Hey Readers!!

As a new content creator, I decided that my first article should be an introduction of myself and why I decided to start writing for Odyssey as part of the Rider University community.

My name is Skylin Riedweg. Let's stop here. I am often asked where my name comes from. My father liked the name Skylynn after seeing a young girl by that name singing in a club as a young adult. He decided that if he ever had a daughter, that'd be her name. However, he felt the spelling was a bit excessive and decided to change it. Hence, my name. Riedweg... it's pronounced RID-VEG. Riedweg is of German descent but I'm actually part Swiss. Switzerland is bordered by France, Germany and Italy and depending where one lives in Switzerland, they speak one of three languages (French, German, or Italian). As far as my ethnicity, I am of Puerto Rican, Haitian and Swiss descent and am a third generation American.

Moving on... I grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, which for those of you who don't know is in Hudson County. And for those who don't know where Hudson County is, it's right across the river from Manhattan. Although North Bergen is rather large, it is quite suffocating. There is little to no reprieve of the never ending monotony that is living in North Bergen. This is why I decided to leave the immediate area and not attend a college or university close-by but leave to Rider University.

I come from a blended family as my mother and father separated when I was 5 years old. Both went on to remarry and have more children. All together I have six siblings ranging from 2 to 22 years old. My siblings are more important to me than anything else in this world. I strive to be a role model that my siblings would be proud to look up to.

These are the boring basics of my life. Some fun facts about me are that I have been a pescatarian for the last eight years, I cannot function without eight hours of sleep and a cup of coffee, my favorite color is blue, and I've been dyeing my hair since I was 13 years old.

I decided to become a part of The Odyssey Online community because I think it's important that everyone be allowed to voice their opinions. Often teenagers are silenced because they don't have "real-life" experience. My friend told me about her experience and how she writes about anything and everything she sets her mind to, and I thought "I can do that". I welcome the opportunity to talk about my experiences and hope that you will enjoy my articles as much as I'll enjoy writing them.