I discovered the Odyssey via Facebook my freshman year of college. As an undeclared, redshirt freshman with no on-campus job and had yet to make a lot of close friends, I spent an embarrassing (almost alarming) amount of time behind my laptop screen. I still spend a large amount of time behind my laptop, but I feel more justified in doing so now that I am an English major and am writing all the time, at least it feels that way and not just watching Netflix.

I originally began writing with Thought Catalog having been attracted to their site first. It's extremely hard to obtain a staff position with Thought Catalog and their open submission process takes forever (actually only two weeks, but it feels like a lifetime). A friend of mine at school told me that she was in contact with a managing editor from the Odyssey that wanted to start a team of writers at ESU and suggested I get in contact with her as well, if I was interested. I finally got into contact with her and was offered the editor-in-chief spot almost immediately. I declined and settled for the contributing editor position only because I didn't know the workload that I was committing to. I was in the fall of my sophomore year when I committed to the Odyssey and I don't regret it at all.

I am now editor-in-chief of ESU's team and love writing and editing every week. I think the Odyssey is an incredible source for networking and is truly a wonderful platform for my generation to get their voice heard and noticed. Articles due go viral! I had one that reached over 5k shares, imagine if it has that many shares, how many people still read it but didn't feel inclined to share. The higher management at the Odyssey keep professional, yet friendly terms with their community and team members and they're an absolute pleasure to work with. I highly encourage all aspiring authors and journalists to join their local team. It's a platform made for everyone, so even if you aren't any of the previously mentioned, it's a great place to write freely and openly for your own enjoyment.

Welcome to the Odyssey community!