It’s hard to believe that one year ago, I wrote my first article for Odyssey. When I began, no one even knew what Odyssey was and now there are over 7,000 writers and thousands of shares through multiple social media outlets. It’s crazy to think how much this social content platform has expanded since I started here.

I came to college as a Broadcast Journalism major and I remember my first college class ever was “Introduction to Journalism.” To be honest, I hated it and never went to that class again. I didn’t like the fact that someone had to tell me what to write about and when I found out about this writing opportunity at Odyssey, I thought that maybe it would help me to enjoy writing more because I could pick topics that were relevant to my life. Luckily enough, it did.

Odyssey is all about creativity and having an open mind. Not going to lie, thinking of a new topic to write about each week can get challenging when I have already written over 50 articles, but it always keeps my brain working and bringing out strengths in myself I have never noticed.

In high school, I never considered myself to be a good writer because first, I didn’t like writing and second, I was always given constructive criticism from my teachers who didn’t always have the best things to say about my papers. Maybe it was because I was writing on topics that didn't interest me whatsoever or maybe it was because I didn’t always get an “A.” Now in college, my writing has gotten better because I practice it every week. I definitely have plenty of room for improvement but I think it’s really helpful when you get to write on personal and preferred topics as a fun way to learn.

Over the past year, I have received more positive feedback than I ever could have imagined, ranging from family to strangers across the country. The day my article hit over 11,000 shares, I kept refreshing the page to see if I was looking at the numbers right. Just want to say, thank you to everyone who shares my articles and takes the time to read them! Although I never know who actually reads my articles, I love getting messages that my friend’s, Dad’s friend, brother’s, daughter thought my article was relatable and touching. That’s pretty cool if you ask me.

Sure, writing for Odyssey is something to put on my resume, but to me, it's way more than just a few professional words on a piece of paper. Taking the time to voluntarily write an article every week has improved my grammar, vocabulary, creativity, communication, writing and networking skills. Although it is not a paid position, I am rewarded by the amount of compliments, shares and likes I receive and that is enough for me. You always have to start somewhere and so far, Odyssey has been a great beginning to wherever my career will lead me.