Thursday, February 16, 2006

You Can't Spell Class Without A-S-S

The summer before my 1L year, I received a letter from my school requesting that I send in a digital picture of myself to be used on my school ID. The letter instructed that the picture be a tight headshot, passport-style photo. I put it off and put it off until the day it was due. That day was hot and humid, a typical August afternoon. I had been outside mowing my parent's lawn when I remembered I needed a picture. I splashed some cold water on my face, grabbed the digital camera, and had my mom take the picture. Predictably, the picture wasn't very good, since I wasn't smiling and my face was flushed from having been outside. But I didn't really care, since it was only going to by a 3/4 inch by 3/4 inch square on my student ID card. The picture was what they needed, and it was good enough, and besides, no one was really ever going to see it.

Or so I thought.

In yet another move that epitomizes my school's class and prestige, they decided that all of our student ID pictures would double as our pictures on the class composite. And they did this without alerting us of their plan. Luckily for me, most of the pictures are as bad as mine; unflattering headshots taken quickly when they realized there was a deadline. In an industry
and profession dominated by prestige and image, every single graduate from my class will be remembered by future generations wearing a t-shirt, or if they decided to be more formal, a windbreaker.

I graduate in a few months, and soon after my school will start soliciting donations from me and my fellow graduates. I don't know what my classmates will do, but when they ask me, I am going to send them another picture of myself, holding up my middle finger.