Looking back I’m so grateful for all the memories this year. These are some of the few as documented by my camera but there are so many more that are behind the scenes that I caught with my iPhone and thankfully wrote down in my journal of five years (I can’t believe it’s lasted that long!). Here’s some of my favorite moments from this year:

• Visiting Philly for a SWE conference! This also included (almost) losing my wallet at the Liberty Bell and trekking through a snowstorm to retrieve it
• Becoming a part of A.O.E. at UVA in the Spring and meeting my wonderful big Trisha as well as some of the girls I relate to the most at UVA
• Taking pictures of some of my favorite people as they graduated from both UVA & Duke
• Finding out my brother would be coming to UVA & watching my brother graduate from high school with an IB diploma!
• Getting to live in my new apartment during Midsummers! And now that I officially live in the apartment I can safely say I love it more than I imagined I would
• Finally overcoming my fear and starting a Facebook page & this website to post about photography! A HUGE thank you to everyone who’s sent kind works of encouragement along the way either online or in person, it really means more than I can convey in words
• Traveling with my dance team to California, Richmond, Washington D.C., Virginia Beach (twice), Roanoke, and Philadelphia!
• Bonding with my fellow interns, eating too many Duck Donuts, and pulling way too many shenanigans at my summer internship
• Being asked to take head shots, prom pictures, couples portraits, baby shower pictures, a dance and music showcase, team portraits, wedding event photos, and photos of a family friend’s newborn!
• Getting to second shoot along Vanessa Smith Photography!
• Being able to invest in new gear & equipment including Adobe Lightroom, a S600 flash (game changer), and a new 85mm portrait lens. Along with this goes a countless amount of hours spent learning from other photographers online to get better in terms of mastering the craft
• Having my busiest but best & most memorable semester academically & socially. There were some rough spots in there but it was definitely worth it in the end!

It’s nice to have pictures to go back and look through this year’s highlights and I can’t wait to see what this upcoming year brings!