In the world of the internet, there are new things being created every day. There are videos of cats and comedy sketches and social commentaries being shared around the world. For so many years I was the one who read the articles and watched the videos, but I desperately wanted to share ideas of my own. I wanted to be the one who wrote the article that changed how someone saw the world and I wanted to brighten up someone’s day with a fun story I put out into the world. This year I got that opportunity when Odyssey came to Colby-Sawyer.

Now to be honest, I was kind of skeptical at first. Was I really going to get to publish all of my ideas? Would anybody actually read them? I had seen Odyssey articles floating around facebook and hadn’t paid much attention to them. That all changed when I had the opportunity to write on the site for myself. I saw my ideas being shared around, and I saw my classmates weighing in with ideas of their own. That doesn’t happen with a major media news outlet or on a celebrity's twitter feed. This content is created by individual students who, each week, write something they hope people will want to read. It may seem frivolous or “all the same” on the surface, but if you look at the articles and the people sharing them each article provides a unique perspective and the writer has given a part of themselves to you. When I see a new article from someone on my team, I see them putting themselves out there for all to judge. That deserve a whole lot of respect.

Our creators here at Colby-Sawyer write interesting and unique articles every week. We have movie reviews, political analyses, and school spirit. We have playlists, heartfelt letters, cultural awareness and so many more exceptional articles. Each week we see amazing writing and new ideas, and I love reading every single one of them.

When I started writing, I had no idea what to expect. I had never done anything like this before, and I was excited, but I was also incredibly nervous. I have tried new things and stepped out of my comfort zone, and I realize now how much of an impact this has had on me. I think that applies to many of my fellow writers. Sometimes we write amazing articles that get hundreds of shares, and sometimes we write something that only gets five shares. But regardless of how many shares we get, I am proud to be part of the Odyssey at Colby-Sawyer.

Note: If you want to join the Colby-Sawyer Odyssey team, you can apply here!