If you’re a Biola Student who enjoys sharing ideas and getting your personal voice heard by the world (don’t lie, if you’re in Torrey that’s you), then writing for the Odyssey is for you. It’s one of the commitments I’m most grateful for in my college career.
As an aspiring comic book artist, I’m rather proud of my Facebook art page and especially proud of my Instagram art profile (shameless plug: follow me on Instagram @kipper.doodles). It’s exciting to see my art gain traction and be able to share that part of who I am. And yet, I’m astonished time and time again by the praise received by my articles in comparison to my art.
When I first started for writing for Odyssey, I had no idea what I was doing. I did a few lame movie reviews, shared a few abstract thoughts that had been bouncing around in my head, and generally had a good time looking at a published website displaying what I wrote and keeping careful track of the single digit shares I received. As I became more and more invested into it, a simple pattern began to emerge.
Simply put, the more of myself I put into my article, the more shares it got. Honest, heartfelt stories and confessions easily got the most shares out of my articles. While more shares doesn’t necessarily equate improved writing, they’re pretty closely tied. Writing for the Odyssey has taught me about what people want to read. In a world filled with attention grabbing emptiness, hearing a voice speaking from intimate, personal experience is refreshing and engaging. The more of myself I pour into my articles, the more people are impacted. That’s right, impacted. From delighted readers telling me how much they appreciated my thoughts on a handicapped life, hearing accounts of people tearing up while reading my articles, to acquaintances (now friends) telling me how much they learned about me from reading my articles, it’s been my delight to see that my words can change people.
For any college student who is mildly interested, I highly recommend you apply for the internship. I’ve grown as a writer and a person. I’ve seen the impact a good article can have, as well as seen how far God can take an article to be used for his purposes. If you're interested, message me, leave a comment, or use this link to apply.
