When I entered college, I had no idea I would be where I am today. There are so many pieces to my life that have changed the past few years, and its crazy to think that Odyssey has allowed me to share them with the world. When I entered college, I had no idea what The Odyssey Online even was. I didn't even think about writing our school paper, let alone an online platform. Towards the end of my freshmen year, my best friend started writing for Odyssey, and of course, I am going to check out my friend's articles. I would read them over the summer and I loved the freedom she had with it.
When we came back to school for the fall, I started thinking about how I needed to be involved in my school's campus... but how? I couldn't play sports, didn't have enough time for big clubs, I just didn't know what to do. So I decided to apply to join my college's Odyssey team. My first article was about college majors (I wasn't sure what to write about), but then I wrote about a big part of my life for my second. I covered the topic of epilepsy (which I have covered in many of my articles over the past few years) because I had a seizure a few days earlier. I was scared to talk about such a personal topic, but it gave me a chance to speak up for myself, and the 50 million people in the world who have epilepsy.
I kept writing and writing about everything that popped into my head: my college, my friends, television, motivation, family, music, and so so much more. After being on the team for 2 months, the previous editor in chief of my Odyssey team wanted to make us a club on campus and needed officers, so I decided to apply. I was beyond nervous to do it: " are you sure you can handle this?," "What if you don't get it? You'll be so disappointed," "Do you even know what you're doing?" I had never really been seen as a leader in a club, but I wanted to make an impact, no matter how hard it was, so I applied, met with the EIC, and became the treasurer. We had meetings with the officers, and I was scared since I was the only sophomore with a bunch of upperclassmen, but it all went great and they were so nice! But a few months later, even more changed.
As the Spring semester was starting to end, the EIC told me she wanted to leave, but couldn't until a new person took her position. I sat down, thought about it, and thought, "am I really ready to be a leader on this level?" But I told her I would do it. She found someone new. She left and as of May 1st, 2016 I became Endicott College Odyssey Editor in Chief.
I have loved this team more than I can express in words and have worked hard to help impact each of our members. I know I can get annoying with my texts/messages about submitting, but I have always wanted to have a great relationship with everyone. We have lost and gained people, changed positions and team statuses through Odyssey Headquarters, slowing growing involvement on campus, but most importantly, this role has connected me with so many more students at Endicott, as well as other EICs around the country that I am so grateful to vent and bounce ideas off of. With my time of graduation approaching, it is hard to imagine my time with my team ending. I hope that the next Editor in Chief will love their job as much as I do and will work hard to allow our team to make an impact on our college, the Odyssey world, and the world of each writer.
Being an Odyssey EIC is something that has changed me forever and has given me the confidence to grow as a person and let my voice be heard all over social media. I've had articles I've written shared by my college's social media accounts, posted one of my dean's walls, and shared by Odyssey's main social media accounts so thousands and thousands of people can hear what I have to say. Odyssey has given me a voice that is heard nationwide and the confidence to love people hearing it.
