I started writing for Odyssey at my old school back in the way beginning of Spring 2018. It's been a little over a year of love and support and I wouldn't change that for anything. I applied to write for Odyssey way back when because I've always had a passion for writing and getting my voice out there.

Odyssey, you've given me so many opportunities and blessings that I can't thank you enough for. A while back I wrote an article that hit over 5,000 views and because of that thoughtcatalog contacted me asking me to write for them. For those of you that don't know about thoughtcatalog, it's a website that has over 25 million visitors monthly. Therefore, my writing was getting even more recognition than I ever thought imaginable, and that's all thanks to Odyssey and the amazing editors and presidents I've had.

When I started writing for FGCU odyssey, I got so much support from my team outmost importantly my president. It was such a welcoming environment where for the first time I knew my voice was being heard and welcomed. Then, I switched over to USF odyssey and I got that same loving and welcoming environment.

Odyssey has given me a platform to not only reach others but to also vent. If we're being honest, a lot of my articles are basically about me talking about my problems or problems I see with certain things in todays world. So, thank you Odyssey for being my therapist most days.

One of the best feelings in the world is when people reach out to me privately about how one of my articles helped them get through something or let them know that they're not alone. I absolutely love that. It's such a beautiful gift to be able to help others through writing. Without odyssey I wouldn't have ever gotten to know that feeling.

The encouragement that I got from people who have read my work on Odyssey has inspired me to continue my writing throughout my life by writing books. No, I'm not writing books with the intent of them getting published but rather for my own personal enjoyment. I've always wanted to write books and stories but have never had the confidence in my writing like I do now. Thank you Odyssey for everything you've done for me and continue to do for me.