So, this is it: My last article for Odyssey. And I know, this may be cliché, and the obvious thing to do, but I’m doing it anyway. Yes, I am writing a farewell to this position.
To start off, I am not quitting out of frustration with Odyssey, or how it’s run or anything. But rather, I feel like I have gained as much as I could from this position on a professional level. At this point, there is nothing more that I can get out of continuing to work here at Odyssey. Which is no fault of Odyssey on its own.
Odyssey, I have found, is really what you make it. The content you write and how well you write that content is vital for how important and useful Odyssey could be professionally, as a writer, and as a person. Odyssey is an unpaid position, which you used to be able to gain a monetary value of $20 if your article is shared the most that week. Looking at the articles that get the most shares, it is obvious that these pieces are, most of the time, fluff articles. Because of that, it is easy to fall into the trap of following suit to gain that prize at the end of the week.
All I can say is, don’t fall for that trap. Look at the bigger picture. Odyssey is, first and foremost, a platform where new and upcoming writers can publish their work. Use that platform to your advantage. Write those hard-hitting articles. Do the research. Spend the time. You might not have the most shares, but having those articles published as a new and upcoming writer, showing off your writing and researching chops, does and will pay off.
I have found that in pursuing other internships or places to publish my work, they were neither impressed nor put off that my work was posted at Odyssey. What they cared about more was looking at the articles I wrote, and seeing the quality and effort I put into them. Having written articles like “Is Homosexuality Really African?” or “My Half-Japanese-American Life: Too Asian or Not Asian Enough” has gotten me interviews with Associated Students positions on campus, and peaked publishers' interest in other works I am currently working to get out there. Not to mention, to show that you can make a consistent weekly deadline and have experience sharing articles on several social media platforms has also been beneficial in building my resume and helped me get my foot in the door at potential future internships I am applying for.
Odyssey really is what you make of it. It’s easy to fall into the mold, but I can’t reiterate enough how important to use this platform to publish your work can be, especially for new and upcoming writers. Again, I am leaving with no hard feelings toward Odyssey. I had nothing but the utmost positive experience with the people who worked there and the editors I collaborated with. I have found that I will not be pursuing a job in journalism. The work I will have published would be more along the lines of science papers, or fictional pieces, as I am graduating soon with a double major in Applied Mathematics and Creative Writing; I need to build a resume that would help me closer to a field I will be working in.
I have had fun, and I don’t regret working for Odyssey.
