On Monday, September 28th, 2015, I saw a poster in the English Department at my school for Odyssey. By September 30th, I was officially part of the Troy University Odyssey Community. Little did I know back then how much Odyssey would impact my life. Almost three years later, I can safely say that applying to join an Odyssey community was one of the very best decisions I've ever made. Odyssey has changed my life in more ways than one and I am so grateful for everything this platform has done for me.
Sadly, 179 articles later, I am saying goodbye.
Thank you, Odyssey for helping me grow as a writer, editor, and leader. Odyssey not only gave me a voice to share my thoughts, beliefs, values, and ideas, but it turned me into a leader when I didn't think I had what it took to be one.
Over the past three years, I've had the opportunity to try out multiple different leadership positions through Odyssey like Social Media Director, Community Recruiter, Contributing Editor, Editor in Chief, and President. Each one of these roles pushed me in ways I never imagined they could and taught me more than I ever could have learned in a classroom alone.
Through Odyssey, I've made friendships that I know will last a lifetime.
I actually met one of my closest friends through an Odyssey article I wrote when she messaged me about it because she could relate to it. It's the little things like that that make Odyssey so rewarding. As EIC and president, I was able to get to know my teammates and help them share their thoughts and ideas. Few things make me more excited than seeing one of my teammates' articles go viral and knowing that they're getting to share their voice for thousands to read.
Also, thank you to my Troy University Odyssey team for being so fun to work with!
To anyone who's thinking about joining Odyssey— just do it. It's completely shaped my entire career path and it was probably my favorite part of college. I love that I'm able to look back at the Odyssey articles I wrote during each stage of my college career and see how I've grown through the years. I also love that I got to share all of it with my friends and family back home who weren't at school with me. The articles I wrote throughout my college years are something I will cherish for the rest of my life. Additionally, writing an article every week challenged me to form solid opinions and solidify my beliefs. Overall, if you're even remotely interested in Odyssey, give it a shot. I'm sure glad I did.
Additionally, I really need to give a shout-out to all the content strategists at HQ for all their support and guidance in my Odyssey journey. I have to thank Lindsey for giving me my first real leadership position as a Community Recruiter and trusting me to launch two new communities and then later seeing my potential when she made me EIC of my community a few months later. Lindsey, you were instrumental in helping me establish myself as a leader and a writer. Thank you so much.
I also want to thank Tyler, Emi, Dillon, and Berkeley for being amazing Content Strategists for the brief time I got to work with you. Honestly, you're all so wonderful and I'm so lucky I got to work with all of you.
Finally, thank you, Lily. You're the Content Strategist I've spent the most time working with and I'm so so so so thankful for everything. Thank you for your unconditional support, endless guidance, and being an all-around amazing CS/friend/human being. All in all, I'm blessed beyond belief to have been able to work with all of you the past few years.
While this may be my last Odyssey article, I promise that this is not the last thing you'll read from me. Odyssey took my spark for writing and ignited it into a bonfire. Facebook friends, my writing isn't going anywhere. However, thank you to all of you who've supported me in some way or another whether it was reading my articles, helping me brainstorm, or inspiring them yourselves.
Most of all, thank you, Odyssey.
