I have been writing for The Odyssey Online for one year now and it has been a great one. I have a few 'thank yous' I have to say to this platform.

Thank you for being a starting point.

For most of my life, I've wanted to be a writer but never knew where to start. Joining The Odyessy Online has allowed me to find a starting point and gain experience. Having my article read and edited by at least two people before it got published helped me pick better word choice and expand my vocabulary.

Thank you for bringing my feelings out.

I am an introvert so I keep my emotions and what I'm thinking to myself 95% of the time. I am also a writer so if I do express how I am feeling, my writing is how I do it. Some of the articles I have written were ways for me to tell others how I felt about certain things like transferring schools or why there doesn't need to be a second season of '13 Reasons Why.' Other articles made me put words to things I never knew how to describe like why it's okay for people to hate you or to let others know they aren't alone. Having to dig deep to express myself has made it easier to tell others how I feel about certain things.

Thank you for existing.

Since I have started writing on this platform, I transferred schools and communities. I started out at Charleston Southern University with a small Odyessy community, which I still love and look forward to seeing what my old friends publish each week. Now I write for General Contributor while going to East Tennessee State University. While ETSU might not have a community of its own, I'm thankful I can still write weekly articles because The Odyessy Online is my safe haven. It was the one thing that didn't change as I changed schools.

Thank you for allowing me to grow as a person and a writer. Thank you for all the opportunities you have already given me and ones that you are going to give me. Thank you to The Odyessy Online for being a place to go when I need a laugh or find words to something I didn't know how to put words to. Thank you for letting me spend a year with you.