Clarke Central High School and ODYSSEY Media Group Class of 2017 alumna Kennae Hunter, Class of 2021 alumnus Owen Donnelly, Class of 2014 alumnus Jahkiem Ellison and Class of 2019 alumna Valeria Garcia-Pozo (left to right) speak at an ODYSSEY press conference on July 26. After graduating, Donnelly applied to the University of Georgia and is currently pursuing a degree in business — a career trajectory he traces back to his time in the ODYSSEY Media Group. “ODYSSEY gave me the courage to look for other things, for other opportunities, to not be afraid to ask questions,” Donnelly said. Photo by Aza Khan
Several CCHS and ODYSSEY Media Group alumni returned to the school on July 26 to speak to new ODYSSEY staffers about how the publication affected their lives.
In a press conference with ODYSSEY Media Group staffers on July 26, four Clarke Central High School and OMG alumni spoke about the various ways the publication impacted their lives and careers.
The panelists — Class of 2017 alumna Kennae Hunter, Class of 2014 alumnus Jahkiem Ellison, Class of 2021 alumnus Owen Donnelly and Class of 2019 alumna Valeria Garcia-Pozo — all went in different directions after occupying leadership positions during their time in the ODYSSEY. However, all four credited the program with having a profound impact on their post-high school career.
“I (used to) look and study the resumes of former ODYSSEY staffers who had gone on to colleges I wanted to go to. I memorized all their classes, I memorized all their grades like a crazy person, and really wanted to follow in their footsteps,” Garcia-Pozo, an English department teacher at Western Reserve Academy, said. “(The ODYSSEY) was really instrumental in helping me figure out what I wanted to do.”
“The way that I was so ahead of students who were older who had been on the college staff before (was staggering). There were people who were like 20 and didn’t know what a lead was. I was so appreciative to have had this experience and to have learned so much.”
— Kennae Hunter,
Class of 2017 Alumna
For Hunter, a journalist currently writing for The City Menus in Carrollton, Georgia, the professionalism and hard skills the program taught put her ahead of other journalists her age.
“The way that I was so ahead of students who were older who had been on the college staff before (was staggering). There were people who were like 20 and didn’t know what a lead was,” Hunter said. “I was so appreciative to have had this experience and to have learned so much.”
Valeria Garcia-Pozo, Clarke Central High School Class of 2019 alumna, ODYSSEY Media Group alumna, and English department teacher at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio, speaks at a press conference at CCHS on July 26. Garcia-Pozo served as the Senior Copy Editor for the ODYSSEY, where she says her love of literature was fostered. “(The ODYSSEY) set me apart as somebody who was passionate about English and that is what I majored in college. That’s what I’m going to do now,” Garcia-Pozo said. “I have been prepared for different workplace situations that have been interesting and challenging in different ways. I think (working at the ODYSSEY) made me a more professional person at an early age.” Photo by Aza Khan
Apart from his professional life, Ellison — who is now a musical artist and producer — says the program taught him about what it means to be a teammate.
“It was a really big confidence builder for me. (Other staffers) helped me take on things even outside of (the program). We all affected, we all impacted each other,” Ellison said. “It’s been a family.”
According to Donnelly, a business student at the University of Georgia, the fact he was speaking to students three years after his graduation was a testament to the ODYSSEY’s long-lasting impact on students, regardless of what they went on to do.
“The fact that we are coming back here after all these years, that just means a lot,” Donnelly said. “Maybe you’ll have some spark of an idea like, ‘This is bigger than I’m seeing it right now.’”
