Wow. I can't believe it's been a year and two months. Time has flown by since I've first started writing for Odyssey, and not only has the number of articles I've written grown, but so have I, as well as my writing. Writing for Odyssey has taught me many valuable lessons, both about my writing and myself, and for that I'm forever grateful.
But now that time has come to an end, and I find myself writing my final Odyssey article with a heavy heart, but also a content one.
When I told people that I would be resigning as a Content Creator for The Odyssey, most people were shocked. But why? You love The Odyssey! You write so much for them! You've been featured so many times!
And all of that is true. I do, very much, love Odyssey, and all the articles I read that are written by other fellow Creators. I did write many articles, and I have been featured many times.
But not everything lasts forever.
And no, it's not because I've all of a sudden hated writing for Odyssey. No, very much the opposite. As cliche as it is, it isn't Odyssey, but me. I'm the reason why I'm leaving.
Writing for the Odyssey was my first real foray into opinionated op-ed writing. It was my first taste of getting my writing out there, in front of the eyes of thousands of readers. And it taught me a lot. It taught me about the power of self-publicity, the power of my opinions, and, most importantly, the power of my writing. And as my knowledge grew, I grew with it.
And now, I'm about to start my second year of college. I've written for a plethora of different websites, been published in various literary magazines. I'm about to start two fellowships this summer, and an internship in the fall. And I've learned all of what Odyssey had to teach me about writing, and my own work.
Time is of the essence, and I don't have much of it. I began to slack. My article updates became fewer and fewer, until I started writing articles hardly at all.
I knew then that I had to make a decision. I didn't want to get in the way of my Odyssey chapter's flow with my lack of articles, and I knew I that the articles I've already written were quality work. If I stayed, they'd be strained, rushed articles written just to be written, and I didn't want that.
I had learned a lot, and I had a lot to look forward to moving on. Looking back, the decision was an easy one to make, and yet a hard one. So much of my heart lies within the articles I've written here.
Which brings me here.
A lot of people I know always have a hard time of letting go of opportunities they know won't leave them. I know I was certainly one of those people, once upon a time. But, at the end of the day, my journey with Odyssey has taught me a valuable lesson:
Don't be afraid to move on when you feel the time is right. Sometimes, things don't end because there's a reason; they end because they have to, because there's more to come later. Yes, a door is closing. An opportunity you invested so much time into is ending.
But with every ending, there is always a new beginning.
