Letters from our Senior Editors

Darcy Gallagher | Editor in Chief

Dear Buzz,

I thought to myself the other day about how much I’m going to miss this. The hustle of editorial work and management, the photoshoots, design, my new podcast, our team events and meetings, preparing for launch, having a team to work with. I don’t know what I’ll do without it. The editor in chief before me wrote that she ate, slept, and breathed The Buzz. I never quite understood this until now.

I don’t believe I’m able to put into words how much The Buzz means to me.

I undertook The Buzz at a time of exponential growth. We began with under 30 people in the fall of 2022, and now stand at 115. We didn’t meet or really work together after COVID, so I wanted to create a strong sense of community where we collaborate and work together in person, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. The Buzz is now a prominent voice on campus, online, and via social media. Our team has worked hard to increase our visibility and engagement by incredible percentages. We partnered with several major brands like BeReal and Boston magazine, and held our own events to further get to know one another. The growth is just getting started.

The Buzz has seen major improvement this past year, and that wouldn’t have been possible without our outstanding team.

Each individual has their own passions, creative drive, and talent and it’s been an honor to watch you all thrive. I will continue to support and follow The Buzz’s accomplishments far after my time at BU. It is such a special place with even more special people.

A team that is a family, and one that I will miss dearly.
This was the first semester The Buzz centered our print issue around a theme. Our incredible photo director and team leader, Chika, crafted the idea of “Beauty is Terror.”

To me this theme means many things. It is society’s beauty standards that have plagued my mind with self-hatred, insecurity, and doubt. I have struggled to find any beauty within my appearance, mind, and spirit for many years.

As a woman, I have feared for my body and safety because of the way others perceive me. With any sort of confidence comes fear.

Beauty is not only physical but mental. It is a peace and understanding of who we are. When that is tarnished or destroyed it is hard to see beauty in other things.

But our differences and unique struggles are what make us beautiful.We are all beautiful in our strength, filled with grace and perseverance.

Depth is also beautiful and terrifying.

My eyes find it hard to absorb the vast natural beauty of our world. I am constantly reminded of how powerful Mother Nature can be. She is enchanting on the outside, but can erupt into a force to be reckoned with, inspiring me to be the same.

We look internally to find that we do not comprehend the magnitude of our own beauty. We shy away from our true potential because what we know we can accomplish is terrifying. Especially when our talent is a threat to someone else, our beauty and ability is taken from us by the ego of someone else.

To The Buzz, thank you for teaching me how with terror comes immense beauty.

I have learned numerous lessons. This role has challenged me, given me a creative outlet, pushed me past my limiting beliefs, introduced me to amazing friends, and gave me the best experiences of my college career.

Thank you so much. With love,

Darcy

Erica Macdonald | Print Managing Editor

Dear Buzz,

It’s bittersweet to think my sunsets over the Charles are numbered. I’m in no rush to greet the day I can step on the seal in Marsh Plaza without fear of retribution. BU is a big place, Boston even bigger, but four years here have shown me how to make pockets of familiarity anywhere. We all have favorites in this city, and The Buzz is a huge part of how I hit the ground running in my search for them. 

My first article for The Buzz had me canvassing an Allston thrift shop in September of 2019. Less than a month in the city and I was talking to shop owners and thinking through the lucrative business model of second-hand fashion. I realized, for the first time, that I could have professional access as a college student. I had questions, ideas, and a desire to make something of them. Long before I declared my journalism minor, The Buzz gave me a reason to hone my journalistic instinct, step past the bounds of campus, and explore Boston’s cultural scene. 

This magazine, this community, has been a constant in my college years. It’s been deadlines and photoshoots and friends along the way. I can remember picking up a phone call from the former Managing Editor during the summer after my freshman year. I wondered if perhaps I was in trouble. Instead, I was offered a promotion to Section Editor—a vote of confidence that hey, maybe I was good at this. 

8 semesters with The Buzz. Countless articles, innumerable words—read, reread, then read again. It feels impossible to condense all of that into a few modicums of parting wisdom. But let me tell you what I do know. 

You are stronger than you think. Your ideas are greater than you know. Inaction is the worst choice, because you never know if something great could have come from just doing it. Your favorite memories are just as likely to be small moments as they are big, and they’ll make you feel just as warm.  

A few more things I’d pass along. Ask questions. Show up on your bad days too. The work you do is only constrained by what you’re willing to put into it. 

Lastly, a comment on this edition’s theme, Beauty is Terror. I think beauty and terror are inextricable from each other, because there is an innate fragility to beautiful things that make us want to preserve them. Like with anything we value, its loss inspires fear. The reality of ending my career at The Buzz is terrifying. But I am better for it. You know something has been good—beautiful—when you are scared to leave it.

Love always,

Erica

Chika Okoye | Photo Director

This is the first issue of The Buzz where we were tasked with coming up with an overarching theme — something that would make the magazine more cohesive. I had the honor to craft the idea. I was a sophomore in college when I first read Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. It changed my life. Well, that’s a little dramatic, but it did open my mind. Riddled with incredible syntax against a tragic tale, The Secret History made me realize the power of writing and the English language. The phrase “Beauty is Terror” comes from this incredible novel. Everyone interprets the phrase differently, but I interpret it as such: the fear that everyone around me is beautiful and maybe I will never be, a terrifying thought. Of course, this is not true. It is just my very dramatic sense of self, but regardless, in my adolescents, my fear of mirrors was born. 

For years — and to this day — I struggle with turning on the light in my bathroom. It is not until recently that I have realized that my perception of myself comes from a beauty standard set by people who don’t look like me and that’s okay. Confidence does not come easy, but it is something you can learn to have if you just try hard enough. Even if all you see is broken glass. My relationship with mirrors is like walking a tightrope over a sea of a thousand Chikas, for every step I take, I am swallowed by the reflection of a distorted reality that portrays me as a monster, even though I am a symphony of beauty waiting to be appreciated. 

For two of the four long years I have been at this magazine, I have had the great honor and privilege of serving as The Buzz’s Photo Director. I cannot express how much this time has meant to me. During my tenure, I have seen the magazine grow and evolve in ways that I never could have never imagined; and I know that it will just continue to do so long after I am gone.  We have featured some of the most dynamic pieces of writing, and I am so proud of the work that everyone has accomplished together. But as much as I love this magazine and all that it represents, I must now bid it farewell. I cannot help but feel a sense of sorrow for leaving behind such a wonderful and inspiring place. In many ways, this magazine has been like a second home to me. The e-board I have worked with have become like family, and I will forever cherish the memories we have created together. I leave with a bittersweet feeling in my heart — appreciative for the experiences I have had, but also blue to say farewell to something that has meant so much to me.  

Thank you. 

To quote The Secret History:

 “We think we have many desires, but in fact we have only one. 

What is it? 

“To live,” said Camilla. 

To live forever.” 

I  hope my legacy, Erica’s legacy and Darcy’s legacy, will live on.

With Grace, 

Chika