I began writing for Odyssey in July of 2015. It seems like forever ago, and I guess it has been a long time. It's been nine months. That means I've put out an article once a week (except for one) for nine months. That's a huge commitment. I've always tried my best to make people laugh and remain engaged in what amazing things Odyssey has allowed me to talk about. I've cursed, used funny GIFs, learned what a GIF is, stayed "in the know" about political topics, and expressed my feelings all through the social media platform.

Regardless of how many shares I got, I finally felt like my sense of humor, sarcasm, and knowledge was getting through to people that I didn't know personally. That feeling felt like the coolest thing in the world. With this being said, it's been a good run and I can't wait to see what comes of Odyssey in the future.

The importance of believing in yourself and your writing

I can't tell you how many times I was unsure of what I was publishing that week. There were some articles that I wrote that I didn't want anyone to see. I didn't want anyone to know that I had that thought or that I felt so passionately about a topic. I was also nervous that the people that I wrote about would see my writing and know it was about them. To the people it was about, you know who you are (#YKYWA #MiddleSchool). In the beginning, I didn't think I was a good enough writer. I mean I knew that I liked to free write, but I didn't think I could professionally write for a website. It took me a long time to be confident in my writing, but I can now say that I am.

Never assume someone's response to an article

There were so many times that I thought I would be made fun of for my writing. I was nervous that people would judge me and make assumptions about me just from reading my writing. The part that made me the most uncomfortable was when my friends from home would read my articles. They knew me from high school, and while we still talk every single day, they don't get to see the development of my personality on a day to day basis. I've matured, which means my thoughts have changed (obviously). I always thought that people would hate something or take it the wrong way when it turns out that the exact opposite occurred. Next time you write something, don't assume the feedback. Just receive it.

Be proud of what you wrote and defend it.

Whether it's a deep open letter or a list about Christmas break, being proud of what was submitted is so important. After you've wrote your article and it gets edited, it's put out into the world for anyone and everyone to read. That's kind of a big deal. Different people have different opinions about specific things. Everyone's knowledge on a specific topic varies. Whether it's a TV Show and you got a fact wrong, or it's a political article and someone disagrees, you'll always have negative comments. As a writer for a major platform, you have to defend and love what you wrote. You wrote it for a reason and you should never let anyone undermine your proud work.

Try new things

It took me a while to stop writing lists every week and to start writing things that had to do with political events or current events. I never considered myself to be competent about anything current; like the most I know about current events in the little thing on the side of my Facebook page telling me the latest information. Eventually, I decided it was time to write about something I previously had a lot of knowledge about. From this, came my article about Jeb Bush and his comment on Psychology majors. It didn't get a lot of shares, but I was proud of myself for finally contributing to the plethora of articles about this topic. It was from this moment that I started caring less about what people thought about my articles and more about what I was going to say in them.

Laugh a little

I knew it wasn't going to be serious in most of my articles. That's just not who I am, so when I did take the time to write a heartfelt article it's because I needed to get something out. My most popular article about finals got some sass attached to it from other people. If you think your article is stomach-hurting, crying of laughter funny then laugh at it while writing and make your friends, roommates, significant other (if you have one), and parents read it. If you think your article can get a ton of shares and make people all over the country laugh, then do what Odyssey writers do best... Share, share, and share.