Issue 3: Letters from the Editors

by Michele Dale and Tiffany Tao

I am the worst at goodbyes.

This issue marks the last semester that Tiffany and I will be acting as co-leaders of this beautiful magazine and I am feeling a hundred things. Mostly, I am proud—of Tiffany, of our team, and of our contributors—for all the passion they’ve shown to Bossier and the art they’ve created along the way. Bossier is nothing without you all and I am so thankful to everyone on this campus for recognizing its potential, embracing it with open arms, and always working to make it better.

There have only been 3 issues so far but I believe this is our best issue yet. We had a record number of submissions from more people on more topics than ever before. If I could describe my semester in one word it would be bumbling—bumbling through classes, through friendships, through life. Reading Issue 3 calmed me, tethered me, pointed me in the direction of hope, and reminded me what it meant to feel love. It is impossible to read this issue without feeling confident in the ability of humanity to feel, accept, grow, overcome, love, and change. I hope every reader walks away from this issue feeling as inspired as I did.

Things I’ve learned from Bossier include: 1. Being vulnerable is brave. 2. Putting people in boxes is dangerous. 3. Editing at 2 a.m. is a recipe for disaster. 4. Managing people is the most rewardingly difficult job on the planet. 5. Everyone should write more. 6. Messing up is not only okay, it’s inevitable. 7. The best pieces are the ones you’re scared to publish. 8. Girls and femmes should run the world.

The amount that I am going to miss Bossier is ineffable. It is as much a part of me as the fingers I use to type, the eyes I use to edit, and the hands I use to hold Tiffany’s when we send our issues to the printer. That being said, I could not be more excited to see what the next directors do. I have the utmost faith in our team to deliver a jaw-dropping Issue 4. I urge you all to make Bossier your own. Try new things, fix what we could not. We have not done everything perfectly but we have always tried our best and were not afraid to fail, correct ourselves, and try again. Remember this while we’re gone—embrace criticism, learn and reflect. But most importantly, keep going.

I think the best part about Bossier is the fact that it takes so many people to create. It brings people across campus together in the confines of one extraordinary mag. Because of this, there are too many thank yous to dole out but you know who you all are. Special shouts go to Tiffany, our team, our contributors, my mom, badass women everywhere, and all of the “real” men who have supported, loved, and respected me on my quest to bring this ‘zine to life, most importantly my little brother.

Bossier, I have had the privilege of being your co-founder and editor-in-chief and now I can’t wait to be your favorite cheerleader and number one fan. Love you endlessly, I promise to never forget you.

I’ve been putting off writing this editor’s letter for the longest time—1. because I am always late and 2. because this issue marks the end of my reign as Creative Director, so this is officially the last time I get a cool column devoted to my musings. It’s not a lot of room to talk about something that’s consumed your life for the last year and a half and I was nervous that I would leave something out, that there would be something important left unsaid.

But that’s okay! Because I am starting to realize that this magazine is primarily defined by its constant evolution, its ever-present need to find what wasn’t perfect with the past and to change it for the future.

There have been times when things have gone missing: a poem we left out, a person who didn’t get an interview, a perspective that we overlooked. And there have been times when things went unfinished: typos we forgot, events that faded, grand plans that never got off the ground. But while we’re so far from correcting every mistake, we’re also not static. We’re constantly shifting—our mission, our partnerships, our views—in response to the world around us. We have ways to go with confronting our blind spots, but we’ll keep working at it. I’ll probably miss something important as I write this, but there are plenty of Creative Directors to come who will fill in my gaps with so much more than I could possibly imagine.

I’ve grown a lot alongside these changes. I’ve learned about myself, how to admit when I’m wrong and how to own it when I’m right. More importantly, I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time learning about other people, especially about the women around me: what makes us happy, what angers us deeply, what we’re scared about, what feels like freedom.

Think back to the first time you heard about Bossier—maybe from our first heart-sunglasses profile pictures or that flyer in the Lau 2 bathroom or a stray light-blue baseball cap. I hope you’ve grown a little from who you were during that first encounter to who you are now as you pick up our third issue. And I hope you continue to grow with us as we enter a whole new era. After all, what I’ve concluded is that Bossier is about never sitting still, always evolving and pushing boundaries further, forward, forever.

To all the beautiful things we’ve created so far and all of the cool things we’ll make next.

Love,