A heartfelt journal entry in a college writing journal written by a Pittsburgh teenager about her first trip back to Greece in almost two decades has gone viral amongst millennials. Anastasia Georgiades’ gritty, honest and open-hearted writing style resonates with teens who aren’t afraid to drop a cuss word here and there in their thoughts and who write from their hearts.
Written for The Odyssey Online, “I Found Myself by Getting Lost” is Anastasia’s story about her first trip back to Greece in nineteen years. The post has been shared hundreds of times on the platform that was founded to encourage millennial writers and also reward them financially for engagement of their respective stories.
Anastasia is using any money she collects from her writing on The Odyssey Online for college tuition. She’s currently a student at Allegheny College in Meadeville, PA.
During her trip, Anastasia visited numerous Greek islands and villages, encountering people who had been worn from years of recession and financial distress. She toured, ate, danced and drank with locals while visiting ancient sites and reconnecting with distant family members.
“I remember a particular moment on a warm night where we ate ice cream and Greek danced while Vassilis sang and played. It was right there, Greek dancing in Greece, without a care in the world, that I found myself. This was what the Greeks embodied. Years of crisis torn, poverty stricken, economically hard times had plagued this country and each day, the people of Greece woke up and got on with their badass selves, despite an unforeseeable future. The missing piece of my heart had been filled with the optimism and drive of my people who kept on, even in the worst of times,” Anastasia wrote.
Read Anastasia’s complete story on The Odyssey Online here.
*And remember, by sharing the post Anastasia wrote on The Odyssey Online using that page’s share buttons at the left hand side, you are helping a young college student fund her own way through college.
