(The other day, I asked myself, what is the most interestingtype of story to read, right from the get-go? After several thoughts, I ended up with romance and murder-mystery. Being utterly satisfied with my results, I immediately a) despaired on the state of humanity and b) decided that I could not write either of those kind of stories.

Then inspiration struck.

I thought back to my days writing for a newspaper and how I conducted on-the-spot interviews.

So I decided to do an interview for old times sake and write down the transcript.

Anyway enjoy!)

JX: "Is that thing on?"

NX: "Yeah just give me a second. Okay now we're good. First off, you're okay with this interview being recorded right?"

JX: "Yes, absolutely."

NX: "And you're okay with this possibly being in print?"

JX: "Yes."

NX: "Good. Let's start. What is your name, year, major, and school?"

JX: "My name is Jonathan Xiong. I am a junior at Rutgers with an undeclared major."

NX: "I understand you're a writer with the Odyssey Online website."

JX: "That's right. I write articles weekly on various topics that pertain to college life and other relevant topics."

NX: "What made you decide to join the Odyssey?"

JX: "That's actually a funny story. You see, last semester, I was a writer for the Rutgers Daily Targum. I was in the news section. I picked up news events and wrote up on them. It was an enjoyable job. Towards the end of the semester, I learned the Targum doesn't run during the summer months, and since I wanted to keep writing for the summer, I decided to look for a writing job. So one day I'm browsing Facebook, that's great research isn't it, and I see a friend of mine, Dyala. In one of her posts, she had written her first story for the Odyssey, which was also the first time that I had heard of the group. Somewhere in her piece, or maybe in her bio, Dyala writes something like "I've always been interested in writing and I want to be a writer." So I say to myself, well if someone who wants to be a writer is doing this, why not me?

Props to Dyala, wherever she is. She's on a school newspaper right now I think.

Anyway, I check out their website, and I see there are student positions. I also see that you can get paid for doing this.

NX: "So you make good money off writing?"

JX: (Laughs) "Oh God no. Money is for people with lots of views. The top-viewed article each week gets money or you get money per 1000s of views. I never got close."

NX: "But I assume you had fun anyways?"

JX: "Of course. That's why I do it."

NX: "We'll get back to that. Let's go back a minute to when you were working at the Targum. Why did you decide to join? What got you interested?"

JX: "Well, that's a more complex question."

NX: "What makes you say that?"

JX: "...it's not like you could say I have a natural propensity for writing. Ask any one of my friends, or people from my high school. They would never say that I'm a writer. Between you and me, I'm not exactly the best writer in the world."

NX: "I'd say you're good enough."

JX: "Thanks. But the point is, it wasn't until college that I decided to start writing, and even then, not until the second semester of my second year. You see, I've actually liked the idea of joining a newspaper for a while. I remember even in middle school, I floated the idea a couples time around in my head."

NX: "Then why wait so long?"

JX: "I had the inclination, but never the motivation, if you know what I mean? Now I think that changed during my sophomore year because....I don't really know. I did have a lot of artistic influences though. My freshman roommate was definitely the artsy type. And I was reading the Targum a lot, just cause it was always around. I think it just subconsciously leaked into my head. Either that or I finally had the guts to take a step and realize a long held ambition."

NX: "...you certainly sound focused."

JX: "What?"

NX: "Let's go back to your current 'job' at the Odyssey. Tell me a bit about your articles. You said at the Targum you mostly wrote news. What do you write about now?"

JX: "My articles are a mixture of universal issues and focused iconographs."

NX: "Could you elaborate?"

JX: "My articles generally revolve around two topics: musings about my 'topic of the day' and fiction. Of the two, I generally prefer fiction. There's just something about making up your own story nothing else gives you."

NX: "Which one do you write more of?"

JX: "I think they're tied right now. I think they'll remain tied, because both have their own ways of capturing an audience.

NX: "Well thanks for your time. I'll let you know how the article goes."

JX: "No problem. Good luck."