I hope I’m not the only one who inwardly cringes a little when they get a memory notification on Facebook. Occasionally, I’ll be reminded of sweet memories with friends and family, but I’ll be honest when I say that the majority of my “memories” are embarrassing things I thought the internet needed to know when I was in middle school. However, it was through a Facebook memory this week that I realized I would be celebrating one full year writing for Odyssey.

I’m not an English major, but writing for Odyssey has sharpened my skills and enhanced my overall education. I’ve always been a decent writer, but I never had the discipline to become a great writer until I started writing for Odyssey. Every week I have the opportunity to practice my communication with others through clear, fluid, and creative language. Having the ability to influence isn’t a skill that can be taught in a classroom, but it is a skill that can be sharpened and maintained through practice.

Writing has become much more to me than just a necessary practice for submitting an assignment. Every week I have the chance to share my voice and further shape my understanding of topics that merely interested me before. Being a political science major, Odyssey has forced me to actively research political topics that interest me, and it has encouraged me to refine my political opinions through careful thought when I write them on paper.

As a bonus, Odyssey has also encouraged me to widen my areas of interest and to delve into topics I hadn’t previously thought much about. I’ve written articles on religion, technology, travel and entertainment, and in writing every article I’ve developed opinions and views on things I hadn’t previously been exposed to. Writing has transformed me into a superbly well-rounded individual, and it has provided me a passion for things I’d never thought about before.

If these aren’t reasons enough to make writing a weekly practice, writing for Odyssey has also made me a better applicant for jobs and internships. I recently dug through my files to find a writing sample to add to a job application I was submitting to a government agency. I pulled up some essays I had written for my freshmen political philosophy class. I was looking for something that showcased my ability to portray my knowledge on the subject through clear and smooth writing. Unfortunately, what I noticed was that all of the valuable information I included in my essays was undermined by the way I sloppily phrased my sentences. What I’ve come to find is that almost every job requires you to be a skilled writer in some capacity, and a clear and well-developed writing sample has the power to set any experienced applicant apart from the rest.

While any one of these reasons alone should convince non-English majors to start writing for Odyssey, the most revealing aspect of Odyssey for me has been in the pieces of self-reflection I have written. I’m the kind of person who pushes their feelings down in an attempt to avoid becoming over-invested or emotional, but by writing for Odyssey, I’ve learned the value of confronting issues and being able to talk about them in a constructive way. I used to be the person who made fun of personal articles because I thought they were shallow, but what I’ve learned is that the problems we face personally are the best opportunities to truly connect to people. I never know the range of my audience, or whether or not I’ve had the opportunity to touch the life of someone with similar struggles as mine, but what I do know is that every week I have the chance to share my voice, my knowledge, and my encouragement with others. I can’t possibly think of a better use for my time, or a more important lesson that should be learned.

Dear non-English majors, don’t discount the value of writing because you don’t think it’s a skill you’ll need in the future. Don’t believe that your ideas aren’t worth sharing, or that you have to be a “good writer” to begin the process of becoming a great writer. Being able to skillfully express yourself through writing will be a valuable asset in any career you choose to follow, so in every aspect taking the time to write will inevitably be a wise investment. Perhaps now more than ever, it’s extremely important that our generation will be able to leave college with the ability to relate to people in their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, and we should have the ability to form opinions people can respect even if they differ from their own. Writing and communication binds our culture together through our humanity, and it’s an unfortunate mistake to believe that only English majors should take the time to develop this important skill.