By Lexi Kerzman
There are a lot of things students dread: the first day of school, test days, every Monday, and picture day.
Each year in early September every student is forced to take their school picture. In all my years of school pictures, I can only think of one positive to picture day: you get to miss about five minutes of one class, which really isn’t amazing, but you take what you can get.
In those five minutes, students are herded like cows to where the photographer is set up. Then they are handed their I.D. card so the photographer knows who they are and what they ordered. Everyone waits in line while fixing their hair to make this year’s picture the best one yet. As if.
If you ask me, there is no amount of grooming that could actually make a school picture turn out. No matter how hard you try, never in the history of school pictures has someone liked their picture. Sure there are some years that are “better than last year,” but a school picture is never a photo you would actually want people to see.
Personally, the last time I can say I actually looked decent in my school picture was kindergarten. I am now a senior, so yeah, it has been awhile. I am lucky enough to have a bad hair day every year on picture day (which isn’t all that surprising because I have now given up on doing my hair forever). Besides not doing my hair, since freshman year I have also refused to spit out my gum. It started as an accident and now is an annual chance to annoy my mother.
The worst part of school pictures is that they follow you. You can’t get rid of them. I mean sure, you can always retake them, but what’s the point? The angle is still going to be bad. The lighting will still make your skin look orange (or maybe that’s just me?). No matter how hard you try, the picture will always be awful and will forever be showcased in the school yearbook, and if you’re lucky like me, your mom will also share it on Facebook so all her friends can see.
But that all changes this year. Yes I still have to take the awful picture and it will be on my mom’s Facebook wall forever, but it doesn’t have to be in the yearbook. One of the many perks of being a senior: senior pictures.
You get to pick your location, the angles, they can be outside with great lighting, and you can try as many shots and outfits as you would like (as long as you have a good photographer like mine).
Senior pictures give everyone a chance to showcase their personality and feel beautiful while doing it. The experience is unreal. You get to be the center of attention, not just another kid in line. My photographer made me look and feel so beautiful. And I suppose if my mom wants to share my senior pictures on her Facebook wall, I’ll let her. After all, nothing can be worse than the 5th grade school pic.
[supsystic-gallery id=6]
Lexi Kerzman is a senior at Bismarck High School, where she is the editor of the Hiherald and is also involved in basketball and track. In her spare time, she enjoys binge watching Netflix, dreaming of life after high school, and photography.