I've come across some posts on social media bashing The Odyssey Online and all those who write for it. There's a petition (which only has only gotten eight signatures in over five months) to "Make the Odyssey Online go the f*ck away." Someone else wrote "An Open Letter to The Odyssey Online" and stated that when they see an Odyssey article they "consider snapping [their] laptop in half, or finding the tallest building and jumping off." Honestly, if you're contemplating breaking your laptop or committing suicide because of seeing, not even reading, an article, then there's some underlying problem that you need to get checked out.
With all the hate circulating around about the Odyssey, I thought I'd offer an explanation of why I, and so many others, submit articles every single week. Here are some of the reasons I write for The Odyssey Online:
1. I enjoy writing.
Writing has always been one of my strongest skills and I just enjoy doing it, so why not write weekly articles with the chance of getting $20? The Odyssey gives me an audience for my writing as well, which doesn't always happen when I just write for myself.
2. I want my voice to be heard.
I understand that not every single article that I, or someone else, writes will appeal to everyone. I don't expect that and that's definitely not why I write them. I write to get my opinions, my voice, and my ideas out into the world.
3. It's a resume builder.
Not only do I write for The Odyssey, but I'm also a part of the editing team. Even though I'm not an English or Journalism major, having experience writing for an online platform, editing tons of articles, and being an online published writer looks great on a resume.
4. It helps me improve my writing and editing skills.
Writing a 500+ word article every week helps me improve my writing skills and my editing skills. I'm constantly finding new ways to say things, new words to use, and bettering my writing. This will definitely help when it comes to graded assignments and writing papers.
5. It gives me tons of articles to read.
Every week, everyone from my school shares their articles in a group message. It's awesome to see what everyone else writes about each week and the different viewpoints on my campus. This also means that every week I have a ton of different articles to read whenever I'm bored or want to procrastinate.
