I've been writing for Odyssey for almost six months now, and I feel like this is a good time to share why I chose Odyssey over other publication platforms and why I stuck to it.
I was first introduced to Odyssey by a high school friend of mine, who was writing for the Odyssey team at her college. At first, I was intrigued by the dazzling idea of having a platform where I could share an infinite amount of content with people from all around the world. So I got to it right away. I submitted my application without hesitation and after a semi-formal interview with the editor-in-chief, I was now officially the content creator for Odyssey.
The main reasons why I really wanted to join this particular group was because first, I wanted to have more confident in my writing, and I thought by publishing them online and receiving feedbacks from readers would eventually increase my confidence in the things that I write. Secondly, I really wanted to share my story, my thoughts, my experiences and my ideas, and initiate a thoughtful discussion among readers.
When I published my first article, 3 Truths the Media Isn't Telling You About the Sewol Ferry , I was surprised by the number of people that actually read the articles that I wrote. Some people agreed with what I was saying and some didn't, but still, the thought of initiating a discussion among my readers was all the more, exciting.
I have to admit though, as time went by, I started to focus more on publishing content that would get the most views or shares instead of writing for the sake of writing. Some days, I would obsessively click on the writer's dashboard, checking on a daily basis to see how many views were accumulated on the articles that I published, just like checking on Facebook to see how many likes I have on my new profile picture. The articles that I started to write was not what I felt deeply passionate about, instead they were just articles that would make more readers want to click on to read.
When I realized how this was not doing me any good, my Managing Editor helped me brainstorm ideas so that I wasn't forced to write something to meet the deadline. Also, the numerous talks that I had with my EIC also helped me to stay on track.
With the semester starting anew, I realized that yes, commitment is important, but also it's really important to be passionate about the things I do and truly have fun. Especially on Odyssey, I can basically write about anything and explore the topics that I love. Therefore, I'll continue to take this opportunity to create meaningful content for my present and prospective readers and hopefully, inspire them to write.
