Every year, picture day at Rochester High presents the senior class with the perfect opportunity to capture their most treasured school photos yet. Wacky hair, funky fits, and the most interesting smiles can be spotted on every newly printed student id. The reasoning behind it all? 

These photos don’t go in the yearbook for the seniors, so this gives them the chance to really be creative and to express themselves in a way that makes them feel the most confident. Senior Alaina Webb, wanted to try out a “sophisticated and mature” look for her picture this year. She wore a new pair of glasses that she hoped would make her eyes pop, and a shirt that both complimented her skin well, and also reminded her of a core RHS memory. “I wanted people to see me as serious,” she said, when questioned about her choice of style. 

Meanwhile, Andrew Hamway hoped to look both classy and cozy in his photo, claiming, “I went with the bowtie and glasses to look more professional. But I also wanted to be comfortable, so the black tank top was helpful as well.” This opportunity for true expression gave many seniors the chance to try out new smiles, updos, and makeup looks- to take some stylistic risks and hope for the best. The ironic part is that the amount of students that seemed really happy with their photos was greater than ever before! Camila Vazquez is a perfect example of a makeup experiment gone right. Inspired by Miranda Sings, she colored her brows, put on a lot of bright lipstick, and after her makeover, said “I felt a lot more confident.” She didn’t intend for her expression to give off a little bit of fear in her photo, but decided that it was a pleasant surprise. “I think I’ve never looked better,” she claimed. 

Many seniors had help choosing their picture day looks from family and friends. It was a decision that they thought seriously about for quite some time. Ben Owczarek had help from his mom when picking out his clothes. “We searched through some closets and found random stuff, and we just went with it,” he explained. And it paid off! His picture somehow ended up on Facebook. “A mom reached out to my mom and was like, ‘I saw your son’s picture. It’s amazing’,” he said. Owczarek’s choice to give a more straight-faced expression in his photo definitely made the picture more worthwhile. Meanwhile, Webb and her friends brainstormed picture day ideas together. “If I’m honest, there was lots of preparation that went into this,” she said. “Weeks in advance, me and my friends were discussing what we were thinking of doing. Did we wanna go super crazy? Did we wanna go serious? Obviously we chose serious.” It’s truly the little details that make each senior photo so unique. 

Some of them are so behind-the-scenes that they aren’t even noticeable. “I tried to put a comb in my hair, but it didn’t get in the picture because it’s too far back,” Hamway explained. “I wish you could’ve seen it,” he said. The lengths that Ella Wozniak went to make sure that she got to wear her wig for her photo is admirable. “This is my senior year and I wanna do something fun,” she said. And she was excited to make the Rochester royal blue wig her “form of expression” for the day. 

Something important to keep in mind when planning a fun look for senior picture day is the fact that these pictures are used on StudentVue. For safety reasons, “things that would cover your face or make it not clear who you were” are not allowed, as well as “anything, too that would be hurtful or harmful to other people,” Assistant Principal Mrs. Megan Pasquale explained. This means no hats unless worn for a medical or religious purpose, no sunglasses, facepaint, etc. 

When asked if they had any advice for the current juniors regarding picture day next year, the most common response from the seniors was to have fun with it all. “Do what your heart desires,” Webb claimed. “Make the best of it!” Owczarek encouraged. “You’ll only get to do it once!” Hamway said. “Be yourself,” Vazquez declared. Everything about the seniors’ looks on picture day embody character, tradition, and achievement. What a way to represent Rochester High School!