My involvement with Garnet and Black started my sophomore year. One night in the fall of 2015, Josh Thompson sent me an Instagram message. He told me he liked my work and wanted me to help shoot the fall style spread. I was so thrilled, I immediately called my grandma to tell her, and she cried. After a successful fall spread, I was asked to come on board the masthead. I started off at the bottom of the totem pole as senior photographer, then on to assistant photo editor and now finally as editor-in-chief.
Coming into the position from a photo background allowed me to approach the magazine differently than past editors. I view it as a collection of different ideas, opinions and information, bringing together the voices of many into one coherent place. Understanding the way a photograph or illustration can hold its own conceptual weight next to a story and approaching everything as a complete thought were major shifts in the magazine’s workflow.
Creating content that is cohesive by combining words, photos, illustration and design is no easy task and could never have been achieved without the incredible staff that I have the pleasure of working with this year. Encouraging them to form their own ideas and direction with the content that they felt driven to make was the most important thing for me to do as a leader. My job was to take all of their ideas and critique, reposition and push them forward into a place that works together. What you’re about to read is a collection of these ideas put together in a way that I firmly believe is representative of the student experience, both on and off campus. Our lives don’t stop when we leave this campus, so neither should the reach of the magazine. Everything from the food we eat, to the homes we live in, to the way social media affects every aspect of our lives and more can all be found in these pages.
On a more personal note, there are so many people I must thank that have helped put me where I am today. This magazine is a collection of my own personal experience and knowledge, and the people who have given me those deserve just as much recognition as me. To my family, thank you for all the support you’ve always given me. Thank you, Mom, for giving me my first camera and helping me take my first steps in the journey of being an artist and editor. To my incredible staff, thank you for entertaining my insane ideas, criticisms and terrible jokes. Thank you to Rachel Johnson, my truly fearless creative director. I’m so lucky to have found such an incredible partner to make something as wonderful as this magazine with. This truly couldn’t have happened without you. And thank you, reader, for continuing to listen, ask questions and respond to what we do here.
