I am Khalilah McKee, a Senior, marketing major, mass communications minor and Editor in Chief of Odyssey at Claflin University. Claflin University launched as a community with The Odyssey on June 27, 2016 and as a community our work has been published since July 7, 2016.
Odyssey is a social content platform that gives us millennials a voice to speak on the topics that we want to write about. Odyssey's platform is nationally known and has been recognized by Adweek, Linkedin, New York Business Journal, Business Insider, Forbes, Indiana Business journal for its national platform. Odyssey is, "The most exciting company I've seen since BuzzFeed." according to Linkedin, April 27, 2016.
Since Odyssey at Claflin launch date, we have joined the ranks of the few HBCUs on this platform such as NCA&T, Morehouse, Spelman, and Howard. Within two months of joining Odyssey, Claflin community has had 72 articles published and within the midst of publishing, our Contributing Editor, Krystal George and Content Creator Tranard Harvin have been recognized by Odyssey’s Twitter platform (pictured below).
Odyssey’s Twitter platform has over 14,000 followers! There’s a possibility that of those 14,000 followers somebody saw Krystal and Tranard’s articles. The amount of talent within this community is bountiful. Every person within this community has written a piece on subjects from Fashion to Politics. We are allowed to express and write about what we choose to write about. There aren’t any limits to what we can and can’t write and that’s the beauty of The Odyssey.
That exposure has put Claflin in a different light. Claflin University is known for academia, of course that's what we want any college/university to be known for. The kicker is, is that colleges/universities focus so hard on the books that they forget about the arts. Writing is an art, it's an expression through words, and it can also pay the bills. That's one of the reasons I chose to join this community: to shed light on things other than academia. Odyssey's platform has allowed Claflin University and communities alike to write about the things we love, things that we want to express, and current events from our point of view, how we want to.
The Claflin Community would like to thank you all who are supporting us by sharing our articles on your social media platforms, reading our articles, and even commenting every now and then. You all are the reason for the season.
Things to look forward from our community this Fall: expansion, exposure, and great articles.
Expansion
The aim is to have more talent join our team. If writing is something you enjoy or you have a passion for then this platform is for you. If writing/editorial work is something that you want to improve then this platform is for you. If you want something unique to add to your resume then this platform is for you.
Exposure
The aim is to get more of the students within our community the exposure their talent deserves. We are a team and as a team we support one another by sharing each other's articles. Reading each other's articles and giving feedback via our Groupme. The support we have for one another is great and the goal is to keep that up so that when new members join they will already feel at home.
Great articles
The meaning behind this is simple: we want to give you all something to look forward to reading every Monday on the way to school, work, vacation, any and everywhere you decide to read them. All articles are from the minds of this generation for all generations to read and enjoy.
The sky is the limit for the Claflin community at Odyssey and more bomb articles are coming to your feed every week, no delay.
If you are a Claflin student, interested in our community, apply here. If you have a friend you think would be interested, please have them read this article and apply here. We are always looking for new talent to add to our community.
If you need more information send me an email: khalilah8963@gmail.com
Thank you all for reading, sharing, and caring,
Editor in Chief and the Claflin Community at Odyssey
