Back to School Days
Back To School...

I’ve never gotten a “graduating senior pictures” photoshoot, so these self-portrait photos are my version of that. Good thing I can still pass as a student, or so I’m told I still look like I’m in college…

Many years ago in high school, I graduated top of my class, and I’d gotten into Princeton. But I’d never gotten any senior portraits taken, so a decade later, I decided to take them myself via self portraits. 📸

Plus, the other day, a stranger had mistaken me for a college student, so at least I still look the part!

Even though I like who I’ve become and am still becoming, I reminisce my school days fondly. I romanticize the youth and the innocence, especially high school, even though I don’t recall high school being particularly fun.

Ages 14-18, I was extremely studious and studied all the time. 🙇🏻‍♀️ In college, I studied way less and enjoyed my undergrad years at Princeton, but in high school, I was more innocent and passionate about things.

As I got older, my innocence and passion was met with more judgement. Oddly, I felt more pressure to be cool in college and moreso in post college adulthood. 🥲

I think I miss school because it feels nostalgic when the only thing you had to do in life was learn, and I love learning. But adult life is filled with responsibilities, amongst many other things.

Or…maybe it’s not even nostalgia for school. Maybe I am longing for the simpler days before smartphones and social media. I’m glad I grew up with less noisy platforms like blogs / Facebook / tumblr / and the good ol’ days of YouTube and cable TV. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a kid growing up with today’s social media!

Do you relate? Have you gotten your senior portraits taken? Do you miss your school days?

I actually have never gotten any “senior pictures” taken.

Back when I was in school, I don’t recall it being “a thing to do.” The main senior picture was the yearbook photo, and I hated my High School Senior Yearbook photo!

Now, I feel like getting a senior year photoshoot is something every student does before they graduate.

So, I guess it’s a good thing I still look like I’m in school because I can tell my kids this is what I’d look like as a student. 😆

(See below for a photo of me when I was actually a student. Do I look any different?)

The closest thing I got to a high school senior portrait photoshoot was having some photos taken by a friend back when I was almost 22 years old.

At the time, I was a student at Princeton, so this photoshoot is more like a college senior portrait, and I really should’ve done a photoshoot at my alma mater, instead of my hometown.

That said, I like these photos better than any photos I’ve taken at Princeton because here I’m holding my beloved Mei Mei, my soul dog. My biggest regret is not having traveled with her, and I dearly wish I could’ve showed her Princeton University. That’s why I whenever I travel domestically, I will be sure to take mimi and momo. <3