Dear haters,

Hello, I know you probably aren't reading this because you hate Odyssey. So here we are. Me ranting, you probably not reading.

Last week, someone in our Odyssey Community GroupMe sent a screenshot of something they saw on Yik Yak.

It got me really fired up. And I want to explain why. You should know that I write mostly personal pieces. I'm confused on the fact that I needed research to write about myself? Like, that's a thing apparently? Because last I checked, I am my own source for research when it comes to a topic about my life.

Not every article is about me personally, but that's the thing. Even when it isn't about me, I usually don't need research to back up my claims. I don't need research to talk about how amazing my school's homecoming tradition is. I don't need research to write a public thank you letter to my fraternity or my family.

Wanna know something even greater? I don't need research to be writing this very letter either. The only research I need is my own experience and my own opinion. That's it.

Please stop degrading the work that thousands of people are doing. We put so much of our hearts into these articles. No, we aren't journalists. We don't get paid to write. We do it because we want our voices to be heard. It is an outlet for us to write whatever we want to write about, in hopes that what we have created can have an impact on others.

A few weeks back, someone told me that my article made them tear up because they needed to hear what I had said and it helped them. Many times, I feel like what I write is awful or isn't worthy, but that was the first time someone reached out to me telling me that what I wrote affected them. I felt so accomplished and happy in that moment. I knew it was worth it.

So, please stop degrading our work. We put out hearts into it. We take time out of week to write these articles. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.

Love,

A heated content creator