Imagine a summer without doing what you love. Four months without doing what you're most passionate about. Could you do it?

Myself, a creator for Odyssey, had a hectic summer schedule much like other college students. I was working two jobs to save money for school on top of taking two summer classes. I had no free time at all and was constantly stressed. I had to make the tough decision to stop writing for the summer for Odyssey and it was genuinely one of the hardest decisions I've made in a while. A summer without writing was not easy for me.

As a creator, I love writing things that people can relate to or things that are controversial, maybe even personal experiences like this. I'm constantly wondering what I can share next because writing is a joy of mine, as well as the other creators for Odyssey. Some people think Odyssey creators write articles just to get views and for the "popularity" and possibly going viral, but it's quite the opposite. We write because it's our passion. it's something we love doing. Do you think finding something to write an article about, writing the said article, editing said article, all of the deadlines on top of college work and other groups we are involved in and our jobs that we would do it just to be popular and possibly go viral? No.

You would think I would feel relieved to have a summer off because of the stress of it all, but it was the opposite. I missed it. Every week on the day of our deadlines, I would feel lonely and like I had been missing something. I was envious of my co-creators who had time to produce articles weekly, but I enviously still supported them because we're a team no matter what. Deciding to take the summer off was hard, but I'm back (and better than ever) now.

Reflecting on what happened over the summer, I realize Odyssey is a top priority and something I never want to take a break from again. It's my passion and something that keeps my creative side happy. Odyssey has provided so many friendships and opportunities for me, and I'm glad to be a part of the Odyssey "fam" once again.