There was a time where Orientation Islands were isolated. Each one, by itself… learn the basic lessons and move onto the mainland of your Second Life. That's where I started (I wasn't old enuff for the "Newbie Corral", as I've heard it called). I passed through quickly, because my entrance had already been delayed by 20 min due to downtime. I'm infinitely happy I had the patience, tho, as I've seen downtime since, but being weathered by that first experience prepared me better for what was yet to come.
Do you remember the first time you… saw a sim crash? How did you feel? Did you ask any questions about what was going on? I don't exactly remember my first time, but after you've seen more, you may be acclimated. But think, reach back to the primordial avatar soup from whence you came, and like staring at words for a long time, you too may wonder how it came to be.
Resis today will likely end up on Help Island. Which is truely a lush place to be. If you're new to SL and reading this, maybe you even remember your first Mentor or Mentors who helped you out there. I remember mine. Some are still active in SL, some not so. But it's what they gave me, that encouraged me to press on.
If you really have a good stay at HI (an appropriate acronym), you'll have experiences, for reasons not immediately apparent but that'll make sense in hindsight. And Tateru Nino writes about this.