If I was told about six months ago that I would be a writer for The Odyssey Online, I would’ve said, "You’re crazy dude!” Since I’ve started college, I’ve actually had no idea what I’ve been doing at all. No meme can represent the amount of cluelessness I deal with on a daily basis.

How I started here is interesting I guess. It started after a conversation with my friend Sarah (who is a writer/editor for our community as well! Epic shout out bruh!!). It was in a crowded dining hall I believe, so imagine pretty awful food, no space, and a massive inability to have a coherent conversation without cringe-inducing awkwardness. I referenced that after realizing I was not 100% into being a teacher and that I wanted to give it another go at journalism/writing again. Despite my obvious reservations about committing to the writing community and the crippling perspective of deadlines, Sarah forwarded my information to an Odyssey representative.

If one believes in fate and coincidence, this should prove your theories (which I question to some degree). I received a text about writing for this site on the last day of school (May 13^th 2016). After the fatigue of classes and personal life conflicts mounting on me, I got that text. Waking up that morning with a Zen vibe and reflecting on what was the end of my first year of college, came an opportunity. If college has done anything, it has turned me into an opportunist.

I ultimately decided on saying yes to this offer as a means of writing and working on my more creative aspirations. While I have only been writing for The Odyssey since August, I would like to reflect on what I have learned thus far.

People Are Kind Of Assholes (Harsh Critics Are An Opportunity!)

I wrote a review for Ween’s White Pepper album. While I do admit I rushed the article, I feel I ultimately wrote from the heart. I posted the review on a Ween fan page on Facebook and faced harsh judgments. As a person who has seen the dark side of the internet (the dreaded meme and shitposting underworld of social media and internet forums). I was “trolled,” essentially. While I got a shit load of views, so I won in the end. Some of those guys were major assholes, to be honest, but instead of lashing out I took a Zen approach. Do these guys publish articles on a weekly basis? Probably fucking not, so there’s no point in arguing with them. I did learn a lot from them in a way. I began to focus more on my writing. With this, I asked myself such questions: “Is this article something I can be proud of? Is laziness worth it in the long run?” From your critics, you need to take what they say and find something productive from it. People are going to beat you down and tell you what you can and can’t do, but you can’t let this keep you down. Find a way to grow.

Originality Is Difficult

I kind of try to be the “humor” guy in the New Paltz writing community and tend to avoid what I perceive to be a “BuzzFeed” way of writing. However, keeping it fresh every week is not easy. I’m not a creative person, so this proves to be difficult. The Odyssey has gone from being pretty constrictive (500-word minimum articles due every week) to pretty chill (whatever the hell you want). Next semester, I’ll probably try to get more creative on here (i.e. short stories/more interesting topics of discussion). I’ve already released some duds (every article I’ve ever fucking published), why not make some more!!!! I don’t give much of a crap about views. If I get them that’s nice I guess.

Deadlines Are Hard (But Doable!)

I was close to not committing to writing because of the deadlines. Laziness almost cost me this gig, like many other opportunities before me. While some weeks it is hell trying to make something out of nothing and making poor Juliet edit it, I’ve found a formula or regiment to my madness. If you set out time to do something, it does not feel so stressful. Deadlines only suck if you hold everything off until last minute. I want to do this, despite the times I doubt I should continue. It’s an opportunity to write what I want and have some people read it.

I ultimately plan on continuing writing for the next semester, unless I get fired. We’ll see where this goes next semester. I have some ideas. Hopefully, I can learn more and actually become a good writer one day. Only time will tell. (Gotta end on a cliché!)