Back in mid-November, I was in a place of uncertainty with not only myself but the world around me and I knew I had to do something to resist the temptation of just allowing life to go by.

At the time, I had no idea that the decision to become a creator on Odyssey would change my life.

As I struggled to answer the simple questions my great interviewer and current President, Rafia Ali, was asking I wondered about how much pressure I was preparing to put on myself to create quality articles weekly.

What do I write about? Are people going to pay attention to what I have to say? Will they drop me for swearing in my articles?

Fortunately, a week following the publishing of my first 3 articles I had realized that all of those questions were invalid.

Here at Odyssey, we value creators that aren't afraid to step up to the tough challenge of making their articles speak a language that is solely comprehendible to themselves first.

From the GIF parties in our GroupMe and the LOL moments we shared when we struggled to find a cover picture, I felt as if I was apart of a family that shared no blood but shared the same passion of expressing our ideologies and emotions with our articles.

I invite anyone who feels as if their voices aren't loud enough to catch the attention of their peers or believes their morals are incorrect to become a creator for your local Odyssey community.

You'd be surprised by how much complete strangers value your opinion, trust me.

A few months ago, I was granted the opportunity to become the Editor-In-Chief of the Chicago community and I don't think I've ever been more excited to run to my laptop and write my ass off than in that moment.

But, the pressure had heightened even more since November.

Are the other creators going to hate me now? Will I be able to make the right corrections to make their articles presentable?

Again, I was wrong.

Since the announcement of my title change, the creators of my community have been even more lovely than they were back when I originally joined and I can't thank you all enough for that.

Unfortunately, this will be my last published article as I am taking the next step in my life.

I would like to take this moment to thank every single person who has taken time out their day to even read the title of my article, your attention may seem minimal but it is critical to my performance as a creator.

As well, I would like to thank my current President, Rafia, for believing & supporting me so heavily over the last few months. I couldn't have taken the reigns from a better person.

Next, the creators.

I don't have enough time to thank you all for always tirelessly creating quality work for our community. All of you, from our newest to oldest creators, will go onto do great things. This is only the beginning.

Lastly, I would like to give a huge middle finger and smile to anyone has ever doubted me and my abilities, I know you're reading this.

Odyssey has helped me grow into a bold, relentless writer but they have even more prepared me for what more is to come from Charles Barnes.

Don't forget the name.