As a young little freshman leaving home for the first time, I was scared of the thought that I was going to be all alone on such a big campus. Grand Canyon University is a big campus with many students. They try hard to get students to feel included and involved. There are so many clubs on campus to join. One day I was talking to a friend about how I loved to write and that I wondered if there was anything on campus that offered some form of creative writing. He went on to explain how he heard about Odyssey and what it meant to be a writer within that community. He was wanting to join that group and thought maybe I would be interested in it as well. As we sat on a bench asking our millions of questions to try to understand what Odyssey was, I began to wonder if it would be too much to handle along with all of my classes and busy schedule. But it couldn't hurt to try, right? Next thing I know I was doing a phone interview with our amazing president. Before I know it, I decided I wanted to join this community and to then start putting out content for others to read.

Besides joining this awesome community, my friend that wanted to join the community got in as well! It was a fun and new experience that we both got to figure out together. We got to know the others involved in the community through monthly meetings and groupchats. I may not know these people as well as I know some, but at least I know that we are all joined for the love of the same thing, writing. Being in a community with other writers motivates me to be the best writer I can be. College is a place to meet new people and gain experience. You can learn from people and writing for Odyssey has taught me that. Simply having to write content each week is helpful because not only does it give me something to do, but it allows my creativity to run wild. It allowed my introverted self to be able to put my thoughts out into the world. I love the idea that what I am writing can make some small difference in this big world. Even if my articles don't go viral and are only seen by 30+ people, there could still be a few people that I affect with my writing.

There are a few cons that come with writing for Odyssey, but everything has its pros and cons. Sometimes it can be stressful to write an article on top of getting all of my homework done. There are also some defeating aspects as well. It can seem like there is no point in writing sometimes because not a lot of people seem to be reading what I write. For a writer, that is an awful feeling. Despite this, I continue to push on and continue to write.

As most writers often experience, there are times when I have no inspiration and no ideas. This is frustrating because all I want to do is write and I don't want to let down my president. Yes, they do send out ideas each week, which I do decide to write about occasionally, but even then there are still times when nothing can get the creative juices flowing. There can also be technical issues, but my editor and president are efficient and helpful. They try their best to help, and they care about the community.

Overall, writing for Odyssey has been an amazing experience. It is a comfortable and fun place to be. Even with the stressfulness and hard times it can bring, I love it anyway. I am glad I decided to get out of my comfort zone and become a part of something. I love writing, and this is an amazing place to do it.