The current senior class is entering their last year of high school under a strange new normal.  Whereas the Class of 2020 had an unexpected and tragic end to their seminal year, masks have become yet another accessory for the Class of 2021 and quarantine is the new normal.  COVID-19 and hybrid learning have become the chief markers of this new school year.  We look forward to the time when getting sick doesn’t stop life in its tracks.  Until then, we manage to find life and routine in this new normal.

One thing that never becomes normal to me is seeing the maturity of these seniors on my monitor as I edit their images.  It’s remarkable that these seniors were once babies and now are less than a year away from embarking on their adult lives.  This senior, my inaugural senior session for the Class of 2021, has had more than a few journey changes in his life.  He was born in Chicago, split his childhood between Montana and El Salvador, and spent his teen years in rural Indiana.  He is no stranger to an ever-changing “normal.”

He is the oldest of four siblings, and this senior definitely fills the role well of being the “annoying older brother” (I write that with affection), but he is better known for his quiet determination and stick-to-it work ethic. This is most obviously reflected in his athletic career, where he has earned multiple awards for outstanding achievement and “Most Loyal Wrestler”.

Having grown up in an entrepreneurial missional environment, his future focus is on purposeful business.  He has talked at length with multiple small business owners to glean experience, knowledge, and best practices as he stores up ideas for future endeavors he may want to try.  He is so thoughtful in his approach to life.  For example, a couple years ago he came back from a youth retreat asking serious questions about how to connect more deeply with his Biblical reading and how to hear more clearly the voice of God in his life.

And can we talk about his curls?!  Everyone else in his immediate family has stick straight hair, so when he asked me to feature his curls, it was an obvious yes!  I had so much fun interacting with him in his senior portrait session, but I also wanted to reflect the quiet thoughtful side of his personality.  Often I encouraged him to look off and slip into his own thoughts.

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