Odyssey is a platform for millennials to express their thoughts about almost anything. It is pretty unique to have a space like this to pour out our thoughts and ideas and to have so much confidence instilled in us while still in school to become practically journalists. In my time at Odyssey, I have written 64 articles in the span of 13 months. This is incredible, because no other publication I have written for while still being a student has given me this much freedom and confidence to express my ideas. It has been an incredible experience and opportunity to practice writing every single week for more than a year. Writing is something that requires a ton of practice to be good at and stay good at; it's an art form. If you don't continually practice the piano or drawing or baseball, you won't be good at it. If you leave what you are good at and come back to it a few months later, you will be rusty and out of practice. It will take you some time to get back into it and get back to the level you were at. Well, writing is no different.

"If I waited till I felt like writing, I'd never write at all."~Anne Taylor.

This is so true. As with anything you love, you don't always feel like doing it, but this is the only way that you will get better and practice. One day I hope to write a book, and this won't ever happen if I stop writing and decide I don't feel like it. While I won't be writing for Odyssey anymore, which is truly sad, I will still be writing. Even though I no longer have time for Odyssey at the end of my senior year of college doesn't mean I'll stop. I blog every week and write for another publication, and I hope to keep my writing skills strong.

"The only writer you should compare yourself is to the one you were yesterday." ~David Schlosser.

This really resonates with me. As with anything, you need to keep it up. Rather than comparing yourself to others in your field, you should be comparing yourself to the old you and improving upon your own work.

"You can't think yourself out of a writing block; you have to write yourself out of a thinking block." ~ John Rogers.

At times it can be very hard to think of topics to write about, hence the term writer's block, but every week I came out with something, and every week I decided that it was better than producing nothing.

At times, I have written about controversial topics, saddening news stories, or personal anecdotes that were all difficult to write and share with the world. However, this is oftentimes necessary with writing. Many writers find it easier to express their thoughts and feelings in words rather than out loud because they are more adept at words. While sometimes I have had difficulties writing out my deep thoughts, it is worth it in the end. One of the more well-known writing quotes sums this up:

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." ~ Ernest Hemingway.

Finally, I will end with one of my favorite writing quotes. It truly means something to me, because it really is how I feel about life. If you have not at least attempted to leave your mark in the world in some way, then what is really the point. I am not saying that this mark has to be substantial; you don't need to become a celebrity. well-known in the media, or a wildly successful writer; rather, I think that you need to follow some of your dreams and do what it is you feel like you were made to do, whether it is helping people, volunteering at a cause you care about, making art, playing sports, or writing. In my case, I have always known deep down that my dream and what I need to do is writing. It has always been a dream of mine to become a writer and I know that now I am doing the right thing by doing so. To end, here is the quote:

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." ~Benjamin Franklin.