Didn't even realize this until now, but when this article releases (I wrote this a week before publishing) it'll be four years since I became a writer for Odyssey. Four years I have been trying to retire from this social media death trap, and yet I am still here for god knows whatever reason it is. The feeling of nostalgia has hit this week's article, and I would like to take you back four years ago of how it came to be.
It was the 2015 Spring semester at the University of Central Florida. I was a freshman in college, and I see in a group page that The Odyssey (a brand new website at the time) was looking for writers, and they promised us that we would be paid for them (LOL), and one slightly horrible application later, I was accepted. I didn't think much of it; I did what a lot of people do now and just write an article a week, and it gets shared everywhere. Four years later, I keep most of my articles under wrapped because I learned really no one gives a crap what you write unless it's somehow relevant to them.
Anyways, back to the story. About a month into the writing process, I wanted to do something big, something that would get someone talking, and so I did. I actually did research and I wrote two articles that went completely viral all over the world (Top 10 Fraternities and Top 10 Sororities), and in somehow, someway, they're still trending to this very day and I don't even look at my old stuff anymore.
Also, the culture of Odyssey has changed. Odyssey has become a women-dominated social media base, men that wrote in Odyssey has not done a good job of surviving because of one overlaying factor, and that is this website appeals to most women, and it's very hard to ignore that.
However, I have been one of the lucky ones. In four years, I've gathered over a million plus share of my articles, and even more millions of views on my articles. My articles made people question and insult my intelligence, other people's intelligence, and even opened their eyes to something they have never seen before. I've even made other writers mad, even quit due to my content, and frankly, I don't regret anything so far.
Friends in different places are a good thing, but sometimes, if people can't handle the truth of the matter and a difference of opinion, then they shouldn't be in this industry. Through four different editors-in-chief, over hundreds of articles, billions of words written, I have managed to survive. My theory on why I am still here? No matter what I write, I always stand behind what I write, and I don't care who gives me what backlash, because the more backlash you give me, the more fuel to the fire.
And now, we are in 2019. Am I gonna give this up? I would love to, but I keep getting convinced to stay. No idea why people care so much about what I have to think, but if you insist, I'll stay. We'll see how much longer I will be here because I am still surprised I have not been fired for speaking my mind (knock on wood).
