"List of things to do before I graduate: Shut down the Odyssey Online."
"The Odyssey is so annoying because it's 95 percent comprised of people who can't actually write."
"I hate the Odyssey."
I could sum up this whole article in simply three words, but I won't. I will make it at least 500 words so I can add it to the category "500 Words On," and then someone can write some small-minded social media brief about how dumb, annoying or stupid it is.
The Odyssey is "perspectives of a new generation." We are college students scattered around the country, writing to put forward our opinions about what is going in society, pop culture, our communities and the world around us.
Odyssey is made up of pieces that college kids write. Let me make that clear: college kids. We are not perfect by any sense of the word. We make all kinds of mistakes. We are an entity made up of students across the country, all holding various positions within the Odyssey, but also keeping up with our academics and extracurricular activities.
A good portion of our team is not journalism, English, communications or anything writing-related majors. We are an impressive team comprised of not only journalism, English, and communication majors, but of biology, political science, anthropology and many other majors, along with an array of minors. Writing may not be our number one strength, but we are at least trying to compose a piece written to the best of our abilities rather than sitting around, bashing on something someone else put effort into.
Another thing to remember is that the Odyssey is a typically informal student news source that hosts topics including entertainment, social news, politics and opinions. We are not going to be most people's first source for "breaking news" or what is going on at this very second in the world. These articles are not going to be stuffy, uptight articles. These are casual, opinion-based articles. If you would like something more formal, keep your opinion to yourself and direct yourself to your favorite news source of choice.
The Odyssey family is a community editors, writers, photographers, social media directors and many more. We all have our own respective ideas, feelings and experiences. Just like the readers and the commentators, we all come from different walks of life. Individually, we are a vast population that holds their own stories, yet there are simple things that tie us together and bond us. Maybe you and the writer both have had a parent passed away. Maybe you both believe that "Parks and Recreation" is the best show to ever be broadcasted. Maybe you both think the government has some serious work to do. At the end of the day, we do not necessarily need something a certain size to bring us together because sometimes it's the little things that connect us on a deeper level.
The Odyssey is exposing the perspectives of a new generation. That generation is us. It is our generation, and these are our perspectives. You may not agree with every single perspective one of us writes about, but chances are we do not share the same opinion of every post you share on your social media. We are a completely separate entity of what came before us and what will come after us. There will be some perspectives that can span from generation to generation, there will be factors that will separate us into our respective places and there will be things that can be a part of each generation. The beautiful part is that is OK; everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and it should be respected on its own behalf. I don't care if you don't agree with me, you're most definitely not the first one to agree with me. That's OK because there are several other people that do, and that is what matters.
We have to take into account why people are writing. Some people write to get things off their chest and cope with something going on in their life. Some may do it build up their resume, exposing them to new opportunities. It could have been a leap of faith, forcing them to do something out of their comfort zone. It could have been wanting a few extra dollars or many other reasons. But, if you're lucky like me, you could have found a passion and drive you never knew you had in you.
The best part of this is you might compose a piece that is very personal or funny to you. You could have written it on a whim, and decided to submit it for editing. Then, it goes on your social media accounts for the world to see. It's that first "like" or "share," and you realize you are simply a part of something larger than you. Someone out there, that you may or may not know, shares a similar opinion, perspective or story as you. It may not that exact same as yours, but like I said before, sometimes it's the little things that bring people together rather than the much larger things
I will end this with the three words I could have ended this article with at the beginning. I don't care. We don't care. At the Odyssey, we don't care that you hate our work or want to shut us down. We honestly could care less if you don't care about our list of the "50 Struggles Kids With Strict Parents Understand." Because chances are that someone out there does, and that is what matters. We don't care that you don't like us, because out there, someone else does. That, my friend, is all that matters.
