Whew! We finally did it! We made it guys!

Dear reader, this will be my final Odyssey article. Like ever. (Repeat: this is NOT a drill.) Pretty big life change huh?

If you have read my entries from the beginning, I commend you. (You’ve probably read more of my articles than I have). I can’t imagine the kind of person you think I am.

If you haven’t read a single one of them, then how come you’re reading this one? Don’t upset the precedent, now. You could set a record, you know.

And if you only skim read a couple of them as they buzz past your daily Facebook feed, that’s fine too. Who am I to judge?

Maybe you liked my articles, found them witty, funny, informational, or maybe you didn’t, and thought them to be stupid, garbage, wastes of time, etc.

But I really don’t write for you, dedicated though you are. I write for me.

I want to grow as a writer and as a person, and I feel that Odyssey had given me that chance. By providing my own illustrations for each piece of content I create, I am able to stretch my wings and create a brand for myself.

(If you want to check out more of my work, or just really have a hankering for shameless advertising, check out my pretty cool portfolio at www.behance.net/gianyatari. Or my brand spanking new website https://cmaiolo379.wixsite.com/catarina-portfolio.

Seriously some great stuff there. Oh, and I’m starting to sell my work, so watch out for that, too!)

Writing is definitely a window to endless opportunities. Gaining a firm understanding of language is a way to understand how society interacts. I want to expand my horizons and gain knowledge of other languages and cultures and destroy the language barrier once ad for all.

Eventually.

Because conjugation is hard. Especially past tense.

But I won’t let that stop me. I’m not going to let anything get in the way of achieving my goals. I look back at all I’ve accomplished in my two years as an Odyssey content creator, and realize that, at one article a week for two consecutive years, I’ve created over 100 articles and illustrations as well as written almost 52,000 words! That’s an incredible accomplishment! And while some of my articles were silly, dumb, or downright dopey, with each word I wrote, my writing skills improved. And I’m going to keep improving, whether I’m writing articles for Odyssey or not.

I’m going to take my experience at Odyssey wherever I go, and I’m glad that I got the opportunity to create articles. I had the freedom to write about whatever I wanted, and could get my voice out there using social media. As a content creator, I created my own role, and whether my articles started fires or not, I have that experience, and nothing can take that away from me.

I will miss Odyssey, but I’m ready to go on to the next part of my career.

Thank you for reading!