I didn't think that I would be writing this letter so soon. I joined Odyssey in March of this past year and even though I was only a part of this online community for a few months, it had done great wonders for me.

When I was a little kid, I began writing my first story called "The Haunted Toys 'R' Us." It was my biggest creative tendency (if you don't count dance) and I carried the same pink notebook around with me for years. I would read it to my family on car rides and would write whenever I got the chance to. To this day, I still have that notebook tucked away in a box in my family's garage.

I would write a little bit in high school and early college, but would usually be too embarrassed to show anyone and I would end up throwing the whole notebook away. I also felt like sometimes my writing was too dark and too closely showed the dark side of my mental health. This is something that I shied away from for as long as I can remember. We have been taught that mental health through artistic expression goes hand in hand with the emo kid in the corner that wears thick eyeliner and black box-dyed hair.

This is very obviously not true, and also not me.

Odyssey has helped my creative side come out again. It has done wonders for my self-esteem and confidence. I know that I want to continue this, and I know that this is something that I want to pursue.

I am not getting a degree in psychology, but I know that I want to help people. I want to make them feel good.

During the winter of 2016 going into 2017, I was having a really horrible time (and no I am not referencing the election, but who didn't have a horrible time?). I was lonely, depressed more than ever, and desperate for a voice. I was looking for a voice to hear in my room, and to bring some sort of warmth to a heart that felt cold.

I turned to YouTube for the first time since early high school. I fell onto channels like Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, Shane Dawson, and Crankgameplays. These were voices that began a process of acceptance in my mental health journey. Even if I hadn't gotten out of bed that day, I still had a digital voice in my dorm room to comfort me in some way. I began feeling human again.

During the gameplay of "Life is Strange" with Jackkspeticeye, he said that a lot of people who watch that type of gameplay are people who are lonely and just need a voice in their life. And he could not have been more right on that.

I want to be that to someone, through video or my writing. This comfort, this voice, a positive presence in their life. And Odyssey has restarted the creativity in me that I didn't know I had anymore.

I am not saying I am going to go out and be a YouTuber tomorrow, or that I would be doing this for fame. That isn't what this is for. I just have the drive and I have ideas on how to help just one person. The numbers won't matter for me, helping people matters.

I want you to come along for this ride with me, and I want feedback and ideas. I know that this is something I want to do in one way or another.

Thank you, Odyssey, for reinventing me.

And I promise you, I won't be slowing down anytime soon, I'm just getting started.