As a child I used to love writing in my diary; mainly about how my day went, feelings, thoughts, and wishes. My "diary" was truly an escape for me because my parents always wanted to open up to them, but why would an eleven-year-old talk to her parents about boys she likes or wanting to fit in with the popular crew? As time went by, I started to write less because I had this mentality of keeping a journal is stupid. Everyone would say that having a diary is "too girly" or assumed that journals only consist of writing about a boy. Wrong. Entering high school, I was scared of writing about my feelings because I was beginning to be scared of the truth and I was having the difficulty of understanding my mental process. The writing was absolutely not a part of my daily routine, especially since teachers constantly assigned us essays I did not find it necessary to write about anything. Although I never thought of writing as a passion, talent, or hobby, it was mainly just "my thing." Yet who knew four years later, I would be writing again, but this time by using my voice on any topic I am interested in and posting them online? Writing has once again entered my life and I am proud to say that it is a passion of mine.

I began writing for the Odyssey about two months ago after a close friend of mine informed me about it and showed me articles that students have been recently writing about. At first, I was not fully convinced to join because I had this preconceived notion that having multiple extracurricular activities in college will kill me. I could honestly say I thought long and hard about writing for the Odyssey, but there was a tiny voice inside telling me to do it. Why? I do not know. I only know that I would be able to write about random things that students will like and topics students should read about. Obviously, I came to a final decision and accepted to join this wonderful community.

My first couple of articles were last minute, sadly, because I was so nervous about writing something controversial or something my readers will not enjoy reading. But as each article went live I did not feel as scared or nervous anymore. Yes, these articles were written last minute and possibly grammatically incorrect, but they were beautiful because I wrote about topics that my readers may or may not relate to.

The Odyssey has allowed me to get out of my comfort zone.

I am the type of person who highly criticizes themselves and begins to believe that criticism; so never on this planet did I ever think that writing would be something I love to do and having a positive outcome. When I am at school, my supportive friends come up to me and tell me how much they liked my article or how creative it was and that makes me feel so accomplished inside.