ODYSSEY Alumni Profile 1

Q&A: ODYSSEY Alumna Tierra Hayes

By Dalace Thomas

ODYSSEY ALUMNA TIERRA HAYES TALKS ABOUT HER LIFE AFTER ODYSSEY AND HOW IT HAS SHAPED HER.

ODYSSEY Newsmagazine Alumni Relations Coordinator Dalace Thomas: How many years were you on the ODYSSEY staff?

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Tierra Hayes: I was on ODYSSEY for three years from 20132016.

Photo courtesy of ODYSSEY archives

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Photo courtesy of Tierra Hayes

DT: What was your experience like during your first year on staff?

TH: My first year on staff, I started off the semester as a sports writer. My first story ended up being a cover story, which I didn’t entirely write myself because it got rewritten and that scared me really bad as a writer. You get the book and it’s not what you wrote and that’s a scary thing, especially as a firstyear student knowing that your writing isn’t good enough to be published. I got moved to news staff my second semester, which I wasn't at first happy about. I didn’t necessarily like it in the moment initially, but I grew to like it and looking back at it now, it’s probably what taught me how to write.

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Photo courtesy of Tierra Hayes

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Photo courtesy of ODYSSEY archives

DT: What was your process for writing your first story?

TH: I remember going back and reading my first story and it was horrible. My first couple of drafts, it was only 800 words though they had told me 1,000. It was just bad all over, but going back and thinking about it. I was doing all the right things to write a story, but I wasn’t coming out with the right product.

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Photo courtesy of Jordan Rhym

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Photo courtesy of Tierra Hayes

DT: Looking back at your whole ODYSSEY experience from the moment you joined, all the way until the moment you left, how has all of that impacted your life now?

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TH: I think I am a lot more open to starting conversations and talking to people. I have no problem interacting with people.

ODYSSEY in general, for one thing going into college with a pretty good resume and three years of work experience basically, especially in the journalism communication field was really important.

Photo courtesy of Tierra Hayes

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Photo courtesy of ODYSSEY archives

DT: If you could give any advice to an ODYSSEY staff member, what would it be?

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TH: Decide what you want to focus on. You can’t give 100 percent to everything. Once you decide that for yourself, then you can begin to decide who you are as a person.

Photo courtesy of ODYSSEY archives

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Photo courtesy of Tierra Hayes