I’ve seen countless hate blogs, rude tweets and negative statuses directed toward Odyssey and its writers. People blogging about Odyssey saying this like:
“This is not journalism, these are not writers, or authors, they are merely cogs in a machine – a machine that I hope breaks, very soon.”
People tweeting negative things such as:
“Like if posting articles to Odyssey Online makes you a writer then I'm an honest to God astronaut”
Seeing posts like these just gets my blood boiling. Here’s the thing, the people jumping to conclusions about Odyssey are in my mind, simply just ill informed. Let me begin by telling you what Odyssey is NOT.
Odyssey is NOT about taking kids off of the street, waving a magic wand, and turning them into professional journalists.
Odyssey is NOT a platform that hires people to train them to broadcast that they are the most elite writers in the publishing industry.
Odyssey is NOT a bragging platform.
Odyssey is NOT a platform solely for “privileged white kids.”
Odyssey is NOT a platform to write for to simply say, “I’m a professional journalist! My articles are the best of the best and I should be able to brag about this!”
Now if I believed these things to be true, I could definitely understand the viewpoint of the people who hate on Odyssey. The matter of fact though, is that Odyssey is not any of those above statements. Allow me to go on to explain what Odyssey IS.
Odyssey IS about giving an untapped millennial’s mind an opportunity to be heard.
Odyssey IS a platform that changes the game. Normal publishers tell people what to write about, but the writers for Odyssey CHOOSE what they think should be written about.
Odyssey IS a rapidly growing site. There’s a reason that this site has 30+ million viewers a month.
Odyssey IS a platform that allows its writers to get personal. We get to share with the world what we’re passionate about, what we struggle with, what makes us laugh, what we want others to know, and what our opinions are on events happening throughout the nations.
Odyssey IS a platform that allows us to begin to develop ourselves professionally.
Odyssey IS a platform that reaches out to recruit content creators from all backgrounds, communities, lifestyles and levels of experience to contribute diverse stories to its platform.
Time to get personal here. I started writing for Odyssey NOT because I wanted to say I am a professional journalist, because I’m clearly not. I’m a 19-year-old college student who failed my first public relations exam.
You know what the main skill is for PR majors? Writing.
I DON’T consider myself a professional writer in the slightest, but I do consider myself a professional influencer. I have a passion for giving back to my community, for reaching out to others through written word, through sharing with people what I believe is relatable, funny, sad, significant, or just flat out dumb.
I DO believe that through writing for Odyssey, I am gaining experience of what it’s like to establish a working portfolio for potential future jobs. I am learning to prove that I can create content that people care about. I am learning to work hard and show responsibility to meet deadlines. I am getting my foot in the door of what it looks like to work for actual professionals in their field.
Did I mention once that I believed I was a professional journalist?
Nope!
I did mention that I believe I’m gaining great experience and I do believe I’m contributing to my community. Odyssey is not something to demean, but rather something to appreciate. It’s a way of bringing together communities nationwide through articles that normally wouldn’t be written about or read otherwise. I’m sure I can speak for the rest of this incredible staff when I say before you make negative judgments about Odyssey and the people who take time to contribute content to it, inform yourself of Odyssey’s actual vision and purpose.
It’s pretty great!
