Over a year ago, in December 2015, I set my eyes on writing for Odyssey, formerly referred to as The Odyssey Online. As a junior in college, it was time to put the skills I learned in my journalism and English classes to use. Odyssey seemed like the right platform to explore different writing styles for various topics. Now, 68 articles later, I’m on the home stretch of my senior year.

Through this online writing platform, I was given the chance to write about subjects that genuinely interested me. I was able to flesh out stories about personal experiences, television shows, movies, politics, sports, music, school, internships, etc. These stories required research and time to put together in a cohesive manner. Sharing my perspective on these topics was also refreshing.

As a journalist, personal opinions are pushed to the side to give a fair stance on issues. But, Odyssey was different in this way because I could give my honest point of view. Although being a writer for the Hunter College team did challenge me, to balance the weekly deadlines with school work and having an internship, it was worth it.

I was also able to practice my editing skills once I took on the Contributing editor role in February 2016. By working with the Editor-in-Chief, I helped oversee a team of weekly writers who submitted interesting work. Through their writing, I got to read an array of different articles, which helped me understand the team as a whole, despite them not being aware of my role.

Odyssey has not only helped me grow my portfolio, but it has also given me the opportunity to grow as a writer. In the past year, I’ve learned what I’m most interested in writing about and who my main readers are. Moving forward, I will take with me these newfound discoveries and continue pushing myself as a writer to continuously grow.