A Thousand Words Volume 1: Girls Night In

Hello! and welcome to my second blog post and the first in my series “A Thousand Words”. This series is a study in hindsight wherein I interview a person or persons who became the subject of one of my photos. We talk about the moments leading up to, during, and after the photo was taken.

The first photo looks like a cheesy high school sleepover, but once examined further, it reveals a small moment of peace during a time of unrest. This peace has been lost in the transition into young adulthood, but is it lost? Although five people are in the photo, I only spoke to Casey in the lime green uniform and Lauren in the yellow. I started by asking them for an initial reaction.

Casey: Wow. My face

Lauren: The first person I see, at first glance of the photo, is Casey's face. My second reaction is "I look ridiculously serious."

So this was going a bit slow. Lol. Keep reading, it gets better. Next, I tried to get them in their feels, and kinda failed.

Me: What do you remember about this night? What do you remember feeling that night?

Casey: There was not enough pizza. (I think we were watching PLL? Bachelor?) [I remember it being] fun. [I was] happy I didn’t have to sit at the desk by myself.

Lauren: I honestly don't remember much about that night. Maybe we were watching that PPL spin-off about the dead girl. I don't remember what I was feeling that day. I assume I was hungry and deeply enthralled in whatever we were watching.

I chuckled a bit and decided to redirect, maybe get some more backstory. I asked them about this time in their life. In order to kick-start some thought, I reminded them that this was Fall of 2013.

Lauren: Fall of 2013, was my junior year. It was one of my more challenging years in college. School was particularly challenging- I started my major requirements. I was also living in courtyard apartments. Living in courtyard, I felt isolated at times, because all of my friends lived on the other side of campus. Having nights like the one in the photo were especially important to me and I always made an effort to have nights like the one in the photo frequently. As an adult, living on my own, I look back at how easy it was get together and hang out. Sometimes, I wish I still lived in such close proximity to the people I enjoyed the most 24/7.

Casey: That was a transition year for me. It was the year that I really went from being more reserved to knowing more about what I liked and how I wanted to live going forward. I also questioned my degree choice. But I got to know a lot of people that year. I really started to feel like I belonged at SPSU.

Lauren’s comment intrigued me. People always say that college is the best part of your life. You take classes with your friends, share an apartment or dorm together, and eat together. Once you leave it is hard to consolidate that life with adulting. I was finally starting to get somewhere with this interview, so I continued…

Me: In hindsight do you think this night had an impact on how you lived out the rest of your college years and now into your adulthood?

Casey: It definitely started a tradition in college of watching a series when Lauren was on duty (Bachelor/Bachelorette) and I think we continued it for a year or so after college.

Lauren: Nights like the one in the photo truly are memories I have of college. Much of my college experience involved people in the photo.

Me: What do you remember feeling about the people in the photo and how has that changed?

Casey: At this point, I was just starting to really get to know everyone, but I liked the fact that we were all willing to get together and hang out over a common interest.

Lauren: The people in the photo are all people I met in college. Some I had a closer relationship than others, but still enjoyed my time with them, all the same.

To conclude the interview, I asked one last question, this one was for Lauren.

Me: Lauren you talked about transitioning into your major classes. Would you consider this a moment of peace in a time in which there was a bit of uncertainty?

Lauren called it a “happy distraction”. This is funny considering Pretty Little Liars is one of the most unsettling shows of the early 2010s. This really had me thinking though. With growing up, and leaving college, the chances of these “happy distraction” moments seem to dwindle away as we grow up and seemingly grow apart. That seemed too bleak for me, so of course, I asked another question.

Me: How would you imagine this photo looking today?

Lauren: This is a hard question- I don't imagine it looking very different. Perhaps the people may change, depending on how well we all stayed in contact.

Casey: I would expect it to be very similar. You would probably be in it since your recent photos that involve personal events are more often a group selfie.

It is a bit heartwarming to know that as much as things change, they kind of stay the same or we at least see it that way. Life after college can be tough. Maybe simple nights like this are what we need to battle the dilemmas we face. So, as some of you take a walk down your digital memory lane, and you remember these little moments of peace, remember that they are only a phone call, text, smoke signal, or carrier pigeon message away. And don’t worry, you can still afford a Little Caesars pizza and your student loans.  

*The photo used as part of the interview was taken in October 2013 through Snapchat with an iPhone 4, hence the bad resolution*