I didn't realize how difficult being a writer was until I truly started experimenting with my opinions, personal thoughts, as well as all of my various ideas. And I guess that didn't end up happening until later because growing up, I have become more and more comfortable with myself and in figuring out who I am. Even though I still have a million miles ahead of me in this thing called life, I'm pretty sure of the person that I am, my likes and dislikes, and that over all - I am passionate in what I believe in.

When I was younger, I wrote about things that were a "safe topic", and not so much because I didn't know what else to write about, but because I was afraid to expand myself as a journalist. I knew that I had all of these really good ideas buried inside of me that obtained such potential and conversation, but I did not want to take that risk. I was younger, an awkward teenager, a people pleaser, and I would always put the people I cared about before myself and what I believed in. It was as if they were allowed to have a voice, but I had to keep mine - that being a writer's voice more or less - tucked away. It wasn't fair. But it wasn't really their fault - it was mine, because I could come out of my shell anytime that I wanted to. The thing was though, was I ready?



Last year when I joined the Odyssey, I began dipping my toes in the water of risky topics {Well, risky in my world anyway - especially when you come from a small, conservative town} I wrote an article called " Small Town Sadness: The Downsides of Growing Up In A Small Town". The article got over 2K shares, the comment section was flooded with hateful words. From paragraphs, to quick and snappy sentences filled with regret, anger and jealousy, I was baffled at all of the cruelty I was receiving from mainly middle aged individuals. That was the first time I truly experienced the backlash of being a writer - I wrote about something that more or less angered a lot of people, and for a short second, I regretted everything that I wrote. But at the end of the day, I knew that I wouldn't take back anything that I said, because it was what I believed in. It was especially helpful when I still had a handful of people supporting my articles even when people were terrible towards me for writing them. I had only been nothing but fair in my words, and honest, raw, blunt . . . straight to the point. After all those years of keeping my voice hushed, I was blossoming and I wasn't going to stop. Being a writer has taught me to stand my ground, yet be respectful of other people's thoughts, and to not change who you are just because you might not fit in with everyone else's beliefs.

Being a writer is not easy. Do you think it's simple to write out an article talking about a sensitive topic? Or it's easy to tell the whole world your thoughts on a popular trend in social media - that you don't find it fascinating, but everyone else seems to? No. It's not simple being the underdog and talking about things you believe in, or feeling like you're all alone in something. It takes courage and bravery to stick to your guns and just put it all out there, letting yourself be vulnerable. At the end of the day, you have to be okay with the consequences and accept that you may or may not get hated on for what you've written. Everyone has told me that it's going to come with it's downsides, not everyone is going to agree with you, and you're going to experience a lot of haters. I was pretty naive towards all of that, until now. This whole writing thing has allowed me to truly see people who they are, and it has helped me figure out who is truly there for me, and who is not. I've been told that I need to have a thick skin,


Not everything about journalism is pretty, I can say that. It gets vicious and it brings out the honesty in people. But you know what? I'm not going to stop expressing myself. I think it's all fair as long as one is being professional, seeing it from all sides, and is open minded to everyone's opinion. I have to give myself and other writers props for doing what they are doing. It's not an easy task going out into the world and putting themselves out there, and it's definitely an underrated profession, I think.