Clarke Central High School Class of 2022 alumnae Eva Orbock (left) and Ireland McCage (right) participate in a press conference with the ODYSSEY Media Group and iliad Literary-Art Magazine on July 23 in Room 231. Orbock and McCage worked together in the OMG their senior year, where staff bonds were strong. “I don’t know if it was the circumstances, we’d just come out of COVID and there was a smaller group of people in ODYSSEY in general, but the whole Leadership Team was really close,” Orbock said. Photo by Iliana Tejada
CCHS alumni reflect on how their experiences in the ODYSSEY Media Group have translated into their current studies and careers.
For Clarke Central High School alumni and former ODYSSEY Media Group members Robert Walker, Dalace Thomas, Eva Orbock and Ireland McCage, skills they learned in the OMG have translated into their higher education and professional lives.
Though working in transportation planning at the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department differs from his participation in a high school journalism program, Walker, a CCHS Class of 2015 alumnus, still values his takeaways from high school at work.
“I absolutely (use skills I learned in ODYSSEY),” Walker said. “Working in local government specifically requires very strong communication, because the projects you’re doing don’t have a ton of oversight a lot of the time, so it’s important to communicate effectively with people.”
Clarke Central High School Class of 2015 alum Robert Walker attends a press conference with the ODYSSEY Media Group on July 23 in Room 231. After graduating from CCHS, Walker studied history at Kenyon College, and has worked in transportation planning at the Athens-Clarke County Planning Department. “I worked previously with the Athens-Clarke County Government after my junior year of undergrad, and sort of knew I wanted to get into local government work. I felt that (the ACC Planning Department) was a way to fully use my skills to interact with people and to actually make a difference in the work that I was doing,” Walker said. Photo by Iliana Tejada
McCage, a CCHS Class of 2022 alumna and former OMG Digital Editor-in-Chief, is a current senior at Agnes Scott College, where she studies English literature with a minor in artificial intelligence
“English Literature is an easy jump from ODYSSEY. It’s writing to writing. AI also ties into being Digital Editor-in-Chief, so I feel like my process has been kind of streamlined,” McCage said. “I’ve always loved reading (and) I’ve gotten good at writing,and I’ve just continued to do that in college, because that is something I’ve really enjoyed.”
Similarly, Orbock, who is also a CCHS Class of 2022 alumna and former iliad Literary-Art Magazine Design Editor and ODYSSEY Editor-at-Large, has found that skills she developed during her time in ODYSSEY have translated naturally into her studies of microbiology at the University of Washington.
“In my time with the iliad and the ODYSSEY, I was able to develop a lot of interpersonal communication skills,” Orbock said. “That’s probably the biggest tangible skill that I was able to draw from it, and that is very seamlessly transitioned into me being able to make friends, talk to people, interact with other people, in my job, in a lab and in student organizations throughout college.”
“Being in (Room 231) specifically is very strange, but in the best way. I’m super excited for all of you guys and your experience that you’re going to have in ODYSSEY.”
— Dalace Thomas,
CCHS Class of 2019 alumna and former OMG Business Manager and Alumni Coordinator
After graduating from CCHS in 2019, former OMG Business Manager and Alumni Coordinator Thomas initially studied journalism at Valdosta State University, but even when she decided to change directions to pursue a nursing career, she used her time in the OMG to her advantage.
“ODYSSEY was one of those experiences for me where I learned so much about myself, what I was good at, but also what I wasn’t good at, and I made choices from there,” Thomas said. “I was good at journalism, but I’m better at nursing.”
Now working as a pediatric nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Thomas’s appreciation for the skills she gained in ODYSSEY gives her hope for new and current OMG members.
“Being in (Room 231) specifically is very strange, but in the best way. I’m super excited for all of you guys and your experience that you’re going to have in ODYSSEY,” Thomas said.
