As a writer for the Odyssey, I hear plenty of polarizing opinions when it comes to the thousands of articles that are written each week by college students for this website.

While I normally have endless support from my family and friends, and people tell me that they enjoy my articles, I also have friends who have told me that they despise Odyssey.

Trust me, I understand. Odyssey is not nearly the same caliber of writing as "The Washington Post" or "The New York Times." The writers who are hired for this website are not professionals. They do not have to hold degrees in English or journalism. They did not have to endure a strict vetting process. They did not have to provide writing samples. They did not even have to show proof of previous writing experience.

My interview before being hired to work for Odyssey involved questions about my interests and passions, my involvement on my college campus, the reasons why I wanted to write for Odyssey, and any ideas I held for potential articles.

My interviewer was extremely friendly, and I think she could tell that I was passionate about taking this opportunity to have writing experience. I was lucky enough to be hired, and I started writing for Odyssey during my first semester of my freshman year.

As someone who works for this website, I find that I am the source that many people go to for their frustrations with it. I am told frequently by people that they do not find it a reputable source, and they get tired of seeing articles shared everywhere.

Their vexations are reasonable. It seems as if you can’t visit a single Facebook page without someone promoting themselves. Odyssey articles come flying in like hotcakes every Monday, which is when my school posts all of their articles, and when I assume many other schools post theirs as well.

Yet, I often read articles from other people if they are friends of mine, or if I think that they look interesting. As a contributor to Odyssey, I appreciate the fact that we do our work for free so that we can get writing experience and share our material with the world. The only way that we can actually get paid is if our articles get a considerable number of views, and I’m talking in the thousands.

Therefore, I try to like, share, and read as many articles as I can, because I want to support the fellow writers who are struggling to get views and shares from people, just as I am.

But, I am aware that these articles are not all great. Hell, you could probably say that the majority of them aren’t. They are plenty of people who put in very little creative effort, spit out articles with little to no time dedicated to them, and who are just doing this as something to put on their resume/or as a way to hear themselves talk.

But, there are also those of us who are serious, and who enjoy our work with Odyssey.

For me personally, I am a writer for Odyssey for a multitude of reasons. It began as a way to get initial writing experience, and a way to hone my writing skills. As a freshman, I am still debating about my future as a student. I am unsure what path I wish to follow, but English, in particular, has always been a passion of mine. So, I figured that I would take this opportunity to put my writing out there, and if I became bored with it, then I knew it wasn’t the correct choice for me.

Lately, I have been trying my best to be creative with my articles. I do not want every article posted on Odyssey to seem like a “low-brow knock-off of BuzzFeed.” I do not want every Facebook friend to feel annoyed every time I share one of my articles because I want them to actually enjoy them. And while I am not yet a terrific writer, Odyssey has been the perfect outlet for me to improve.

Hence, I hope in the future that more and more contributors of Odyssey will try to improve the quality of their writing. I hope that all of us will try to challenge the typical articles that we see on this website, and we will explore new styles of writing along the way.

And I hope that if you have kept up with my work thus far, then you will continue to do so. I will do my best to provide funny, interesting, thoughtful, and creative material, on the off-chance that, one day, an editor from some prestigious website will take notice of my work and possibly even hire me.