Last week, I, like many other Odyssey EIC’s and Creators, took to Twitter to tell what we loved about Odyssey for the chance to win some swag. As I sat staring at an empty tweet, I realized that what I loved about Odyssey couldn’t be boiled down to 140 characters. Also, for the umpteenth time, I had someone scoff when I said that I wrote for Odyssey. And again, in that moment, I didn’t have the words to articulate what being an EIC and Creator for Odyssey meant to me.

I love Odyssey because it keeps me accountable with my writing. I’m sure I’m not the only English major that gets tired of writing essays in proper MLA format. Odyssey lets me write about whatever I want—from my favorite TV show to current events—and publishes it. There isn’t a platform besides Odyssey that makes it so easy to publish your work.

I love Odyssey because I get to network with people from all different walks of life and all over the country. It’s actually really cool to have a giant group chat of EIC’s (shout out to the greatest AME ever, Alexis Garcia) from different universities across the country. It’s really like being part of two Odyssey communities. Even though my Contributing Editors are fab and have really stepped up to the plate this summer, it’s great to have the support of all of the other EIC’s to lean on, brainstorm with, or just talk about life.

I love Odyssey because it’s always changing—which is weird, because I usually hate change. But with Odyssey, it’s different. We’re always trying new things to expand upon the network of Creators and communities and facilitate an environment that makes Creators feel comfortable sharing even the most personal of stories. It feels like there’s something new and big and exciting every week and it makes me want to stay with Odyssey as long as possible.

I love Odyssey because it doesn’t feel like work to me. All summer, I’ve been working full-time at a different digital publishing company and I’ve had little to no time to devote to Odyssey. That’s why I’m so thankful for my incredible CE’s (and the rest of my team) for being patient and just oh-so-wonderful this summer. I’ve got an entire doc of ideas for recruiting and onboarding for the upcoming semester, and I can’t wait to start working towards those. I just really need more hours in the day to do everything I want to do.

I love Odyssey because my AME understands that I’m human. In the middle of the summer, I “quit” Odyssey for a weekend. I was overwhelmed between my internship and Odyssey and said I didn’t think I could do it anymore, and she gave me time to cool off so that I could come back full-steam ahead the next week.

I’ve learned that you get out of Odyssey what you put into it. If you put time and effort into it you’ll get more out of it than if you just submit an article a week and ignore everything else. Sure, you can do that and you’ll still be published, but it won’t have the same effects. Odyssey lets me wear multiple hats at once and I love having a variety of things to do to better my community.

For anyone that has questioned Odyssey or scoffed at the validity of it, I encourage you to request to join. Give it a few weeks, and if you still don’t think it’s for you, then that’s okay. It’s not for everybody, but you’ll never know until you try. It just might change your life.