For as long as I could remember, I've always had a passion for writing. Whether it is to write short stories of fantasy settings as a young teen, or getting the word out about my identity to fellow peers now. Being in Odyssey has helped me reach beyond the limits of what I can write about with the idea of sharing my thoughts on a social media platform. While it could have annoyed my friends every week when I want to share what I've wrote; the best comes with seeing people enjoy my writing. However with any college graduation, comes whether you want to continue on with your community. I decided that upon graduating, it is best to move on with what I've done in different ways. Seeking out a career in writing as a post-graduation goal. While I may leave Odyssey, there are things that I will really miss about my community.
1. How Close-Knit My Community Is
While many communities throughout the nation have plenty of writers or possible one solo writer, my community had a comfortable number of writers. Which is the average of a core course college classroom-- in a Christian University of course! What I enjoyed about my community is that we're close-knit to each other, which can be rare within most college campuses. Everyone is supportive of each other whenever someone is having a bad day, sharing good news, or even in need of some prayers for any occasion. Despite all of our different ideologies, in the end, we still love each other.
2.How Fun My Community Is
As everyone in my community has similar traits, such as the majority of them are Communication majors, we are still quite a melting pot of different characteristics and point of views. Even though we don't meet up every day, we all still manage to have fun in our group chat. Either everyone is excited about Halo Top ice cream or going to a concert that night. However, when we do get together, it's loads of entertainment from playing games or even hanging out for a coffee.
3.How Bold My Community Is
I like to commend everyone in my community that has written articles that can be about controversial topics. Especially when it seems like every week their article is a official featured article by Odyssey HQ! It's an amazing opportunity to not just voice an opinion to your peers and community, but to be able to bring up discussion within social media. Which in fact has inspired me to be quite bold myself by writing about topics in my own perspective even if it isn't popular.
4. How School-Spirited My Community Is
My community offers different archetypes of college students such as student leaders, artists, poets, vloggers, and many more to choose from. Even though we seemed to appear different, we all have a love of our school. The most fun articles that anyone has written are usually the quirky insider jokes and references that our university has offered for us to write about.
5.How Loving My Community Is
It's a rarity on college campuses in which a group of people with different beliefs and ideologies come together and get along well. A lot of us in my community have a core thing in common, which is to not only love Jesus, but to love like him. While we still can be a pain for our Editor In Chief, or if HQ is giving everyone a hard time--like not letting us see our views, we still manage to give everyone in our community love. Which is the key of a successful community dynamic within Odyssey, love.
While my experience with Odyssey has come to an end in addition to being a college graduate. I will remember this whole school year about getting to develop a new sense of self, not only finding what I enjoy writing about, but also seeking out the self-actualization that it can be something I can do as a career. If it weren't for the love and support that my community has offered, then I wouldn't be driven enough to go off the beaten path of what is considered a passion. For that, I want to thank my GCU Odyssey community for sharing these different perspectives on life in general that have helped me expand my horizons for the future.
