What are the Senior Portraits?
The senior portraits are the photos seniors will be taking for this year’s yearbook. Seniors, we’re looking for you to dress to impress for your portraits. Girls, you’ll be given a drape to wear for your senior portraits, so it’s highly recommended that you wear a sleeveless top or a top that doesn’t cover your necks. Boys, you’re provided with tuxedos and black ties for your portraits. Senior portraits are not charged up front, as they’re part of your senior dues. Senior portraits took place on November 20th, 21st, and December 11th, and will be conducted by the Yearbook Committee.
What do they signify?
So, why are senior portraits so important? They’re just pictures! Who cares? These thoughts tend to race through the minds of every senior, facing stress, pressure, and expectations of the unforeseen future. It’s hard to care about mere pictures during a time of tension, but the relevance of pictures is far more important than just their existence. Senior portraits capture the final stages of adolescence, our final stages before entering the adult world, and our step towards graduation. It’s important to capture these stepping-up moments—these moments that signify our growth. Now, no one would want their final moments before a new journey to be remembered by a plain picture.
In fact, Pauline Chen, a senior member of the yearbook committee, says, “It’s important because you don’t want your last year of high school to look terrible and you’ll regret it in the near future, wondering to yourself, ‘why the hell do I look like this?'”.
These mere pictures that seniors dress up for, prepare themselves for, and feel anxious about are all part of the high school experience. They look their best for the yearbook, themselves, and their future selves. A current John Dewey Senior, Andrea Plaza, said, “The experiences I make today as a senior make me who I am, and let me look back at something so simple but so exciting.” Though senior portraits may seem nerve-wracking and a waste of time for some right now, they create memories for the future—memories of how we’ve grown since freshman year and how we continue to grow with each passing year.
Conclusion
Senior portraits or senior year may be exhausting, but always remember: Life’s too short to worry about the real world, enjoy the final months we have as the students of John Dewey, rather than worry about the never ending years as adults of the real world.
