By the time this article goes live, I will have only seven weeks left of school. And then I'm done! No more "taking a term off," or "summer breaks." It's officially over. It didn't really hit me until this term started, but once August 26th rolls around, I will be a college graduate.

I really didn't give the concept much thought until recently. To be completely honest, I've never really liked school. I was the kid that when we read "The Outsiders" in high school, instead of getting something from the story, I thought "Hey, S.E. Hinton wrote this when she was 16... If I write a book by the time I'm 16, maybe I won't have to go to college."

Those were my exact thoughts. I never wanted to go to college. Once high school was over, I wanted to get into the world.

But it's good that I did go to college. For starters, I transferred to SNHU, after attending a university that I rather despised for my first 3 semesters. Transferring added an additional year to my time in school. At first, that infuriated me. Looking back, however, I needed more time to sort things out. That extra year helped me to "put all of my eggs in one basket as they say."

Eggs in a basketc1.staticflickr.com

I know, no one really says that anymore. Also, I really didn't put all of my eggs in one basket, but instead of being completely clueless as to what my next steps should be, I started to figure some stuff out, especially within the last year.

A huge positive, and this follows the idea of needing the extra time to sort things out, but the best thing college has offered me so far... is Odyssey.

That isn't said to be a suck-up or a brownnoser. Joining Odyssey helped give me an outlet to write. It has forced me to write an article each week and forced me to think of something new to write about. Prior to joining the team, I'd write maybe one thing a month and would suffer writer's block for the majority of that time.

In addition to limiting my writer's block, Odyssey introduced the idea of pursuing Journalism. I know Journalism and what I am doing currently is not exactly the same thing. There is very little research, if any, that goes into the articles I am writing now. I have no vetted sources, and the majority of my articles are not very topical.

They are all opinion based, and most revolve around movies and TV. However, most of the things I have written look back at older movies, rather than reviewing current ones. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or money to see movies every week in order to write an article about something new in theaters.

But putting those "negatives" aside, Odyessy is allowing me the chance to write reviews nonetheless. And that is a legitimate job within the world of writing/journalism. Almost every magazine has an entertainment section because entertainment is a major industry in this country.

Before joining the team, I would not have ever thought of this direction. Within the last eight months that I have been writing, my vision for the future, for what to do once graduation comes, has focused.

Ultimately, I would love to be a screenwriter. My degree at the end of these seven weeks will be a BA in Creative Writing, with a Concentration in Screenwriting. That isn't a practical future to set my sights on. It isn't impossible, but it is a very hard future to obtain.

So I needed to figure out something that would be practical, something that I could earn a living doing while making money. And I wanted that something to be writing, in some form, since it's what I love.

Odyssey helped me figure that out. And on top of that, it has served as an outlet where I can share my creative writing. That way the stories or poems I've written don't remain as saved files on my computer. People have actually seen some of the things I've worked on.

I'm not saying that among the stories/poems I've shared is the next "Great Gatsby" or "Illiad," but it feels really good knowing that others, besides myself, have seen my work. That, in addition to the plan for what comes next, are two amazing positives that have come out of joining Odyssey. Honestly, Odyssey really is the best thing college has offered me.

I'm still scared shitless, but I have the tools to work my way through that fear now!