This January marks one year since I started writing for Odyssey!

Looking back to when I first started, it’s nearly impossible to believe how much has changed since then, in both my own life and in the world. One year ago, what preoccupied most of our spare time was gushing over how much we loved Star Wars Episode VII. One year ago, Donald Trump was just a highly doubted candidate for nomination, seemingly bent on self-destruction in his campaign. One year ago, even though David Bowie and Alan Rickman had already died, and even though we all felt crushed over losing them, over two dozen of our most beloved and respected celebrities and public figures were still alive. One year ago, we didn’t have a single inkling of what kind of a year 2016 would turn out to be.

As for me, I had no idea what writing for Odyssey would do for my personal growth as a writer and a societally-conscious adult. Hell, when I first started with Odyssey, I doubted that I’d make it past the first month. I was almost completely convinced that there was no way I could come up with a different topic that I could turn into an article once a week. For a while, I thought that the only way I could come up with a new article once a week was if I turned my position at Odyssey into an excuse to write a menswear advice blog. Yeah. I tried to keep my writing career with Odyssey going by writing articles based on tips for affordable yet stylish menswear. Even if the niche audience required for that kind of writing to be successful wasn’t so small, the writing quality in my early articles wasn’t that good to begin with. As a result, most of my early work fell pretty flat. It wasn’t until my Valentine’s Day post that I finally found my stride and my general writing style for Odyssey. I'd finally written a widely successful post. Granted, I did it by piggybacking onto the hype surrounding Valentine's Day, which is simultaneously a highly popular and highly criticized holiday, but still--I'd actually written something that a significant number of people had liked.

I may not have known it then, but that was the post that really cemented my involvement with Odyssey. Sure, there were weekends when I wrote complete throwaway articles. There were times when I doubted if I'd be able to continue writing for Odyssey because I felt so devoid of new ideas. But after another week or so, I'd find something truly worthwhile to write about, and I'd be back on track, motivated and inspired once again. And so here I am, a year later. Looking back, I realize how much I've grown as a writer as a result of working for Odyssey. I now recognize the value in being able to find an angle on almost anything and write creatively about it. I realize the importance of maintaining a professional public image. I have honed and refined my personal voice in my writing. I may have had my moments of sever doubt, but in the end, they were only moments. They ended. And I emerged from them as a stronger adult and a more capable adult.