ODYSSEY Media Group News Staffer Angel Jara recieves a gift from Wyatt Meyer during the Creative Writing celebration in Room 231 on Dec. 14, 2023. Despite this being his first and last year in the program, Jara felt that he finally found something to be passionate about in school. “In truth, I never really cared about school, I got good grades and fit the mold of a “good” student but I found myself being disinterested in almost everything I did in school,” Jara wrote. “ODYSSEY may very well have been the only thing I actually enjoyed throughout all of school.” Photo by Aza Khan.
Blood, sweat and tears
News Staffer Angel Jara speaks on his time in the ODYSSEY and how it’s impacted him.
On March 3, after being prompted to speak about my time in the ODYSSEY, I wept like a small child in front of my peers at the 2024 Southern Interscholastic Press Association conference in Columbia, South Carolina.
I hadn’t cried in public since the time my 5th grade soccer team was knocked out of the playoffs.
It took me a while to realize why I was actually crying. At first I attributed it to the somber tone of the room or the realization that it was going to be my last ever time at SIPA.
It took me a while to realize why I was actually crying. At first I attributed it to the somber tone of the room or the realization that it was going to be my last ever time at SIPA.
However, it was only long after the convention that I realized I was crying because I realized that ODYSSEY helped me achieve the one thing I was looking for throughout all of high school.
Purpose.
In truth, I never really cared about school, I got good grades and fit the mold of a “good” student but I found myself being disinterested in almost everything I did in school.
ODYSSEY may very well have been the only thing I actually enjoyed throughout all of school.
I never had the makings of a varsity athlete or the brains of a mathlete but in my senior year of high school, when I joined the ODYSSEY I felt like I had finally found something that made me feel like someone.
