After being a part of Odyssey for about half a year, I can honestly say this is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. I am so glad I found out about Odyssey, I just wish I had known about it earlier in my college career. It saddens me that I will be graduating and can no longer write for my school’s branch, but throughout my time as a writer for Odyssey, I can tell you 12 reasons why all college students should write for this amazing platform:
1. You can write about whatever you want.
A lot of writers for various platforms and media outlets have to adhere to certain rules and must pitch their story ideas in order to be accepted as publishable. At Odyssey, you can write about whatever you want from “An Open Letter To My Cat, Mittens” and “Sorority Life As Told By Spongebob Squarepants” to “11 Reasons Why Neil Patrick Harris Should Be The Next President.”
2. It gives you a creative outlet of expression.
A lot of people don’t have the motivation or time to create their own blog, or find another outlet that allows them to express their creative side. Writing your elaborate opinion on a Facebook status turns a lot of people off and it doesn’t look good to future employers to see someone whining through a social media status. Odyssey publishes your opinionated (or neutral) articles in an appropriate format so that it looks like an op-ed piece! It also sets you up with a profile and publishes everything already formatted for you. All you need to do is write what’s on your mind and send it in! It can’t get any easier than that!
3. You can use the experience and put it on your resume.
For college students who need to put something on their resume and have no extracurricular job experience, this is the perfect opportunity to get something unique on your resume. And it doesn’t even matter what your major is! Being a good writer and consistently writing for a platform looks good to all employers. Even if you are a science major, write about advancements in the scientific world. Write about a lab experiment you did. If employers look at your published pieces, see you are a good writer AND know what you are talking about when it comes to your major, that’s bonus points for you! You’re hired!
4. You get to read content that matters to this millennia.
News outlets show stories that not everyone cares about; it’s one of the main reasons why broadcast is dying. People of this generation lose interest in national headlines. But Odyssey allows its writers to put their own news out into the media sphere. And that’s not to say important national topics never get published, because they absolutely do. Odyssey simply provides a unique spin on it, an opinion, a new perspective, and a new language to deliver the message that top-down traditional media outlets don’t provide.
5. There’s room to grow and improve.
If you start out as a writer, you could be moved up to take on the role of Editor-In-Chief of your school. From there, you could get a job as a copywriter for Odyssey, get your foot in the door through headquarters, and work your way up to a Managing Editor position. The more you become acclimated with Odyssey, the better your chances are of getting hired with them. If you know what Odyssey is all about, know how to write enticing articles, are a good leader and prove it through great school stats, have a thorough understanding of AP Style, are an easy-going person, and fun to work with, you bet your sweet editorial booty you can work your way up the Odyssey ladder!
6. It’s basically a free job.
Again, I will never understand why someone wouldn’t want this job. You will never get more freedom of expression in any other job you have! Being a writer can open up so many doors for you, it just depends what you want to write about. Use it to your advantage!
7. It helps you become a better writer.
The more you write, the better you will get at it. You do not have to be a great writer to write for Odyssey, that’s what editors are here for! They’re here to help you hone your writing and editing skills. The more articles you read, the more ideas your mind will generate on its own. As Dr. Seuss once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more than you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
8. It gives you a sense of community.
Writing for your school’s branch of Odyssey can get you connected with other people who share similar interests in writing or similar passions for certain subject matter! It’s all about networking, and this is one heck of a way to get a free ride through network town!
9. It democratizes content.
What other outlet allows people within your community to tell important stories in their own voices and angles? This is not your traditional news outlet; it’s a social content platform. You can write and share whatever you desire and can get your information from a number of writers. Want to know what’s going on in the presidential campaign? Just search it on the homepage search bar and you will get every perspective you could have possibly hoped for and more. Odyssey allows you to formulate your opinion based on the vast experience and thoughts shared by others. Rather than getting your information from a biased news source, this lets you come to your own conclusion and formulate your own ideas.
10. It gives you a voice that matters.
This goes hand it hand with number nine. Your voice matters because other people just like you are reading and writing the content. You get to hear your peers’ voices just as they get to hear yours. This is not getting information from media; it’s from people who want variety and truth, just like you.
11. It gives you an audience.
Writing for Odyssey gives you access to more than 30 million page viewers per month. That’s free viewers for you! You don’t need to promote yourself because others can find your article if they search a topic you write about! (Don’t get me wrong, self-promotion definitely helps, but you are essentially making yourself available to an established audience)
12. You get to meet some amazing people.
You get to work directly with people at your school, with leaders of your school’s branch of Odyssey, and with the managing editors in headquarters that all share a similar passion as you: reading and writing. PLUS, if you are the EIC of your school, you get to go on video call every week and work face-to-face (digitally, of course) with some of the brightest minds and leaders of this generation. The people who work for Odyssey have a lot of experience under their belt and are working to help YOU improve as writers and give more and more people a creative outlet to publish social content. It’s basically like getting unlimited access to a mentor in your field of interest (if you want to be a writer/editor, that is).
I wish I could’ve been a part of Odyssey for a longer period of time, and wish I found out about it sooner. I am just beyond thankful for this opportunity and am so grateful I discovered this platform at all. Thank you Odyssey, for giving me one of the best opportunities of my college career. Thank you Evan Burns and Adrian France for your creative and innovative minds that built such a game-changing outlet for millennials across the nation to express themselves and produce content that matters to us. We are a country of many opinions and Odyssey makes room at the table for sorority sisters, fraternity brothers, scientists, writers, politicians, technicians, tutors, etc. so that everyone can have a seat and share their voice with the world. You have truly made a difference with this unparalleled social content platform and are changing lives, one article at a time.
