A Letter from the Editor

A letter from the editor

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the new era of student media at Temple. REFINE is the university’s first and only lifestyle magazine, and this is our site. Make it your study break, lazy Sunday morning read, or treadmill partner. This magazine is an all-encompassing guide to everything Temple women care about.

The idea behind our name comes from Founder Russell Conwell’s “Acres of Diamonds” speech. In it, Conwell uses the analogy that Temple students are diamonds: we start from pieces of carbon, go through an intense refining process (college), and we come out dazzling and pure.

I dreamt up REFINE this summer when I was living in New York City and interning at Reader’s Digest, surrounded by (and living with) brilliant minds in magazine journalism. I did my research and found out Temple has zero lifestyle magazines. There are smaller schools with dozens. We can––and do––get our news from The Temple News and Temple Update, but what about our on-campus fashion inspo, J&H-friendly healthy dorm meals, guides to curating top-notch playlists, and real-world relationship advice? Exactly. Enter: REFINE.

For our inaugural issue, our staff decided on the theme, “Boss Babe on a Budget” because how else can we describe Temple women? We work harder than most but know how to have a good time. And we can do it with, like, five bucks. To read the first issue, click on the “Issues” tab at the top of our site, and boom, you’re there.

This website, however, will house more current content to fill the sad gap between issues. We’ll update it weekly with blog posts and videos of things that will make your life easier, or at least entertain you while you’re going through hell finals week. We’ll have healthy tips, on-campus street style, Q&A’s with Temple students that are making major moves, and more

Take a look at the magazine for in-depth reporting and incredible fashion shoots, and our social media pages for behind-the-scenes looks at our photoshoots, and more #content.

Want to submit an article, write for us, join the staff, or have a suggestion? Shoot us an email at refine.themagazine@gmail.com and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

As for me, you can find me tweeting about REFINE, otters, cycling, journalism, or my unfortunate life experiences at @sarah_madaus and posting narcissistic content on my Instagram (@sarah_madaus). Wanna chat? My inbox is always open: sarah.madaus@temple.edu, because honestly I check my email more than anything else.

Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

XO,

Sarah