My Senior Picture Identity

For my senior picture, I took a picture of my self similar to painting Girl with a Pearl Earring. As it says in the book, "It was just of me, of my head and shoulders, with no tables or curtains, no windows or powder-brushes to soften and distract. He had painted me with my eyes wide, the light falling across my face but the left side of me in shadow" (Chevailer 191). This is the way Griet describes her picture that Vermeer painted. I took my picture similarly, as I am alone, there are no background distractions, and it shows just my head and shoulders. My identity is shown in several ways. Firstly, the day-dreamy look on my face shows my ideal attitude. I want to still dream big when I am a senior, and I don't want anything to crush my hopes. I want to be happy, and I want to be able to be strong, because let's face it, high school isn't going to be easy. My owl earrings represent knowledge and wisdom. I want to still be smart, get the best grades I can, and to work hard. I want to be able to have the opportunity to get into a good college. I also want to be wise, not just intellectually smart. I want to be able to make good decisions on my own, not always needing someone's advice. Next, my necklace shows the arts. The necklace is a sentimental piece that I made last year. I was the first full necklace I had ever made. I love it, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Not only did I make it, but it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. Another major symbolism is the purple shirt I am wearing. This shows one of my high school colors. This was a huge leap, coming from a small school, to such a huge one. I hope that I still go here four years from now, and I keep on to the school spirit and pep. The last symbolism is my hair. Even though I want to push myself the next four years, I still want to be laid back and have fun. My hair represents who I want to ideally be as a person. I want to be able to deal with school, yet I want to have fun doing it. I want to enjoy myself and not stress myself out. I want to be happy, not just in school, but in life. These are my main pieces of identity in this picture.

I understand reaching my dream future identity will be hard. I will have to stay true to myself and who I am as a person. But this also means I will have to change the negative parts of my identity. As it says in the book, "I followed that point of the star now, walking across the square more slowly than everyone else, for I was reluctant to leave its familiarity" (Chevalier 13-14). High school is such a different experience for everyone. I know one of the hardest parts for me will be going out of my comfort zone. For me, familiar things are easy. Most of the time they become a routine, and I instantly get it. It is comfortable and comforting, and I don't want to leave it. But when I have to, I get really nervous. I get so nervous, that I can't enjoy myself. I freak out, and I am obsessed with doing my best. The only problem is that I can't have fun when that limits me. I become miserable, lose sleep, and it consumes my mind. I need to be able to let things go, and find familiar things in new experiences. I want to be able to do more art, and I can't do that if I am freaking out the entire time. I hope over it the next few years, and the rest of my life, that I learn to not get worked up so much over the little stuff.

Another thing that I can transform to achieve my identity is wisdom. I want to be able to make wise decisions that I won't regret later. In the book, Girl with the Pearl Earring, Griet has to make some hard decisions. Towards the end of the book, when she is kicked out of the Vermeer's house, she has to decide what choice to make, on her own. She doesn't ask anyone for advice or buckle under the pressure of her decision. As the book says, "When I made my choice, the choice I knew I had to make, I set my feet carefully along the edge of the point and went the way it told me, walking steadily" (Chevalier 216). This quote helps because I need to improve my skill on making on-the-spot decisions for things that are a big deal, calmly. I need to solve little social problems at school, without ask an adult for every single piece of advice. I need to have the wisdom to become more independent and to learn from my mistakes. I hope to be able to have improved on it by my senior year. True, you advance in wisdom as you get older, but I think it takes great maturity to be able to use it properly. I want to be more mature by senior year. I really hope to achieve more wisdom, as Griet did, at the end of the book Girl with a Pearl Earring.