After 2 years, 85 articles, and 42,500 words (roughly), my Odyssey experience is coming to an end.
I remember reading Odyssey articles the summer before my freshman year of college. At the time, I had no idea how much this organization would impact me, but I loved reading all of their articles about college in the hopes that I wouldn’t blindly start my freshman year. I read articles about what to bring and what not to bring to my dorm, about the different types of people I’d supposedly encounter and about the college life in general. It seemed like a pretty cool platform where college kids could write about anything, but I didn’t think much of it.
About three weeks into the school year, I saw a Facebook post saying that North Georgia was going to start its very own Odyssey community and that they needed writers. I had always loved writing and wanted to try new things, so I went to the information meeting at the campus Starbucks. Odyssey was the first collegiate organization I joined, and, within a week, I had my very first article published. After a month or so, a group of us went to a meeting to have Odyssey recognized as an official organization on campus. As I am now getting ready to leave Odyssey, it’s crazy to think that I was there at the beginning.
As I’m sitting here writing this last article, I’m struggling significantly more than I thought. I’m not struggling with relaying my thoughts (that has never been an issue), but I’m struggling with the thought that this is my last article. Not writing articles on Friday afternoons and not making spreadsheets to keep track of shares will definitely be a strange adjustment, and I’m not sure how long it will take to get used to.
My Odyssey journey has been nothing short of incredible. Everything from meeting amazing people, to sitting on the drill field writing articles, to having conference calls with our editors in New York City has made me a better writer and person. It has given me confidence, taught me how to communicate effectively and efficiently and allowed me to express my thoughts at any given time. I have cried, laughed and questioned myself when writing articles. I have written on topics that I am passionate about, and I have written articles on topics that I know nothing about.
After about a year, I started working as the school’s Social Media Director in addition to writing. This position taught me the importance of sharing articles: what people want to see, how they want to see it and what will make them read it. It taught me how to be a leader and how to guide and communicate with other writers on our team.
This organization has given so much to me, which makes leaving that much harder. Leaving has been one of the hardest decisions I’ve had to make, but it’s something I’ve given a lot of thought to. I wish my fellow writers the best and am looking forwards to reading the amazing content they will produce. I will forever be thankful for the experiences and opportunities given to me by this organization, but it is my time to go. Thank you to everyone who has made this journey possible: I couldn't have done it without you.
