I've never really been that much into writing because I've never been good with words. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love reading what others have written, just not me. If I'm writing someone a birthday card or even text, it takes me forever because I debate on how my words will come across to others or how they will perceive it.

Over the past year, my life has changed drastically. Being the emotional and sensitive person I am, I don't always know how to cope with change and my response to it. It's extremely hard to deal with your feelings when you don't understand why you're feeling a certain way. Music has always been the number one thing I've turned to no matter what, because it's always been able to express what I wasn't able to. While I still turn to music first in every situation, I've found that sometimes it's beneficial to just sit down and write, even when you're not good with words. Thankfully, I've discovered a new way to cope with this crazy ride of a life I've been given: The Odyssey.

I've always read Odyssey articles on Facebook. They never cease to be amusing or relatable or inspiring to me. When I found that AU had an Odyssey team, I was beyond thrilled to apply for it. I checked my email constantly to see if I had been accepted and when I was, I had never been more excited.

Joining the Odyssey community has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever been a part of. It's given me the opportunity to write about things I'm passionate about. It's given me an outlet to express my feelings and be able to process my life as it happens. It's given me the chance to share what I've learned in the hopes of helping someone else who is going through something similar. It's given me, the girl who sits in class and knows the answer but won't answer the question, a platform and a voice. To be honest, I'm terrified every time I submit a piece that's purely just my thoughts. It's scary to put yourself out there. It's intimidating to share a piece of yourself with the world knowing that you could easily be criticized. It's a tough thing to do, but nothing compares to when just one person reads what you've created and says "This is great," or "Thank you for writing this," or "I needed to hear this." It's one of the best feelings in the world to know that you've connected with at least one person and that you've made some sort of an impact on their day.

Not only has it given me the gift of writing, but it's given me somewhat of a new little family of content creators. My Odyssey team is filled with some pretty great people. Even though we all haven't met each other yet, we all keep up with each other on a daily basis and go to each other for advice. When someone accomplishes something, whether it be something small as receiving a good amount of shares and engagements on a piece or something as big as being recognized in headquarters, it's a shared victory. We work as a team, we help each other as a team, and we celebrate as a team. It's just how we operate. We have one of the best EIC's an Odyssey community can have. He never fails to encourage us to try our best on everything we do and is always the first to ask about our day. Although we're still relatively a new and small (but steadily growing!) group, there's already such a great sense of community and it's a good feeling to belong to a group who cares about each other and cares about creating something positive on our campus.

I'm so thankful that I get to be apart of the AU Odyssey and feel so blessed that I've been given this opportunity to create and share. It's honestly changed a part of me and has even made me question my major quite a few times. So, if you're reading this and want to be able to express yourself but don't know how, join the Odyssey. If you want to be given a platform and a voice to speak out on issues important to you, join the Odyssey. If you want to be a part of something special and have a sense of community, join the Odyssey. I guarantee you won't regret it.