Alright, let’s get right to it. This being the first article I’ve written for Odyssey, I thought it would only be fitting for me to explain what led me to apply in the first place. No, this is not going to be a list, though if you’re an avid reader of Odyssey you’re certainly used to those, but rather a quick insight into my own personal reasons and some foreshadowing of what’s to come.

First things first, a little bit about me. I’m a 19-year-old Film Studies/Production major and Philosophy minor. Growing up I found myself watching film that I could get my hands on. Everyone has one thing that they Get (with a capital G). That thing for me was films. You can ask any of my family members or friends, it’s as if for the last eight years or so, I’ve been a walking movie trivia machine.

Sometime in high school, when it was too late for it to matter, I decided to step my game up and work toward improving myself intellectually. Not that I was the dumbest kid around but I felt that I had potential to be more academically proficient than I was living up to. Admittedly, I’m still working on this task, and plan to be for as long as I live. I came to the conclusion that all people should aspire to learn on a daily basis. Now, I’m not talking about going to school every day and taking notes in chemistry class (though you should). What I’m talking about is finding your passion and deviating from it. Branch out, find a subject you had no interest in and build an interest, find something you didn’t even know existed and learn about it. I started reading up on topics I had no business reading up on. I started watching video essays about this and that and people and ideas I'd never heard of before.

Not too long after this conscious change in lifestyle, I became hooked and found myself every day looking for the next topic that I could become even just remotely aware of that I hadn’t been before. This is not a revolutionary idea, people have been doing this very thing for centuries, but the notion of the never ending intellectual growth struck such a chord with me and everything seemed possible. I no longer had fears for the future. I began adopting and developing philosophies on life, and most importantly it enabled me to progress stronger in my desired field, film making.

Now, to the actual point of this article. Up until very recently I’ve been a creative person, writing every day, working on projects, brainstorming future project, etc. Lately I’ve been feeling a lull in my creative process, as though college has stunted my ability to do anything creative. With no time to branch out, I spend seven days a week focusing on the same five or six topics (one of them being French and don’t get me started on foreign language in college). At a time when I need to be at my creative prime, I haven’t been able flex my intellectual muscles necessary to “stay in shape.” I focus primarily on trying to pass one or two classes, rather than expanding myself beyond my academic studies.

You may be asking, “What does Odyssey have to do with this?” It’s true I was never the type of person to consider writing for a college blog but something that this website will be able to provide me with is a degree of discipline. With the commitment of writing one article a week, it’ll force me to kick back into that creative wiring in my brain. Coming up with topics, doing research, and spilling out 500-800 words on the subject will hopefully be the perfect practice for me to regain some fluidity in my creative process. At the moment I have no discipline so I go months without writing anything original or for myself. Looking forward, by the end of my time here at Odyssey I'd like to know that I can continue the productivity and discipline and not let those muscles get weak. It will be an experiment, but one that I’m very excited to begin and one that I recommend to anyone who is in a rut, creatively.