I have written for the Odyssey for almost a year and a half now and it has truly has been an amazing blessing and opportunity. Odyssey helped me to become a better writer, a better thinker, and has given me a way to have my voice heard. I've written articles that have received only five shares to articles that have gotten over 40,000 shares, but all my articles have reached at least one other person. I have written silly articles that made people laugh or smile to articles that have had depth and meaning, which have helped other college students get through what they are going through. No matter what, my voice has been heard, my words have helped people, and it has all been because of Odyssey.

Now my love for Odyssey is clear and evident, but many friends on Facebook and many people I know are not a huge fan of Odyssey. However, their reasons are based on myths and lies because they simply do not know or want to know how amazing and outstand the Odyssey is. Well, it is time for the truth to come out, so here are five myths and truths about Odyssey.

1. "Odyssey is just a bunch of dumb sorority girl writers."

MYTH

Odyssey does accumulate many writers that are Greek, but not all Odyssey writers are Greek. As Editor in Chief of Odyssey at the University of Mississippi, I can say that I have hired almost half as many Greeks and non-Greeks. All of whom are intelligent and thoughtful people.

2. "Odyssey is not like Buzzfeed or the NY Times."

TRUE

This seems like an odd truth and you may be wondering what I mean by that. Odyssey works bottom-up, which means the editors and managers let the writers find and tell the news they want to tell with all the creative freedom they want. While Buzzfeed, the NY Times, and other news sources work top-down, which means they have editors and managers who tell their writers what to write and how to write it. By working bottom-up, Odyssey gives its writers the opportunity to explore uncharted territories and find news that other places might miss.

3. "Odyssey is just a bunch of girls."

MYTH

Yes, the majority of the writers who write for the Odyssey are girls. However, many guys write for the Odyssey as well. I can say in my year of being editor, I have hired at least 10 guys. There are no restrictions on who can write for the Odyssey except that they are college students.

4. "Odyssey is only millennials."

TRUE

Odyssey was created by two college students, Evan Burns and Adrian Frace, at Indiana University who felt that the media industry was lacking diversity in perspectives and ideas. They also felt like the millennial generation needed to be heard, so in June 2014, Odyssey was launched. Odyssey is only millennials because it gives them the opportunity to reach out in the media and share their opinions with the world.

And finally,

5. "Nobody reads Odyssey."

MYTH

With 700+ communities and 8,000+ content creators, Odyssey receives 30+ million unique reads a month.

Odyssey is made up of a diverse group of college students from all over the United States with new colleges joining constantly. Odyssey has writers who are all different races, ages, sexes, political parties, and religions. It is a platform full of intelligent and qualified writers who have a passion for writing, for creativity, and for sharing the opinion of the college students who are tired of not being heard. So, for all those who say Odyssey is not a real website, that the writers are preppy, conservative, Greek, white girls, that the articles are unintelligent, and for those who generally just hate Odyssey, I am sorry you can't see the beauty in it.