Dear Odyssey,

Two months ago, I applied to be a content creator for you. After being accepted; screaming; crying; being overflowed with joy and calling everyone I know (all at the same time), I thought to myself, "What did you get yourself into?" Was I good enough to write for one of the biggest online social discovery platforms? I was going into this blind and you showed me a new light. In my two months writing for you, you have fostered my passion for writing and shaped me into the creator I am, the creator I strive to be.

I have a voice. After the Appalachian State vs. Tennessee game, it may be debatable, but I do indeed still have a voice. My voice is average. It's loud when I'm belting out Bohemian Rhapsody in the shower and quiet when my roommate is sleeping. Rooting from a 5 foot 2 inch, 100 lb girl, my voice is often pushed aside. My thoughts don't matter. That is, until you came along, Odyssey. When you accepted me as one of your content creators you did more than give me a chance to build a resume. You gave me a chance to make my voice heard. You are the microphone and I am the voice, we work together.

We live in a country binded by the Bill of Rights and luckily for us, the first of the ten amendments that make them is freedom of speech. We practice this everyday, enough to learn that just because you're always speaking doesn't mean you're always heard. When I joined Odyssey, I wasn't just speaking to hear myself speak anymore. I was speaking to be heard, because I have a lot to say. One share, two shares, ten shares, twenty shares, just like that my voice is being heard by hundreds of people across the states. Instagram; Twitter; Facebook; my thoughts are appearing before my eyes and I can't help to smile from ear to ear because you gave me a chance toe express myself.

Joining Odyssey throws you into a team filled with many other great content creators from your area. My team alone is filled with so many different personalities and thought processes that are joined together to share a passion for writing. Odyssey has introduced me to people who have taught me so much about their lives and their experiences just by putting me on a team with them and I am so lucky. We're all at different places in our lives and reading their articles has taught me so many lessons about anything you can think of. From understanding the daily lives of my vegetarian friends to relating with someone else about my anxiety and how to deal with it in college. That's what is so great about you, your creators can write about anything under the sun and it will be something that someone, somewhere needed to hear.

I didn't join you because I wanted to build a resume. I didn't apply to write for you because it seems like an interesting hobby. I didn't want to be a part of your team because my friends were doing it, and doing it well. I wanted to be a part of your team because I read every single article that pops up in-between my "how to make" food videos on social media. I cry because of them. I laugh because of them. I share them with my friends because we can relate to them. There have been times when I've gotten on Facebook to check a notification and end up logging off to have found answers that I didn't even know I was looking for because of you, Odyssey. You have changed my life and I can't thank you enough for letting me be one of your creators, for giving me the chance to change someone else life with my articles. If each article I write touches just one life out there, only gets one share, I'll be happy. If just one person can relate to my writing, can feel my emotion, can use it to benefit them, then I'm doing my job.

I could write all day about how much I love what I do, but i'll just leave this here instead. Odyssey, I love everything about you.

Ally Sackman