Right after lunch, the seniors gathered outside near the steps of the Harbor. The instructions from the camera crew were simple: tallest students at the back, shortest students in front, everyone must be standing, everyone must be visible. We shuffled around trying to figure out where we belonged, squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder onto the steps.
With so many people packed together, everyone looked like they came out of a shower with their striking pink seniors shirts by the time the photographer was ready.
By 1 p.m., the Harbor steps became a human staircase of seniors, packed tightly together under the afternoon heat.
First was the formal picture.
Stand still. Face forward. Smile.
Then came the freestyle photo, when the carefully arranged senior class finally got to break formation and do something less serious.
The moment the group photo was done, the entire group seemed to scatter at once. After standing so close together in the heat, people scattered off almost immediately; nobody wanted to stay packed in any longer, let alone sweat any more.
I thought the last Picture Day was supposed to feel more significant. Instead, it felt uncomfortable. But, this was probably one of the more memorable ways to take our final senior group photo.
After the group picture, we moved to another hall for the individual photos. Two booths divided the class alphabetically, one working down the last names and the other working up.
Being a YJ Lim (12) placed me almost perfectly in the middle, meaning I was one of the last ones to get the picture taken; I had to roam around the hall while waiting for my booth to slowly work their way towards when my name gets called.
By the time my turn finally came, I had already watched enough people go through the process to know exactly what was coming. First was the normal picture, then the side profile, followed by a freestyle pose, and finally a prop picture. We could choose between a stuffed animal, a book, or headphones.
Really just the same old.
As Cay Den Eu (12) puts it, “Before, Picture Day was just something we had to do every year…I only realize now that this will be our last.”
Most of us knew the routines so well that there was hardly anything new about it; however, this routine came with an expiration date this time.
Once everyone finished their individual photos, we went back to class and carried on our school day like normal.
No new announcement. No dramatic nor flashy ending. Just another ordinary school day continuing after one more “last” had passed.
Maybe that is what makes senior year strange. The biggest moments do not always have to be the most outrageous ones. Sometimes they are part of routines we barely notice until they are almost at the end.
For us, one of those moments was our last Picture Day.
Comments
Post a Comment