New and hip blogging network called The Odyssey is dedicated to a population of college students who want to express their day-to-day activities and experiences that have changed them in their late teens and early 20s.

It gives these students, many of whom are DHS alums, a platform for self expression and stories that can relate and inspire others who may be going through the same situations.

Class of 2012 alum and 2016 Iona College graduate Anastasia Giannakakos says, “To me, when writing a blog, it feels like you are writing for yourself, as a way to sort out your jumble of thoughts and ideas into a piece that actually makes sense (to others and to yourself.)”

Many DHS seniors refer to the site for advice on how to start their next chapters in life at college. The blogging site offers advice on momentous events such as high school graduation to explications on which college courses to take. Advice is given on choosing roommates, and even recommendations, or warnings, about the dorms.

Senior and future University of Connecticut freshman Taylor Lemme says, “Most of the Odyssey articles I have read are related to being high school seniors by college freshmen. It really brings everything to reality and makes me realize to treasure every moment.”

Other blogging sites include WordPress, Thought Catalog and Weebly. All allow writers to express their feelings and ideals through a blank space in which others can read.

Many DHS alums have these sites either as a type of journal for themselves or a job platform for future endeavors.

Class of 2013 graduates Leah Riefberg and Rachel Dean have blogging accounts where they document their college experiences.

Riefberg, a public health major at Tulane University, started using WordPress to discuss her travels abroad in Thailand this past fall. She says she discovered the site when she would occasionally see her friend post articles and thought it would be a new and interesting activity to take up.

“I decided I would start when I went abroad because I felt like I had more to say and wanted to document my memories.”

In her blog, leahsthailandtravels.wordpress.com, Riefberg says, “I’ve always considered myself quick to adjust to new situations, and I knew studying abroad would be a test to the truth of this. Despite feeling uncomfortable with some of the new things I was experiencing, I felt I settled into life in southeast Asia pretty quickly.”

Riefberg also comments that her blog was a great way for her to stay connected with her friends and family through the long distance and time difference.

Her mom, Tammy Riefberg, comments: “Reading about Leah’s adventures made us feel closer to her and almost made us feel like we were a part of that fabulous community.”

Leah says, “Sometimes it was hard to find time to do it but I found it to be a really good excuse to sit down and reflect on some of my experiences and attempt to put them into words. Some of the people I met abroad started to read it and it was somewhat of a way for us to keep in touch.”

Dean, editor-in-chief of the Hatters’ Herald during the 2012-13 school year and junior at Monmouth University, also has a WordPress blog to help begin her career as a writer in the future.

Dean admits she was nervous about putting her writing out there for public consumption.

“I’ve always loved to write and I’m pursuing a career in it, but I still struggle to share my creative and personal writing with others,” she says. “Despite that, I made the blog anyway to challenge myself and to get more comfortable with receiving feedback on my work, whether it’s positive or negative.”

Dean writes about personal struggles and successes she has experienced in her college life that can connect with her readers with, for example, her take on love and relationships.

Dean states in her blog, racheldwriting.wordpress.com, “Maybe I have high standards. Maybe I’m not sure what I want. Maybe I’m really afraid of vulnerability. Sometimes I think it’s all three and other times I think it’s none of that nonsense. My Mother likes to comfort me, as Mothers must do, with a placating gentleness: “You just haven’t found the one!”

Dean has also written her studying abroad experience in Florence, saying, “Florence is a wonder. I’m overwhelmed with gratefulness for what has landed me here in this tiny apartment with my friends, in a city that’s full of history and liveliness.”

As time has went on, family members and friends began to recognize Dean’s writing and she is glad of the success, especially on her entries.

Dean says, “I’ve gained more confidence in my writing and I’ve been given a lot of great suggestions by people that are more experienced than me,” she says. “In the future, I hope I can expand readership for my blog beyond simply the people I connect with on social media.”

Gianakakos wrote her entries for a more serious matter. Her articles appeared on a school blogging page and were based around her travels in Poland. After taking a Jewish-Christian relations class this past semester, Gianakakos went to study the Holocaust and concentration camps.

Gianakakos comments on her experience saying, “Blogging has allowed me to grow as a writer, because it caused me to step out outside of my comfort zone, due to the fact that blogging is extremely personal in comparison to informative or factual writing.”

No matter the type or name of the blog, students like these are able to voice their opinions and thoughts on real situations that high schoolers face today. High schoolers read this blog as a sort of passageway for advice from someone who has been on their journey and in their shoes.

Giannakakos says, “If I accomplish nothing else, I hope that when someone reads any of my entries, it makes an impact, that when they close the page it does not disappear from their memory and just become another page on their long internet history.”