Hey, BUDDY! Meet Teens Behind Beijing’s Latest Youth Magazine

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In a competitive, demanding school environment, expressive writing often comes second to the plethora of academic papers, tests, and essays a student has to contend with. And the pressure of achieving high grade-point averages (GPAs) can take away the desire to learn an off-curriculum subject matter. If it doesn’t count for your grade, it doesn’t matter.

But to the International School of Beijing (ISB) high school students Khushi C, Emma L, and Gina Y, it absolutely does matter. Aiming to empower bright young thinkers by providing a platform to express their ideas, and to foster non-academic intellectual curiosity, they founded BUDDY! magazine during the summer break of 2019. It rapidly became a creative outlet where they could embrace their natural, creative, and unpretentious selves by writing all sorts of narrative, commentary, and satirical articles. With the first edition published in August, their articles have so far covered a variety of topics, from Queen Elizabeth I’s makeup routine to how overpopulated Beijing’s subway stations are with advertisements. With contributions from students and other members of the community, BUDDY! has also become a bridge between curious, knowledge-craving teenagers and the community that surrounds them, and it’s founders hope that the platform can restore an innate, self-driven hunger for knowledge to readers and that it will grow to become a network of inquisitive minds everywhere.

I talked to the BUDDY! leadership team about how the magazine got started, some of the bumps along the road, and where they hope to take it next.

Submissions for each issue come from three groups: club members, guest contributors, and featured authors. Club members write an article for every issue, while guest contributors and featured authors submit to us whenever an idea strikes them. BUDDY! club members follow an eight-week plan for each issue. Throughout each step of the process, editors work hand-in-hand with the writers to ensure the writing is well-supported by evidence, has something unique and significant to say, and is a piece of work that the writer can be proud of.

It’s a way to empower young thinkers to share their unique take on any topic of interest. We want to give power back to the authors to be passionate and imaginative about their ideas and topics. It all depends on what they want to bring to the table.

The topics may seem trivial or immature at first glance, but editors work closely with our talented writers to dig deeper into the underlying social phenomenon or to explore universal truths about the human condition. For example, our guest contributor Jared F investigates the philosophy of the wombat in Issue 1. Capturing readers through his amusing passion for the animal and the uniqueness of the topic, he delves into a very thoughtful and provocative dialogue on Nietzsche and nihilism.

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BUDDY! tries to go into every topic with a positive outlook by going further than merely stating the problem: we provide the audience with ways to engage and react. We have full confidence in our writers as communicators and thinkers, so whatever stylistic choices they take – humorous or serious –  we find ways to support their strengths. Our articles are written by people who are passionate about making change and showing the world what good has been done.

Art and writing are both important for the club, as passion and creativity can be presented through a multitude of mediums. For every issue, editors design the magazine covers with great care – as that, too, is a form of art. We recognize that writing may not be the best medium for some, so we are more than happy to showcase other media types. The ‘accompanying art’ that we have in our magazine issues is an expression of artistic interpretation as well, and readers are often amazed at the mind-blowing attention to detail we put into our art.

Initially, recruitment was a real challenge. We started with essentially bare-bones – three people – and in a school like ISB with so many established clubs, reach is difficult when you’re new. Encouraging honest, opinionated writing was also tough. Students are often burdened with so many reports and essays that they lose a sense of their own voice in writing. Furthermore, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we had to transition quickly online to collaborate, advertise ourselves, and publish.

It was incredibly rewarding to see groups of friends huddling over a magazine during lunch and people approaching us to contribute to future issues as BUDDY! grew and flourished. We are especially proud that our website, buddymagazine.org, has amassed over 1,600 page views despite these difficult times. Our club has grown substantially, with four issues published this past year and going strong through the summer and into next year.

Being a bi-monthly magazine, timeliness isn’t the emphasis in our reporting. Instead, our writers have infused their articles with a sense of timelessness through their thoughtful, personal connections to greater social truths. For example, the Coronavirus article – though topical – was carefully written by a couple of our youngest writers who had a meaningful opinion to share.

We have decided to center each future issue around a compelling general theme.This was decided upon the request of staff writers who wanted more help with focus and brainstorming. Our next issue will be about new beginnings or cycles.

We thoroughly encourage submissions from people outside of the ISB community! Any person, organization, or school is welcome to submit to us. Anyone who has a story or an opinion and is willing to share – the possibilities are endless. There’s no need to be shy; if you aren’t proud of the piece just yet, our editors will work closely with you to bring out its full potential!

Follow BUDDY! on Instagram: @buddyzine
BUDDY!’s website: buddymagazine.org
Email BUDDY! at [e-mail]
Teachers can contact BUDDY!’s faculty sponsor Melody Wong [e-mail]

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Photos: Courtesy of Buddy! magazine

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