued with various things I was reading... joined the academy and got really turned on reading about some of the tasks.. got even more turned on trying some of them! Joined the chatroom a few months after that... spent months driving a certain someone crazy because i was forever wavering about how much i could play or chat out of concern for my fiance (he knows about all of this...i have his consent.. but not sure how thrilled he is).. i've relaxed a bit about playing and have learned more in the last month or two than i ever could have imagined (thanks to everyone helping me on my journey..where ever it is going!)... so my conscience b/c of my r/l relationship...that's a slight bump on this journey..or perhaps this journey is a slight bump in my relationship...not sure..but i'm certainly having fun with it!!

3. If your submissive side of your personality is different than your "everyday" self, how do you reconcile the two? How do you switch back and forth? What is your trigger for getting into "sub mode?"
Not really sure about this question.. I'm the boss at work... but I still like to please everyone..so that can be rather difficult...

4. Anything you dislike about it? Anything you would rather change?Hmmmmm... I want my fiance to be an awesome Dom!! Or I just want to know he is 100% comfortable with me playing here...

5. Does any of the above change based on whether or not you have a current partner?
If I wasn't in a wonderful relationship, I would have to seriously think about what I wanted out of this site... what boundaries I would have. Because of my relationship, I will not exhange pics, phone numbers, etc... Only people I can meet in r/l are women (not sure about males who I don't play with..)... If I was single, I'd have to make all those decisions for myself.. knowing my curiousity, I'd be scared about what kind of trouble I might land in!