I would like to start off by saying thank you to all of my staff, writers, all of the Odyssey readers, and my entire support system. This past year as Editor in Chief of the Odyssey at Kentucky has given me more experience and knowledge than I ever dreamed possible and I owe that, and the success of the paper, to all of you.

When I received a message a year ago that Olympia Media Group wanted to start a chapter of The Odyssey at the University of Kentucky, I immediately applied to be a part of the staff. While on my phone interview our previous managing editor Will mentioned that they hadn't found an Editor in Chief yet. Being young and ambitious I immediately stopped the conversation and told him I'd love to be considered for the position. The next day I received the notification that I had been hired and it was my job to start the paper from the ground up, recruit my writers, my staff, and start spreading the word on campus. Within a year we went from nothing, to a digital paper receiving 10's of thousands of views each month, to a print paper delivered all over Greek row on campus, to having over 20 writers on staff, and a sales team, as well as an editorial staff. I cannot thank Olympia Media Group enough for the help and support that Will and Meredith, our managing editors, have provided over the last year, and for believing in me and in the potential of a Kentucky chapter of The Odyssey.

I have always heard from my elders that when I discover where I am meant to be in life, I'll know. I never believed that to be true until I took a leap of faith this semester and embarked on The Disney College Program. I fell in love with Disney, with the program, and with the opportunity that it all provides me. Because of my work schedule and my determination to finish school as quickly as possible and return to Disney for good, I have made the insanely tough decision to step down as Editor in Chief of The Odyssey at Kentucky.

This paper deserves more attention than I can give at the moment and I want to see it soar even more than it has and reach its true full potential. I enjoy the writing of every single writer, past and present, on our staff and I will miss being the first one to read and edit their articles each week.

Thanks to this experience I learned what it is like to be an editor, a manager, and a leader. I learned how to have patience, how to confront those that need it, how to delegate, and how to maintain a staff. I learned what it takes to succeed and how easy it is to fail. I learned how to believe in myself and in those around me, how to start something with nothing but faith and determination, and how to know when to end it. I learned how talented and passionate my fellow students are, and the topics that students on our campus love. My passion for writing only grew on this journey and it was fascinating to learn how many other students on campus use writing as an outlet for their emotions as well.

I cannot thank each and every one of my writers enough for trusting me to edit their articles, for calling me their editor in chief for the past year, and for being so willing to be flexible with me as we grew and learned.

To Gammon, my previous contributing editor, and the new EIC, I hope you are able to focus as much attention on this paper as it deserves and that you are able to grow it substantially and reach its utmost potential. I hope that every week new and amazing articles are published and the staff continues to grow in numbers. I hope that this fall I see the Odyssey on every sorority and fraternity table every week and it is all anyone is ever reading/talking about. I hope you learn as much as I did and that you enjoy this experience as much as I did.

Lastly, thank you to the readers who helped us grow and allowed me to continue my job. I am both sad and excited to join you and read the new articles each week, and I hope you are all as excited for what is to come as I am.

Thank you for an absolutely amazing year.

Sincerely,

Savannah Wallace

Editor in Chief of The Odyssey at Kentucky