2017 was a year full of firsts for me. Including my first ever full fletched mental breakdown and complete recovery, and something that helped me on the road to recovery was finding this wonderful platform to express my thoughts called Odyssey.

It has truly been a journey for me, and it began on a word document that I opened up half lying, half sitting on a pillow on my bed back in July. What began as an expression of my thoughts turned into more and more interactions between my team, and eventually, I ended up becoming the Editor in Chief of the University of Houston’s Odyssey team.

It was a role that I really did not think I was capable of handling, and naturally, I started the job telling myself to, “fake it until I make it,” but I found that as time went by, I didn’t have to fake much.

There are a plethora of perks to this position, but one of the best by far is the exposure to the various point of views of my team members. Becoming the EIC of a team that is so diverse is truly an experience for me because I am constantly surprised by the various vantages that my team members have on certain topics.

To state an example that always moves me is the various religious articles I have the opportunity to edit. As a person who is not overtly religious, seeing the world through the eyes of a person who views worship in a different light is something so spiritually moving for me.

There are so many things to learn in this life, and some of them are harder to learn than others, but reading heartfelt words written with the utmost effort makes the learning not only easier but something that a person can really immerse themselves into.

I always go into a new year hoping that not only have I gained insight, but that I’m a bit wiser than the last year in my views and actions. 2017 is the year that I ended truly feeling that way. Not only has becoming the EIC helped me grow as a writer, but having all these perspectives in my repertoire allows me to grow as a person.

So here’s to hoping 2018 brings with it, even more, knowledge in the nascent junction of mine.