School Days

  About a month ago, our school had school-picture day. For a 12-year old girl this is the most stressful day of the year. You can see the stress on their faces as they walk onto the school's premises. It is considered to be a normal occurrence for students to ask to go to the bathroom throughout the class period. No biggy; they're back within 2 minutes. However, on school picture day, the frequency of bathroom trips quadruples. These kids don't come back for quite a while. I'm sitting in the classroom thinking to myself, "Poor child, they don't feel well." When they come back, a transformation has taken place. What once was a fresh-faced, messy-pony tailed little girl returns as a dolled up teenager with cascading curls. This year, one little girl walks in my classroom wearing gym shorts and a t-shirt. After a short trip to the bathroom, she has on a Sunday dress.
   Now, I'd be lying if I said that I do not get a little stressed about this day myself. I make sure my makeup is completely done, hair is fixed, and I am wearing a shirt whose color is complimentary to my skin tone. Why??? Because, gasp, this photo is going to be in the yearbook. Why do I care so much? Don't know. When you are actually a student in school, this is a big deal. You know that all of your friends are going to meticulously comb through each page of the yearbook. But what is one page that no student cares to look at? Answer: the teacher picture page. Sure, they might give it a quick once-over, but that's about the extent of it. These are the people that give them silent lunches, detentions, homework, and make them spit out their gum. All the same, I want to make a good picture. And so, I did.