Since June 2016, I have been a writer for Odyssey. Within this time frame, I have written 14 articles about different events in my life, my opinions, and welcoming you into part of my life. I've realized that after so many articles, I never introduced myself and let you know my credibility behind my stories.

For starters, I am Allyssa Krick and I am 21 years old. I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, about an hour east of Philadelphia. I have been blessed with two amazing parents and a younger brother who have helped shape who I am today. If you were to ask anyone who truly knows me on how they would describe me, they would use the adjectives loud, outgoing, and caring.

I am currently enrolled as a senior at Shippensburg University where I am studying to be a middle school teacher while concentrating in mathematics and language arts. It has always been my dream to become a teacher and now I am pursuing it. Nothing excites me more than being in a classroom. During my time at Shippensburg University, I got myself involved more by becoming a sister of Kappa Delta Phi National Affiliated Sorority (NAS). I joined the sorority in November 2014. Becoming a sister of the sorority has been one of the greatest decisions I've ever made. On top of becoming part of a sisterhood, the sorority has given me more opportunities to give back to surrounding communities along with meeting many more new people. In March 2016, I became a proud Big to an amazing Little. In the spring of 2015, I became a member of Kappa Delta Pi which is an International Honors Society of Education.

When people ask me what my favorite type of music is, I tend to not have an answer to their question. I am very diverse when it comes to my music genres. You can normally catch me listening to country music, but then there are other days I just want to rock out to classic rock. Then, I can really throw you off from listening to a band like Disturbed to a Today's Hits station on my Sirius XM radio. I go to way too many concerts for my own good, but I absolutely love the experience. I have seen many artists more than once and there are still some I have yet to see. My bank account doesn't always like all my concerts, but I ignore it. I have met some of my favorite artists and yes, I completely fangirled. Just to name a few, I have met Daughtry, Dierks Bentley, Michael Ray, and my favorite, Scotty McCreery a total of three times and counting. Maybe one day I will get lucky enough to meet Luke Bryan- fingers crossed!

For those who know me, they would attest to the fact that I am a huge football fan. I constantly am talking about football, even if it is the offseason. I do admit that I am a tad bit obnoxious over it. I am a proud Pittsburgh Steelers fan and will wear my black and gold any day of the week. I do watch baseball and hockey, but football mainly controls my conversations. When I am not watching football, you could typically catch me watching my favorite TV show, Friends, or some of my favorite movies. I am currently obsessed with the Toy Story series or the Fast and Furious series.

If you were to go Facebook creep on my profile, you could probably tell that I am obsessed with my cat. His name is Heath (after Heath Miller, the retired tight end from the Steelers) and I rescued him in July 2015 as a kitten from the local rescue league. He has become my little fur baby and takes up most of my life. Nothing is better than having a really rough day but coming home to his cuddles. Along with Heath, I have three other cats and one dog at my mom's house, but Heath is the only one who is under my name and goes back and forth from college with me.

I do have two best friends that make up my life and without them, I would be lost. They are two complete opposites of each other, but they definitely balance me to say the least. The best part about it is that I haven't known either one of them for a long period of time so they aren't my best friends since Kindergarten. However, they both have become such an influence in a short amount of time. I know I can always go to them whenever I need a good time or to vent. I haven't written any articles about them yet, but I can almost guarantee you'll learn more about them soon.

Lastly, on a more personal level, I have experienced a lot of loss in my life. It all has shaped me into the strong individual that I am, but it has taken a toll on me. During my senior year of high school, my parents got divorced which definitely caused some trouble for me. I wasn't coping well with the fact at all. I have become better at it, but for a while I was in denial. In May 2014, I lost a close friend of mine to suicide and then exactly a month later in June 2014, my softball coach/teacher also committed suicide. That experienced rocked me hard. It wasn't before long that I realized myself that I had depression which I've had for a few years now. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it's hidden. One thing I've learned is that depression is very unpredictable. Yes, most times it's a certain event that will trigger it, but then some days I just wake up in the funk. If that didn't sound wonderful enough, I also have anxiety on top of it all. One day I'm sure I will write an article explaining and relating to others who have depression and anxiety, but I have not gotten to that point yet. Due to these experiences, I have become an advocate for suicide awareness/prevention.I have also been in love once and I experienced losing that first love. I wrote about this experience in my article "I Told You I Loved You More," and I'm sure sometime in the future I will revisit it again because of the effect it had on me.

As you start reading more of my articles, the more personal side of me will come out. I believe I am an unique writer as I speak from experiences and opinions meanwhile knowing I relate to at least one other person out there. I hope you enjoy reading my articles as much as I enjoy reading them. With that said, now you know who is behind the keyboard of all of them!