Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Commencement 2025 that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
“I remember people being like, ‘Do you like to write? Come to DailyCon!’ And I signed up,” graduating senior Odessa Gaines recalled in her Daily origin story. A staple of the Arts and Pop Culture section (and its spring 2025 executive editor), Gaines’ journey with the newspaper began at the student organizations fair during her first year, where her existential need to write encouraged her to join and try something new.
“Since kindergarten … I’ve considered myself a ‘writer.’ I love to write little narratives, short stories, essays, and I wanted to do something that would keep me honest,” Gaines said. “I gotta write!”
Gaines’ work spans an impressive diversity of subjects, embodying the distinct variety that the section pushes its members to explore. She highlighted her two-part article on African American appropriation in K-pop, which she published in the spring 2022 semester as part of her “K-Weekly” column, as a choice favorite.
“I was very proud because a lot of people don’t talk about it that deeply, and that was the first time that I put my opinion out there,” she said. “I knew people out there would be like, ‘Just review the f---ing song,’ but to actually make a point of music in general … it should be about the meaning of what matters.”
Gaines discussed how her two-year-long experience of writing “K-Weekly” helped her understand the process of being in the Daily, covering feedback, research, deadlines and ultimately, paving the way for successive columns.
“My writers’ strike column … was more timely, as things were happening every day. The strike ended when I was about to publish an article about the strike not ending — I had to sit there and rewrite it, keep news alerts on and read legal documents,” she laughed.
In addition to her columns, Gaines has frequently collaborated with managing editor and graduating senior Nate Hall. She traced the start of this partnership to a theater production they both worked on.
“We kind of butted heads a little bit. ... I’m pretty stubborn about things I think I’m right on, and Nate can be too … so having the challenge of sitting there … also forces you to see from their perspective and open your mind,” she said. “With the creative process, it’s not going to click immediately, but it’s so good to have a consistent writing partner.”
Her time working with Hall was just one piece of her “Dailmunity” experience.
“I have to shout out Carl [Svahn (LA’24)]; I am so grateful to have been on the section when he was [the executive editor],” she said. “We also happened to share a class during that semester. … One day, we just started talking about Marvel and comic books, and we were just nerding out over it. And it was one of the first times I felt like it was acceptable for me to nerd out.”
Gaines discussed how working with her mentors and peers motivated her to embrace her individuality and principles through writing, especially in the fall 2022 semester when she served as co-chair of the Daily’s then-named Intentionality & Inclusivity Committee (now the Ethics & Inclusion Committee).
“Being so dedicated to journalism, serving the community and standing on your morals really set the tone for me,” she said. “Your first responsibility is to be a journalist; you can’t sacrifice that to please your friends. … If the theatre show is bad, the theatre show is bad!”
Gaines underlined how her time with the Daily taught her the importance of navigating varying — and even diverging — opinions.
“You have to understand that you can’t just write 800 words about [why] this movie sucks. You have to be able to pinpoint things. That comes through your writing: how to accurately create a position and defend your position,” she said. “Recruiting new members or training students and explaining to them why we do things a certain way … comes down to understanding how to articulate things.”
Four years, three columns and 127 articles later, Gaines is grateful to have been able to hone her craft with the support of the Daily and its community.
“I owe so much to an organization that gives me so much opportunity to write … to have the room to fail, but also have people who will not let me fail, and have my back and give me feedback and criticism,” she reflected. “It is bittersweet to leave, but I can also go forward knowing that I’m not going to stop writing because of what I have learned here.”
Graduation is a new beginning, and Gaines is ready for it.
“I have so much more to say, and I will say it,” she said.
