Towson CAB or, for those of you who don't know, Towson's Campus Activities Board, really pulls through with events that give Towson University students a chance to do things and meet people they wouldn't have a chance elsewhere. I mean, because of CAB, I saw a Hoodie Allen concert for $15, have gotten a lot of free shit, and got a picture with Dave Lingwood from "The Buried Life." My 16-year-old heart thanks them.

In the beginning of December, CAB joined Active Minds at TU, a mental health awareness advocacy group, and brought one of my favorite poets to campus, Neil Hilborn. To tell you I was excited about the opportunity to see him perform live and get a chance to meet him is an understatement.

For those of you who don't know Neil Hilborn, check out his biography on Button Poetry to get some more formal information about him.

Now, I'm going to tell you how I feel about Mr. Hilborn and what a pleasure it was to see him perform, and speak with him.

A few years ago, Neil's poem "OCD" went viral on YouTube. It's been viewed over 10 million times. Holy shit. If you've never seen it, I highly suggest you click play on the video below. You won't regret it, trust me.

Before I got into writing for Odyssey or non-fiction in general, my craft was poetry. I have pages and pages and pages of poems I've written. It was my therapy, my release, and poetry helped me get through my darkest days. But then I stopped.

I stopped for a lot of reasons.

My mental health got to a point where I didn't want to do things I loved any more, like poetry, unless I had to. I took this advanced poetry writing class and constantly compared my work to others. I thought I wasn't good enough.

Neil's poems generally touch upon themes of love, identity, and mental health. I picked up his new book, "Our Numbered Days," and was not disappointed. I laughed, I cried, and I was reminded how much I love the passion, emotion, and beauty of writing poetry.

I got a chance to see Neil Hilborn perform. And then I met him. And he gave me some advice.

Thanks, CAB.

Thanks, TU Active Minds.

And most importantly, thanks, Neil Hilborn.

I was taught it doesn't matter if it's good enough or not.

No matter what, all I can do is "always write the poem."