It has officially been six months since I joined The Odyssey, and I don't regret it one bit. I never once thought of myself as a "writer" and I still understand my limitations with the written word.
Joining The Odyssey was a complete spur of the moment decision I made last semester. I heard that my campus was looking for writers and I thought, "why not?" I met with my editor-in-chief and was added to the team.
Writing every week for the last six months has taught me a lot and my appreciation for The Odyssey has only grown.
The whole point of writing for The Odyssey is to get your stories shared in hopes of stirring conversations that make people think, laugh, cry, smile, feel loved, etc. I know that the number of shares I get is just a number on a screen, but the responses are what make me feel like I did well that week.
By no means do I expect a waterfall of thank yous or praises for what I write. But there's no greater feeling that having just one person go out of their way to say that they needed that article.
I felt this with my very first article, “ 6 Things To Thank Mom And Dad For ." I wrote it around the time when many people were getting homesick and ready for the upcoming fall breaks. From then on, every article has been so satisfying to write, publish, and share with the world.
The Odyssey has been such a blessing for my own sanity. I am the type of person that bottles up what I am thinking which, more often than not, causes way more stress as the “what ifs” and different scenarios play out in my head.
This platform has offered me an outlet for my anxiety-inducing thoughts and allows me to be completely transparent without fearing what others might think.
I can say what I think without restrive editing guidelines.
The Odyssey is designed to be the “perspective of the new generation” and offer everyone from experienced writers to the average college student the opportunity to have their voice heard.
On my tiny campus, there are 13 writers under an editor-in-chief that work weekly to produce articles. Each 500 - 1,000-word piece brings our campus closer.
Through these articles, we share our thoughts and feelings about the world and rally under those words as a community; whether it be something extremely serious such as Kayla McKenna’s article about underage drinking and Brady’s Bill or a funny piece such as Monica Hiller’s article about why napping is the best. It never fails that there will be support for what we write.
The supporters are never the same, either. Each article has its own group that supports, shares, and talks about it, making the students on our campus realize just how similar we all are.
When faced with dilemmas, stress, joy, confusion, or a myriad of other emotions, I know I can always turn to The Odyssey. I can put down words and post them for the world to read and share.
I joined six months ago and I am very grateful for every week that I get to write alongside my best friends and peers to give our perspective on anything and everything.
