March 2016

I had just transferred to the University at Albany, and I barely knew anyone. I wasn't apart of any clubs or any writing organizations; I was just an aspiring journalism major. It wasn't until one day in my Intro to Journalism class, a classmate of mine spoke to us about a student-based writing website. We could write about whatever we wanted (within reason), and all of the content was owned by us (the writers). At first, I was skeptical because it sounded too good to be true, but I had no writing experience and was quick to jump at the opportunity. It was here where I started my journey as a writer for The Odyssey.

I wanted my very first article to be something meaningful. Something that I could look back on years from now and say that I did a pretty good job writing and researching. Being that March is Women's History Month, I decided to write about the unsung heroes of black history. To say I was nervous was an understatement. It wasn't because I was afraid to write, but I was afraid of what people may think. It was a little irrational, but normal considering it was my first article.

From there, I went on to write several other articles on various different subjects. Even scoring my first press pass covering Bernie Sanders' visit to the Capital District during the 2016 presidential election. I had also scored a press pass for the University at Albany's Speaker Series featuring SCOTUS Sonia Sotomayor. With Odyssey, I felt that I had a voice to freely speak my mind. Whether it was about music, pop culture or social justice, I never felt censored when it came to my articles. As time went on, I went from being a writer to a contributing editor with my very own team of writers. I was so excited, and my team at one point had the highest submission rate for our chapter. It was all coming full circle, or so I thought.

The Setback

It started around last spring semester, I was taking a journalism class that took up a lot of my time. Mini-projects were due EVERY week, and they began to take a toll on me. The class was so stressful that I ended up having several anxiety attacks behind it. I wanted to drop the class and take it in the fall, but that would've risked not graduating on time. In order for me to get a decent enough grade to pass and take the last course I'd need for journalism, I had to make Odyssey take a backseat. Once the semester ended and I was in a better headspace, I began to pick up where I left off as an editor. However, I had started my internship back up with The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival. This too, required a lot of my time as I was one of their main writers for the festival.

At first, I thought it was going to be a temporary leave and as soon as I was done, it would be back to business. But as the fall semester started, I began to realize that all of the classes I was taking required almost all of my time. That, plus the fact that I was elected to a position for our school's chapter of the NAACP, it all became too much to handle. I was too in-denial to admit that the one thing I had zero time for the one thing I loved to do, which was writing.

Growth, Progression & Acceptance

By the time I had realized I needed to stop everything and make time for my writing, it was too late. My lack of presence to edit took its toll to the point where I had to really sit down and ask myself: "Have I lost my inspiration?" "Do I even want to write anymore?" These were things that no one could answer but myself. I had to take accountability for things that I did and didn't do, and figure out where to go from there. I had finally decided to go forth and start my blog, Amber's Modern Life. Realizing that my blog would also take up my time, I had to make a really tough decision. That decision was to resign from my position as contributing editor.

Was it hard? Absolutely. But given everything that was going on, it only made sense to. This doesn't mean that I've stopped writing altogether, but now that I have a blog of my own, I'll be working for myself. Plus, I've begun my journey as a freelance writer and working on perfecting my craft. I'll always love Odyssey and have fond memories of my time here. But, it's time for me to move on and better myself not only as a journalist but as a person. So, it's not goodbye because I hate using that word. So see you later Odyssey, and thank you for everything you've taught me.