It has always been true that there was a certain time of the month that every girl hated, but recently, things have come a little more often and to a larger group of people. It has come to my attention that there is now a time of the week that many people dread: the posting day of Odyssey articles. While one party is celebrating about another successful week, an opposing party is dreading the next time they will open their Facebook feeds knowing that all their friends want their work to be shared and read. I have read many “I hate the Odyssey” articles and “An open letter to stop the Odyssey” but who is that helping? You may have to hold your finger on the button to scroll the page down for a little longer but what is the big deal about that?
Until I was asked to join the team, I had no idea what an “Odyssey Article” was. I have since learned that it is an amazing way to get your work seen and go through the process of sharing an article in a newspaper. I am a 19-year-old freshman in college and I have no idea what I want to do with my life besides knowing that I want to write. Through Odyssey I am learning to edit, to publish, to meet deadlines, to work with a team of people and I could continue that list on forever but if you do not want to support me then I don’t want your support. If you don’t want to read my articles, then that is fine by me! I want them to be saved for the special people who care. My ‘fans’ are my friends and family that have constantly told me that they can not wait for my next article to be published. Some people I thought I was not close with still read my articles and I don’t think that I could ever thank them enough for all of it.
With this being said, I do not take offense to it when you pass the article by and say that you will read it later. I also don’t take offense when you pass it by not wanting to read it at all. Where I take offense is when you start lumping all of the articles together saying you want them stopped. There is more behind those articles then what you see.
If you want them stopped then a lot of things need to come to a halt. My experience is being postponed. My practice is being thrown out the window. My ability to do something I love and cared about is being pushed aside all because you are tired of seeing them shared on social media. While I want to see the people around me happy and positive, I want to see myself that way too. If that means right now you have to ignore one more thing on your Facebook page then I am sorry, but the Odyssey articles must stay.
