Erica Mange

I am a freshman at The Ohio State University with a passion for writing. Throughout my entire middle school and high school years, I have been accumulating poetry, essays, and short stories. I, oddly, enjoyed when it came time for timed writings in language arts classes. I am known by my friends as the girl who "writes obnoxiously long and heartfelt notes to friends" just because I feel like it - just because I feel as if writing is the only way my heart can truly speak. My goal is to enter into a criminal justice major with a spanish minor, but to write on the side as merely a passion and way to express myself when nothing else quite satisfies. I love reading Odyssey and admire the fact that most of the writers are my age. They have similar experiences and perspectives. They show that this is something I can do - that anyone can do. I feel like greater audiences are reached when the writers themselves come out of the exact same group of people who are reading the articles. It gives the pieces a sense of reality and truth because it's not some distant author - it's someone in the community, close by. That's what I want to do. I want to write and inspire and encourage. I want people to read my articles and think, "she is just like me. I can do that. I can relate." I think Odyssey is a great way to keep chasing my dreams and showing the world what my mouth can't speak, but my fingers can type.