EDITOR’S NOTE

Hello again,

Welcome back to REFINE Magazine! I’m very excited to introduce you to the Distortion Issue.

Distortion, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means “the act of twisting or altering something out of its true, natural, or original state.”

In this issue, we ask ourselves “is this the way the world is”? We rewind it, we replay it, we mirror it back. We take things that aren’t right and look at them from a different angle, through a new lens, change them and remold them until they are. We explore how we change ourselves, how we change those around us, and how we too are changed.

This issue is also, heartbreakingly, the final issue for a majority of our editorial board. Both Managing Editor Raven Lawson, whose contributions to REFINE cannot be overstated and Senior Editor Jordan Manson, who has been one of REFINE’s biggest cheerleaders, have graduated and are moving on to bigger and better things. We are also saying goodbye to amazingly talented Lead Photographer Jade Alderman, Art Director Christina O’Brien, Copyeditor Lydia Davidheiser, Design Director Julia King, and section editors Jonaira South, Bryanna Santos, and Cassandra Jenkins. I want to express my sincerest thanks to these people who made this issue possible. They have left behind some very big shoes to fill.

Until we meet again.

Love, Samantha