Earlier last week, I asked my writers what it meant to them to be an Odyssey writer. For some, I got the answer, "Odyssey is my therapy." For others, it was, "It's a really great feeling to know that I am a published writer." For me, I also thought about what it meant to be an Odyssey writer, but I realized that I get to be more because of this opportunity. I get to experience a different perspective on the Odyssey community, a perspective that is shared among EICs, but also an individual experience that no one else will ever have. As any "leadership" position entices, by being an EIC, you will become a better person.
The Bethany College Odyssey community is one of a kind. It is composed of some of my closest friends, peers that I genuinely look up to, previous strangers, and the future of Odyssey. My friend and I began English Club at Bethany, and I kind of assumed this would be similar, but with an additional "weekly assignment" sort of feel that Odyssey provided. That ended up not being the case at all. While most Odyssey writers do cross over into English Club, Odyssey holds a completely different vibe. English Club has been reserved for creative writing, event holding, and community service, mostly. We do periodically use what we wrote at our meetings as Odyssey articles, and sometimes we brainstorm for Odyssey, but it's beautiful to be able to keep them separate. Odyssey is for sharing our individuality. Odyssey is for building a family of special writers and feeling like you are genuinely contributing to the literary world! Being a writer for Odyssey means being the voice of our generation.
As an EIC, I get the chance to read everyone's articles before they get published. I get to peek into my writers' minds in a way that feel like I am reading their diary and watching them progress into the amazing young adults I see them as outside of Odyssey. I get to know what they are thinking about outside of small talk and class conversations. I get to know them as writers and philosophers. I get to know them as political and social creatures. I get to know all of these amazing individuals in a way that I never would have gotten to know them without Odyssey. We get to know one another on a plane that is so rare among other people our age, or anyone of any age, for that matter. Nobody outside of this community will ever know what this group is composed of. Even next year, with the loss and gain of some writers, will not be the same as it is now. We are a living organism, and we are ready to thrive as such. Every writer, within Odyssey and outside of Odyssey, is special, and they get to share that special bit of themselves, as much or as little, every week. And I am the one who gets to guide that! It is the strangest feeling to play the roles of mother, editor, friend, and comrade in this literary venture.
All of my writers love language and are amazed by the power of the word, and we reciprocate that among one another to keep our passions flaming. Needless to say, I am proud to be a part of the Bethany College Odyssey community, and I am thankful for every word shared by every voice through this platform.
