“Just because you write for The Odyssey doesn’t mean you’re a writer, #sororitygirl.”

The number of times this has appeared on my newsfeed as a tweet is mind-boggling. As an Odyssey writer (and as someone who had preconceived notions of what the Odyssey was prior to joining the team), I’d like to take a few minutes of your time to explain what I do as an Odyssey writer and why you should learn a thing or two before posting things where people who are Odyssey writers can see them (i.e., my Twitter timeline).

I’ve been working for the Odyssey for about eight months now as a full-time writer. What does this mean? This means that every week, I submit one article to the Odyssey site. They can be on any topic I want, as long as I follow Odyssey rules regarding GIF placement, listicles (list articles), and general formatting. After submitting, the article goes through at least two editors: the editor in chief at my school (a student) and an outside managing editor who works for the Odyssey office in New York and is in contact with me to relay larger corporate information to the team. A huge part of Odyssey is the virality of the articles; we share our articles on Facebook and incentivize articles that perform well. Basically, it is all done on my free time, unpaid.

On stressful weeks when I have multiple exams and meetings, it can be quite difficult to come up with what I consider a revolutionary idea — and then write an article about it. Many of those weeks, I turn to list articles, which are easier to write and fit accordingly with how I think (one, everything is in lists in my brain, and two, it makes information easier to read). It’s all kind of a guessing game as to how many shares you will get that week. Although getting the most shares isn’t always the goal (I write for fun, and am proud if they get just one share — my own), it provides incentive and is gratifying.

With this being said, I am not a professional writer. I am not an English major. I don’t profess to be putting out miraculous works of literary merit on a weekly basis. I like to write in my free time and find that it is a relaxing break from my schoolwork. I considered joining the newspaper team at my school, but decided I valued the flexibility of topic choices at Odyssey in addition to actually being published each week, and I try really hard to make my articles interesting and relatable each week for that reason. I have a specific Google Doc with my ideas for articles that I constantly update when I have a new thought or theory that I think deserves developing. Sometimes, an article will sit on that document for weeks as I edit, re-edit, reread, and reconsider what I’m trying to say and how it will be perceived by my peers, who will (hopefully) be reading it on Facebook (or Twitter or Pinterest) later.

On another note, Odyssey gets a lot of backlash for being initially created for girls in Greek life. To people who have a problem with this, I ask: A) What is your problem with sororities? B) I go to a school that doesn’t even have sororities, so why do people pin the “sorority girl Odyssey writer” label on me? and C) Why does it matter? I get that if you’re not in a sorority, you may not want to read the “50 Reasons I Love My Sorority Sisters <3” Odyssey article. That’s fine. But there are so many other interesting articles you’re missing by completely writing off Odyssey as being a site just for sorority girls who think they might want to be journalism majors (also, there’s nothing wrong with that).

The moral of the story is, read my articles or don’t. Endorse the Odyssey or don’t. I wish all of my readers (and non-readers) would, because I think it is a revolutionary site that encourages young people to spread ideas in a form that is quick, topical, and technology-oriented. One of the founding ideas of Odyssey is freedom of speech (duh, Constitution), so I won’t berate those who tweet negative things about Odyssey writers, but I will still invite all those who do to read my latest article on Howard Zinn, a historian who promoted social change and activism through the theories of hope and optimism, and tell me if you think his (and my) ideas are "#basic" or if he and I are "#notrealwriters." His writings on optimism might influence you to be nicer, more understanding people. I’ll do me, and you do you, and I’ll continue to watch Odyssey grow as a leading force in news and media for years to come.