I’ve been writing for Odyssey for a couple of months now and I’ve noticed some reactions from random people on social media. Once in a while I’ll see a tweet or a Facebook post saying, “Odyssey is useless; shut it down.” Seeing this often confuses me because how in the world could this site bother someone?

I started writing for Odyssey in April. The reason I applied was because I really don’t know what I want to do with my life in terms of jobs in the future or even my major right now. Being a communications major, there is a lot to choose from and I wasn’t sure what the best fit for me would be. Odyssey gave me a chance to try something new and explore the art of writing and journalism.

When I was interviewed, I told the woman I want to make my opinion known (because those of you who know me, know I have a strong opinion). I wanted to make myself have a bigger voice with the concepts and problems in the world that I am passionate about. I hate reading a news article and not being able to relate to it because it was written by some rich business man who couldn’t care any less.

Writing for Odyssey gave me a chance to speak my mind and let people actually hear it. Even if they don’t agree, my Facebook friends, Twitter followers, etc. get to see the perspective from somebody else that is relatively their age. It gives me a feel for what actually writing for a magazine feels like and to see if this is something I want to do for the rest of my life.

I am writing this today not just because for myself. I am writing this because it should be known that Odyssey writers at Quinnipiac and all over the country are intelligent, creative writers that work very hard to get their writing to be as perfect as can be. They shouldn’t have to see people hiding behind their computers saying, “this website is so stupid, stop writing.”

I can never understand why someone around this age, could be so against classmates, friends or even complete strangers, voicing their opinion on real world things. It gives students a chance to come together to be themselves and write articles that are also relevant to the world today. It’s not your basic magazine where an adult tells you about the issue, rather it’s a young adult being able to give our generation a say in political, social, economical views.

So when you see an article on Facebook, Twitter or other social media briefs, instead of asking why it’s there, maybe learn a thing or two from a voice that could be much like your own. The writers express how they feel through writing and Odyssey allows them to do just that. It allows them to be free in terms of writing and have a strong opinion of their own to let people know how, for example, a situation in the news affects them.

And if you don’t like it, then it’s your loss.