ODYSSEY Media Group Visuals Coordinator Lucas Donnelly speaks at the Georgia Scholastic Press Association Spring Conference. Donnelly shared how the OMG has impacted him, how he impacted others and the lessons he learned inside the OMG. “I’m thankful that this program dragged me out of my own life, and into the lives of others. When I went into Room 231, the outside world disappeared. I became part of something bigger than myself:jumping into the lives of others, packaging their stories, and sending them out into the world.” Donnelly said. Photos courtesy of Lucas Donnelly
ODYSSEY Media Group Visuals Coordinator Lucas Donnelly reflects on his time in the program.
During my freshman year, on the way home from my first ODYSSEY field trip, I looked out the window and listened to “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones. The hook kept repeating, nearly moving me to tears: “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away.”
I had no idea what The Stones were talking about (and I still don’t) but it didn’t matter. I felt like a character in a movie.
Now, as a senior, I realize that the biggest lesson ODYSSEY taught me was that I’m no movie character. The more I saw and shared the perspectives of my community, the more I realized that we all desire the same thing: to tell our own stories and have them acknowledged. We’re all just a bunch of wild horses, dragging each other into our own stories.
I’m thankful that this program dragged me out of my own life, and into the lives of others. When I went into Room 231, the outside world disappeared. I became part of something bigger than myself:jumping into the lives of others, packaging their stories, and sending them out into the world.
I could ramble all day about how ODYSSEY was stressful or time-consuming. I could whine about the deadlines or the feuds that Mr. David Ragsdale and I got into. But the truth is that ODYSSEY saved me. I’ve been obsessed with every second of it, and I’ve loved it the entire time.
Not even wild horses could have dragged me away.
