I am not a photographer nor a model. However, if you walk into my room you find photographs on every walk and surface. Some of those I have taken, some I am in, and others were gifts. The first question I always receive after having a guest over for the first time is, "Why do you have so many pictures?"

Ever since I was a little girl, I would cherish the photographs that were taken at my dance recitals, birthday parties, and fun vacations. They were my way of remembering each detail of a certain event, or remembering who I was with. Even today, as a junior in college, I find myself obsessing over photographs of all kinds. 

Bid day has just passed, but the first words out of my mouth were, "We have to take a picture!" I knew that I wanted to cherish my first bid day as a sister and post the photographs on my walls for everyone who enters to see. Where other girls were wanting to post photographs on Instagram or Facebook, I had the idea in mind to print the photos out and physically post them on my bedroom walls. 

I find nothing more comforting than coming home after a long day of classes to find my room covered in photographs of some of my favorite memories. Whenever I am struggling to finish reading that last chapter, or can't find the words to write in a paper I will take a break and look at these photos. I love to think back on each day that the images were captured and the thought that was put behind them. 

After a rough first week of classes I decided to treat myself to an item that I had been dreaming of for quite some time. I purchased a Polaroid camera! This purchase is one that has already added to my collection of photographs and memories. However, when I first presented my new camera to my group of friends they all looked at me and asked, "Why?" or commented, "You're too hipster."

I don't believe that owning a Polaroid camera makes me a hipster. Quite frankly, I am just an impatient person and want my photographs instantly. It also adds to the stories that I can tell. Where other people my age are taking photographs off of their iPhones and posting them to Instagram, I am cherishing my new photographs in my folders and backpack. 

Having a physical image to carry around with me is something that continuously lifts my mood. I don't need to peruse Facebook or Instagram to recall memories of my friends and me because they are all right there in a photograph. I don't have to wonder who I was with or attempt to recall how I felt at a certain moment because it was all captured in the photograph.