So, it has officially been one week since my first published article with Odyssey. You know that saying, "If your dream doesn't scare you, it's not big enough?" For someone as cliché as myself, I never really liked that saying. However, one week living in a writer's world and I’m there. It's funny because writing is something I have been passionate about my whole life. Yet here I am, a week in and I am freaking out. Why? Let me take you back to my phone call with Brittan from Odyssey. The call itself was short and to the point. She asked me what I was passionate about and right off the top of my head I answered singing, Jesus and helping people. Brittan was extremely sweet and encouraging as I went on to tell her my dream of changing the face of the media, all while helping those whose stories we would report on. I know today that the media is tainted, and to be honest, for someone who dreams of being a reporter, I had no idea how corrupt the media really is.

So, as I sat in front of my laptop throughout the week, I had so many topics running through my mind. For instance, the Brock Turner case, that absolutely horrible interview between Donald Trump and Jake Tapper or the countless police brutality cases I keep seeing on a daily basis. As I tried to decide on what to write about, I began to think back on why I said yes to Odyssey in the first place. The only thing that I could think of in response to that was this: I said yes because I wanted to share the truth. What does that look like? I'll be honest with you, I don't really know. I can only speak for myself when I say that the truth looks like several different things. When I took the position as a content creator for Odyssey, I was so excited because, for one, I truly felt this was something God was bringing me to. I believe that when you are truly going after your calling in life, God will present you with opportunities time and time again in order to make that dream a reality.

That is how I see Odyssey, and maybe to some, that really isn’t a big deal, but to me, it is because this is the beginning of my career. When I asked what I could write about I was told I could write about anything. Anything. I can write about politics, environmental issues, music, fashion, food, you name it, I can write about it. You would think that with so many options and so little restrictions, it would be easy for me to come up with something to talk about. Wrong.

Over the past week, I had to sit down and ask myself again, why did I say yes to Odyssey? Because I wanted to shed light, speak truth, help others and be real, raw and relevant. I realize not every article I post will be favored, but that is okay because this is just the beginning. So, before I could even begin to write about other things, issues and events going on in my community and around the world, I had to share the truth about what I hope to accomplish while on this platform. Odyssey is a place where we can share our voices, strong and timid alike, and make a difference, speak to many or even speak to one. In the end, I think the goal is the same. To be heard, to make someone listen. Whether it be an article about the current election, Trump building a wall or a review on Nick Jonas’ new album, we here at Odyssey know that people are listening. And I hope that with my time here, I am able to speak to someone and help bring truth and light to all these topics surrounding and affecting our generation and those to come. This is my dream. To write, be bold while doing it and help those through it. I will never claim to be good at writing, but it is one of my strongest passions in life and I am thankful that Odyssey is constantly looking for voices of any kind to say something, anything.

So here’s to that, to every person on the team and every individual out there that read the countless articles that we on the team get to publish. I hope that as time goes on, the things I write about will be from a place of realness and that I don’t shy away from whatever subject I feel led to write about for that week. That’s the scary part— that this platform gives us the opportunity to discuss things that the mass media aren’t, but that is exactly what I asked for, and that is exactly what I intend to do.