Graduations, Photography, and Finals.

It's finals week here at the University of Texas at Austin. You know what that means. It's a mixture of stress, anxiety, self-actualization, epiphanies, screaming, crying, laughing, etc. I've seen it all. And no, I'm not going through any of these problems (thankfully). I'm quite relaxed for this round of finals. Honestly, you just do the best that you can do and leave the rest up to God. It's out of your control. So there's no point in worrying anyway.

Enough about finals. I want to talk about graduations and photography. This isn't a lecture because I have little to no knowledge about photography. I'm still learning a lot. And I mean a lot.

This past weekend, a couple of my friends graduated. They're done with this chapter of their life. And I pray and look forward to the amazing things God will do through them.

Graduation, itself, is nothing new to me. It's the same process: show up and cheer as your friend walks, take pictures, go eat, the end. However, it was a different for me because I took some photos this time. Why? Well half of the reason was to help take pictures. The other half was to practice and learn from experience.

As I was looking through the photos, I felt pretty nostalgic. Maybe because I was listening to some sappy music on spotify... Don't judge me. But I captured a lot of candid moments. And it felt warming to see the moments of laughter and happiness on those images. I got to see genuine joy. And it made me think about how those captured moments are moments where people let their guard down. They didn't know I took a picture of them. They didn't have time to "prepare" and "look pretty for the camera". It was the real, genuine "put name here" in that photo.

It made me think about how we all put on a mask when we're in public. We all hide our true self because we're told to do so by society. Why? Why should I conform and follow the patterns around me when I know it's not what defines me? Who says that it's important to look fake in order to impress? Seriously.

Be yourself. Be the image of God you were created to be. Don't try to fit in when you know you aren't supposed to. Be an anomaly (inspired by Lecrae's new alubm). Don't compromise your faith or yourself to seize an opportunity to fit in. And I'm not saying that's easy. I'm still trying to work that out in my life. But I thought I'd share some encouragement.

In the famous lyrics of Andy Mineo: "Opportunities come and they go, but none of them are worth my soul." Just kidding. He's not that well known. But he's a rapper partnered with Lecrae.

Btw, here's the album of the photos. Play some sappy music to get the full effect of #feels.
Graduation Photos