Self-Portrait Tuesday

I found out about this cool site called Self-Portrait Tuesday through my friend Holly's Web site. Basically, every Tuesday you post a self-portrait that meets the month's challenge. This month's challenge is personal history. Here's the site's explanation:

January Challenge - Personal History

Explore the cross over between self portraiture and family photography. This challenge can be as simple as revisiting old family snap shots - to tell a story.

Technical advice - scan in old pics - or photograph old pics. Use them in various ways to think back on your journey through life, your achievements, mistakes, highlights and low points. Perhaps you could make a time line or overlay several images. Tell a story.



This pic is from my spring break trip of 2003. In my five years in college, I never took a typical "college student" spring break. Never got drunk in South Padre with midwestern frat boys. My spring breaks were pretty uneventful. Most years, I just came home. One spring break I had to get my wisdom teeth out. That was fun.

However, for my final spring break I decided to go on a road trip. Alone. I drove from Missouri to Syracuse to visit Chris, then drove from Syracuse to Toronto to visit Jon and Teviya. Then I drove from Toronto to Chicago, and finally back to Missouri. I got all the perks of a friend-filled road trip, without the hassles. I listened to my music. I stopped when I wanted to. When it came time to pick a place to eat, I always got my way.

I wasn't single back then, but I felt totally independent at that point in my life. College was almost over. I had very few friends still at school. I had nearly no obligations to anyone. I definitely got lonely from time to time during that last semester, but for the most part, I enjoyed my solitude.

Before that semster, I spent so much of my college life angry. I was always mad at someone or something. I was mad about the cards life had dealt me. I hated college students, and I envied them.

But then I met Chris and suddenly all that hatred disappeared. Somehow, this beer-loving, Missourah frat boy taught me stop hating my surroundings and myself. It was the first time in my life I was happy being me. I was totally content in life. That's what I see when I look at this picture.