When I tell people that I write for Odyssey, I tend to get some mixed reactions, but mostly people are surprised. Not necessarily because I write for Odyssey but because they don't understand why I do it. I don't get paid and I don't get any college credit for this, so what's the point? No one expects me to be a writer. I'm a Healthcare Management major...what do I care about writing? So it is easy to see why I tend to get asked the question "why do you write?" The answer is actually quite simple. Because I enjoy it....really, that's it.

Writing is one thing that I had always excelled at in school and one thing that I honestly love doing. I always said that English was my favorite subject but it took me a while to realize that what I liked about English classes were the papers I had to write...the papers that everyone else in my classes complained about and put off until the last minute. Then I discovered creative writing which made me love it even more. Most kids wrote papers because they were forced to for their grades and that was it. Yes, I obviously wrote papers for grades, but I also started writing outside of school because I wanted to.

Writing is now one of the only things that I voluntarily take the time out of my busy week to do even when I have a million other things to get done. It relaxes me and is a way that I choose to express myself. It is my break from the rest of the world. It is a way for me to collect my thoughts and get them out on paper when half of the time I'm not even sure what I am thinking. Sometimes, I just start writing about whatever is on my mind and by the time I am finished I know exactly what my point is. I know what is bothering me and why. You'd be surprised how honest you can be with yourself when you are writing about it instead of actually talking about it.

Words can be powerful. They can be persuasive and make you question anything and everything that you believe in. They make you think and they make you feel something even if you don't realize it. Words can make you happy, sad, angry, annoyed, excited...the list goes on and on. I write, not only in an attempt to put meaning to my thoughts and whatever is bothering me at that moment but also because I hope someone else gets something out of my thoughts and opinions when they read it.

So there is the answer to everyone's question. I write because I love doing it. I am proud of it and I am proud of these articles I write every week. I love writing about things that I care about, things that are important to me and putting it out there so that anyone who finds them interesting can read my thoughts and ideas. They might agree and they might disagree, but I don't even care about that. The fact that I gave them something to think about even just for five minutes out of their day is what's important to me. That's what makes it worth it.