SUNY Oswego is home to over 8,000 students and is nestled right on the shores of Lake Ontario. Some of our most famous alumni from the campus include Al Roker, Steve Levy, Charlie Rose, and Linda Cohn. SUNY Oswego is also home to our School of Communication, Media, and The Arts and our various media organizations on campus, including WTOP-10, WNYO 88.9 FM, and The Oswegonian. All of these organizations not only play a huge part in SUNY Oswego itself, but also to the entire Oswego community. I am pleased to announce that The Odyssey will be joining our family of media organizations.
Before we get more into Oswego’s Odyssey, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ilyssa Weiner. I am currently a junior at SUNY Oswego majoring in Broadcasting and Mass Communication. I came across The Odyssey very recently, actually. I received an email about The Odyssey from SUNY Oswego’s Center for Experiential Learning, one of the many great resources on campus that helps students find internships and job opportunities. Suddenly, a bell started to ring in my head. “This sounds like a great opportunity,” I thought to myself. I then went on to the Center for Experiential Learning’s Facebook page to double check if this offer was too good to be true.
I immediately did some research about The Odyssey and found the website to be very amusing and exciting. There was something there for people of all different interests, whether it be sports or articles that will help benefit a person’s life. The writing on many different articles seemed much more laid back than the usual “hard news-esque” articles I was used to reading or hearing. In fact, it even fueled my fire to get back into writing for pleasure, something I haven’t done in an awfully long time.
I then took a look at the articles written by several different authors from several different chapters in schools throughout the United States. I noticed that many of the schools were “big, name schools,” including Syracuse University (which is only about an hour away from our campus). It did take me by surprise a little when there were only two SUNY schools listed on the job application: us and SUNY Binghampton. I thought about that for a little bit. “Why were there so many big name schools listed on the site when I saw it before and now, all of a sudden, I see only two SUNY schools here?”
It turned out, however, that I received an email stating this was going to be the launch of the SUNY Oswego chapter. When I read that, I immediately became ecstatic. I always wanted to be a part of launching something brand new, especially something that has the potential to grow over time at my campus and,hopefully, to other SUNY schools.
And that’s why I am here writing this for all of you today. The Odyssey is a great opportunity for aspiring writers from all different fields and interests to express themselves. Even if students don't have a knack for writing, they could showcase their photography or videography skills by becoming photographers or multimedia assistants for certain articles. There are no limits as to what a student can do here at The Odyssey.
I believe that SUNY Oswego reflects The Odyssey’s idea of creativity, expression, and critical thinking through many different programs and organizations on campus that can help further a student’s education. Our campus is big enough to give students the resources needed to succeed, yet small enough to feel like a home away from home. With the arrival of The Odyssey at SUNY Oswego this fall comes another opportunity for students to learn beyond the classroom and sharpen their skills for the real world. In the words of SUNY Oswego alumni Lou Borrelli: “We are professionals with GPAs.”
