Being a student at Houghton College now means having an opportunity to write and to grow as a communicator using a professional platform.
Ava Bergen ’17 defines the Odyssey as an “online aggregate.” “It is a media platform,” she said, “that takes the voices of millennials and allows [them] to discover and write about what [they] choose to. The Odyssey gives us the ability to put our thoughts out there for the world to see.”
Sami Allen, the original managing editor for Houghton College, works in the Odyssey offices in New York and found Houghton College through the Instagram of Amy Abraham ’18. Allen, impressed with Abraham’s social media skills, contacted Abraham to ask if she would be interested in starting a branch at Houghton College. Abraham jumped at the opportunity and chose to become the social media director. The social media director helps writers boost the publicity of their articles, gives ideas to those who are struggling come up with article topics, and promotes the articles on social media outlets such as Facebook and Instagram.
Bergen was hired as editor-in-chief, a role that entails overseeing a team of about fifteen writers in order to help them grow as writers and communicators. The editor-in-chief is the first person that writers may seek for help or advice in regard to their articles. Bergen explains how the Odyssey is a bottom-up business model opposed to the typical top-down model. This means that the Odyssey’s focus is to encourage millennials to take on more responsibility and to have many opportunities open to them. As a student employee of the Odyssey, you have the option to be a writer in addition to working towards editing positions and dealing with social media promotions. Bergen reports to Houghton’s managing editor over Skype, emails and phone calls. The managing editor works in the Odyssey’s offices and is responsible for going over the weekly reports with the editors-in-chief of different campuses. These reports include the number of people that interacted with the various articles written by the students of Houghton College, and how the college staff can potentially increase these numbers.
The Odyssey hires millennials as writers in order to disband the idea that one needs vast experience to produce good work. The online platform believes that it is important for the voices of young adults to be heard. Houghton College has a team of fifteen writers who are responsible for putting out one article a week on the topic of their choice. This team was hired for an apparent love of writing, an evident desire to communicate, and a responsible work ethic with the self-motivation to consistently write. These writers do not necessarily need to be writing or English majors. According to Bergen, the Odyssey offers a unique opportunity for those who enjoy writing but rarely have a consistent outlet to show it.
“We have a student who is a physics major, which is someone whom you typically do not think of as a writer,” Bergen explained. “This company gives people the chance to try something new and discover a talent of writing that otherwise may not have been pursued.”
Kimberly Logee ‘17, the contributing editor of the Houghton Odyssey, helps aspiring writers better their work by editing articles and giving feedback. Logee gains great satisfaction from the editing process and helping individuals improve their writing. She says that Houghton students that write for the Odyssey are receiving a résumé-building experience, an opportunity to grow as a writer, and a chance to win some extra money if their article is the most shared for that particular week. Bergen also emphasized this opportunity that the Odyssey allows students.
“It is interesting—the power the internet gives to people,” Bergen said. “Millennials can reach a huge audience with the power of words due to the connections of social media. The Odyssey creates an intentional community of people producing excellent work that has the power to connect with and motivate the world.”