I knew going into tonight that I have been writing for The Odyssey for nearly a year. So before I began writing this, I took a look at the first article I ever wrote, and the publishing date, just out of curiosity.

As I was starting my sophomore year at Assumption, I became involved in this opportunity to share my ideas on a global scale, as an outlet to express my writing creatively and freely instead of through the conventions and guidelines of college writing. It’s been a blessing so far, and one I plan to continue for as long as I still enjoy it.

Rereading my first article, published September 28th 2015, definitely gave me the nostalgic feeling that I was looking for. I will link it here, if you’re curious to see how my style and voice has changed- or not so much- in a year.

I’ve certainly done more through this than I ever anticipated. But as I grew and changed over the year, one thing always remained the same- my Odyssey article deadline.

Having never skipped a week of writing since I started, I counted the weeks and realized that last week was my 50th article that I’ve had published. Fifty different ideas, fifty long nights spent typing to get something in, fifty times I’ve hit submit and released my thoughts to the world.

It may not seem like a lot but I assure you, it is nearly impossible to come up with an idea, develop it, perhaps research it, write it, edit it, design an appealing headline, then find and cite cover photos or other graphics, and schedule shares every week for a year. This, balanced on top of all the other homework, club meetings, tests, internships, work shifts, general responsibilities, and the social life you want to have during the week.

I started to wonder exactly how much time I have probably devoted to the Odyssey in the past year, and it was astounding. Not counting the weekly meetings I’ve attended, I calculated about 2 hours of writing, editing, and development per article + about 30 minutes to actually think of a topic while staring at a blank screen. I multiplied this by 50 articles to equal approximately 125 hours of writing for this site. That’s over 5 days straight of simply sitting in front of a computer screen, and sharing my ideas with perhaps no one else.

I wouldn’t call this time wasted by any means. I enjoy it, and I wouldn’t keep doing it every week through finals, 12 hour work days, or mental breakdowns if I didn’t have fun with it.

Although, it’s definitely amusing to think of all the other ways I could have spent 5 days of my time.

I could have watched approximately 313 episodes of The Office.

Read over different 20 novels.

Listened to over 1700 songs.

Driven to California and back, then over halfway to California again.

Baked approximately 245 cakes.

I could have slept an extra 1/2 hour every single school day since I started writing.

(That was perhaps the hardest time to see).

But for now, here’s to 313 more episodes of The Office gone unwatched, 245 cakes left unbaked, and thirty extra minutes I’ll be sleep deprived each night that I’m at college while I start my next 50, today.