I’m sure by now you’ve all seen Odyssey articles pop up on your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I am also sure that you’re tired of seeing lists about “Why Every White Girl Loves Dunkin Donuts” and “13 Reasons Why I Love My BFF”. By now, that’s probably what you think Odyssey is, basic college girls making lists and publishing them on the Internet. Well, that is false.

Odyssey is one of the fastest growing social properties in the world. Content Creators are a diverse group of millennials all across the United States. Throughout the United States are Odyssey communities. In any given community, content creators write one original piece per week by a certain deadline. Once the piece is published, we are required to share it on our social media platforms. But there is so much more to Odyssey than just writing articles.

I have written for Odyssey for exactly a year. I have written just about 52 articles, good and bad, and have held different positions. After being persuaded by my friend to join Odyssey, I began to realize how much this platform actually had to offer. Don’t get me wrong, I struggle to come up with what to write about some weeks and other weeks where I am not proud of a piece that I have submitted. However, looking back on my past year as a content creator, I realize how much I have grown.

I’ve never been a person who was fully able to express my thoughts or feelings both on a Word document and in real life. I’ve never been a person who promotes him or her or brags about their accomplishments. Odyssey, however, has taught me that you are allowed to voice your opinion and you are allowed to brag about yourself on occasion. My first accomplishment has been growing as a writer. It is true when they say, “to get better at writing, you just have to write.” Looking back on some of my first articles, it is safe to say that I truly have grown as a writer. I may not have a large vocabulary to prove it, but my articles speak for themselves.

I have also grown as a leader within my past year. I have been my community’s Social Media Director, in which I have been responsible for sharing my whole community’s articles on our social media accounts. During my time as the Social Media Director, our previous Editor in Chief stepped down from her position. I thought “Hey why not apply to be our community’s new Editor in Chief? Worst thing that can happen is you don’t get the position!” Here I am, eight months later, as the Editor in Chief for my community. It hasn’t been a smooth ride, but I’ve been able to onboard some pretty amazing writers and I am so proud of each and every one of them! So shout out to my team at Fairleigh Dickinson University, keep being awesome!

Being a content creator has also made me more aware. I know, sounds strange, but it makes me want to watch the news. Every morning, I watch and I digest what it happening in the world around me. I think for a while about how exactly I feel about whatever is going on, whether it is another shooting, the upcoming election, or Dunkin Donuts’ latest limited edition coffee flavor. I think about how it relates to not only me, but also how other people could relate differently to it the situation. Being a content Creator has, for sure, enable me to be a better critical thinker and it has changed how I look at my world.

It has also made me realize that there are other people who have it worse than you. Every Monday and Tuesday, I stream the “Discover” section on Odyssey’s website. I come across articles related to neglect, cancer, mental illness, and, unfortunately, death. These are situations that happen in real life and people actually want to share their story. They don’t do it to get attention; they do it to bring awareness so that one-day they don’t have to lose a loved one to cancer or a mental illness.

Don’t get me wrong; I still believe that I’m bothering my Facebook friends and Twitter followers by posting and promoting my articles. I’m not a content Creator because I think that I am going to be writing the next New York Times Best Seller, to get the shares, or for the incentives, I do it for myself.

I could go on for hours about why I love being a content Creator, but I am sure no one would actually want to read everything that I have to say. So, I’ll end it with this. I encourage everyone to become a content Creator for Odyssey. It opens so many doors and allows you to grow as person, a writer, and a thinker. Thank you, Odyssey, for shaping me into the person that I was meant to be.