Every writer has writer’s block at some point in their life. It can be quite the annoyance especially when you have deadlines to hit. That’s how I felt when I started writing this. I was pondering over ideas for days over what exactly I should write for this week. I wanted to be more in depth and help you understand a part of me I have yet to reveal. Then, it hit me. Why not write an article about why I write for Odyssey? (Credits go to an article from the Odyssey for this idea, you’re my savior right now.)

You see, practically all my life I have told everyone that I don’t like writing or reading at all, that it is my arch enemy. But, in recent events, I took some time off from school and although I practice a lot in my spare time, I wanted something more to do. I wanted a way to express my feelings and love of many things through something else I have never done. Being that I am currently not performing solo or in any ensembles, I wanted a way to express myself to you guys and be able to write down the changes throughout time for myself. I wanted to see how I grew throughout my hiatus and see where exactly it leads me.

I, Katie Schmidt, was attending Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas from spring 2017 (January)-November 2017. I took this hiatus because I wasn’t myself. My freshman year of college, something happened that drastically changed my outlook for many months to come and I completely gave up. I could tell the change in myself almost immediately, yet I kept digging a deeper hole that was only going to get worse with time. So, that is why I took the hiatus.

I wasn’t paying attention in classes, I hardly went to some of them and it’s a shame that I was wasting my professors time and all this money to not learn anything. I was tired of feeling sorry for myself and blaming it on these things when the only thing to blame was myself. We’ll just leave it at that. I won’t go into any more detail, but if you wish to hear more, feel free to find me on social media and ask.

I started writing for Odyssey around February. I had applied as soon as I dropped out of school, but I never got the acceptance until four months later. I wrote for Odyssey before, but I wasn’t great at it, mainly because of reasons listed above. Ever since I started writing again, I’ve noticed myself becoming more expressive and branching out of my normal routine to find topics that not only interest me, but I believe would interest and benefit you guys.

I’ve grown to love writing and reading.

There are so many things that I want to write about and read about now that I’ve become overwhelmed with just how much writing has changed my being.

While I am not currently attending school, I write for the University of Arkansas and have become part of a wonderful team who works hard every week to produce articles for everyone to read. Our Content Strategist, Lily, has been so kind, sweet and patient with us ever since she started looking over us. She makes sure our deadlines are hit and help us out in any way possible. I truly appreciate being a part of this Odyssey team, as it feels like we are just a close-knit family and I have never met any of them in person.

I know this article was a little all over the place, but honestly that’s how I am in real life. So, I feel it fits my personality in a way. (I’m not kidding you guys, sometimes I think I’m insane.) I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it because I’ve found this out-of-the ordinary article to be my favorite so far solely because it reveals a part of who I am.