An Open Letter To My Team | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

An Open Letter To My Team

Whether you write for Odyssey at UCLA, or struggle with writer's block anywhere else:

28
An Open Letter To My Team
Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash

If you are a creator for Odyssey at UCLA, you are probably aware by now that I am the new Editor In Chief (Elle's successor). First off, I want to say how deeply grateful I am for this opportunity. I have always engaged in writing or editing in some capacity outside of school, and to be able to allocate the skills I've acquired over the years to a program such as this at UCLA is truly a gift.

As I settle into this new position, I'm feeling a lot of things: excitement, pride, nervousness, anticipation, but most importantly, empathy. Even though I'm a freshman, I've been writing for Odyssey at UCLA since the summer of 2019. Now I'm not saying that's a long time, but I am saying that it was long enough for me to understand the challenges that come with this type of independent and consistent writing process. When I applied over the summer, I didn't realize I would be starting right away. For all Odyssey knew, I could have paid a deposit at another college and changed my mind before August. But when I was offered a spot, the president at the time let me know that I would start as soon as possible.

At first, it was awesome. I had so many ideas and so much time to perfect them. But four weeks later, those ideas became fewer. Six weeks later, those ideas became nil. Running out of ideas felt like hitting rock bottom. Not only did my schedule quickly fill up when school came around, even when I had time to write, I didn't have words to put on the page. Each week I'd stress about what I was going to submit on Wednesday. I went from writing my article over the weekend, proofreading it on Monday, and having it ready to submit on Tuesday, to scrambling together a last minute article Wednesday itself.

I have a vivid memory of sitting in the car over break, while my mom went into a grocery store and I stayed back with my laptop open and phone hotspot on, doing the last revisions of my article before submitting it. I remember thinking to myself, "why am I doing this? No one cares about my article. What am I getting out of this? Why aren't I doing school work right now instead?" These thoughts haunted me for a while, and for a brief period, I thought I didn't deserve to continue. I knew I wasn't putting my all into it. I wasn't writing because I wanted to, I was writing because I felt obligated to.

That's not what this is.

I tell all of you this, not to expose the slump I went through on my journey here, but to encourage those of you who may approach a similar experience one day, to navigate it differently. When I recognized the drop in my content quality and attributed it to my lack of passion for what I was writing, I realized that there was no point in forcing myself to come up with a sub-par article just for the purpose of submission. Odyssey has an extension policy for a reason. I began texting Elle when I was in these slumps, confessing that either I had no clue what to write about, or just needed some more time to produce something I was proud of - and she supported me.

Please do this! I never, ever want you to feel like you are being forced to write something. I want you to want to write something. That's the entire spirit of Odyssey. School is hectic, and now with the complete 180 we've all had to take as a result of COVID-19, getting back into routine is even harder. Focus on yourself, focus on school, do things that make you happy, and don't stress yourself out when you don't need to. I'm here for you. Sam's here for you. We are so incredibly grateful to have each and every one of you with us on this team. Believe it or not, you all contribute to our community in a unique way that we would never want to be of burden. Yes, here at Odyssey, we write articles once a week and it is important to submit on time. But this is not your whole life, and I don't want it to consume your life. I don't want it to ever turn into a task that you have to get over with. I want this to be an outlet for your creativity. For those nights when your thoughts keep running wild and you have nowhere to put them.

I'm not saying take your time so that everything you produce is a masterpiece. And I'm not asking that you change your routine if you have one that works for you. I just want you to be comfortable.

I know it isn't easy. I know the consistency we ask of you might feel tedious after some time. I know writer's block is inevitable, and the reality is that you are going to face it time and time again. But when you let yourself breathe, and really put your mind to it when you're ready, you can produce something much more rewarding than a check on your to-do list.

With that being said, I am so excited to work with all of you, and please remember: we are in this together.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
university
University of Nebraska at Omaha

Creating your schedule for the upcoming semester can be an exciting process. You have the control to decide if you want to have class two-days a week or five-days a week. You get to check things off of your requirement checklist. It's an opportunity for a fresh start with new classes (which you tell yourself you'll never skip.) This process, which always starts out so optimistic, can get frustrating really quickly. Here are 25 thoughts you have when registering for classes.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

10 Thoughts Of A 5th Year Senior

What about those of us who don't do it all in four years?

617
college shirt
pointsincase.com

"College will be the best four years of your life" is a phrase that we have all heard growing up. College is painted as a magical place to us while we are in high school. A place you go to learn, meet your best friends and probably have the time of your life while all of this is going down. Four whirlwind years, where everything that you've known changes and you start to learn what it means to live on your own, have a job, etc. But what about those of us who don't do this all in four years? Major changes, hard courses, switching schools, career paths changing, these are just a handful of factors that could extend your four years to five, six or seven. There is nothing wrong with taking extra time to graduate, but returning as a fifth-year is a little different. Most of your best friends have most likely graduated and moved and while you may be one of the oldest undergraduates on campus, you might feel as awkward as a freshmen. A world that became home and comfortable to you is still there but it's slightly different than you've known it to be and you have to find a groove to fall into. These are thoughts you'll have as you look ahead to returning to your college campus, with a victory lap planned.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

17 Times "Friends" Accurately Described Life

You can't say that no one told you life was gonna be this way.

30
friends

In the 12 years since it went off the air, "Friends" continues to be adored by millions. The show that gave generations unrealistic expectations about love (or should I say lobsters?) and New York City apartments had a charming cast of characters that everyone could relate to at some point or another. Here are 17 times Ross, Monica, Joey, Chandler, Phoebe and Rachel accurately described life.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

11 Times Aubrey Plaza Described Sophomore Year

"I don't want to do things. I want to do not things."

399
Aubrey Plaza
Flickr Creative Commons

Aubrey Plaza is one of my favorite humans in Hollywood. She's honest, blunt, unapologetic, and hilarious. I just started my sophomore year of college, and found that some of her best moments can accurately describe the start of the school year.

1. When your advisor tells you that you should declare a major soon.

2. Seeing the lost and confused freshmen and remembering that was you a short year ago, and now being grateful you know the ins and outs of the campus.

3. Going to the involvement fair to sign up for more clubs knowing that you are already too involved.

4. When you actually do the reading required for the first class.

5. Seeing your friends for the first time since last semester.

6. When you're already drowning in homework during syllabus week.

7. Realizing you don't have the same excitement for classes as you did as a freshman.

8. Going home and seeing people from high school gets weirder the older you get.

Keep Reading...Show less
graduation

Things you may not realize are different between high school and college:

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments