Surreal is the only word I can think of to describe what I’m feeling as I sit in the G&B office and write this letter. I spent my sophomore year contributing to G&B, and it helped me find my direction as a writer. I poured myself into the magazine my junior year as the articles editor, and it instilled me with skills and knowledge that I never would have gotten from the classroom. Now, more than one month into my senior year and my tenure as editor-in-chief, I’m wondering what the remaining months will bring me.
Starting each issue of this magazine is like looking to the top of a mountain summit and wondering how we’ll make the climb. Progress starts slow by scheduling interviews and tackling the more approachable pieces. Co-writing the recipe "Crisp Sips" with our web editor Katherine was a good way to put myself in the fall mindset and get the gears turning — and that cider brought me back from the brink of illness no less.
Our style shoot always kicks off the year with a great bonding experience for the staff. All hands are needed to tackle something as ambitious as "Old Trends, New Tricks," style editor Dominic Bellotti’s interpretation of retro style made new again. Speaking of old things made new again, our articles editor Lois Carlisle covered the reinterpretation of the Mann-Simons site, a house that has stood as a touchstone for black culture in Columbia. Lois’ piece and the rest of our features were an effort to continue the trend that was started last year: the pursuit of longform journalism with a narrative. Stories that place the culture of Columbia in the context of student life.
Students such as Zoe Dale whose jewelry line "Blind Rabbit" is making waves in local boutiques, and such as those whose candid quotes ended up in the Overheard at Pride piece. Once the staff reaches the summit of this creative mountain, out of breath and creative provocation, we begin to wonder where we’ll go next. This is the same question that inspired the idea for my piece, "The Familiar Feeling," about the status of Columbia’s queer spaces post-Orlando attack.
The first issue of G&B is always a learning experience. With a new staff and new direction, there is so much room for things to go wrong, but also so much room for growth, and it’s the latter that I’m most excited for.
