School Picture Day

Today (September 11, 2025) is National School Picture Day (second Thursday in September). It is also Throwback Thursday, so here are two of my school photos from many years ago.

Here are my high school graduation photos. Photos, you ask? Yes. I actually have TWO high school diplomas. I graduated from high school TWICE from TWO different schools in TWO different states, therefore I have TWO high school graduation photos that appear in my TWO respective yearbooks.

I graduated from West Islip High School in West Islip, Long Island, New York, in 1979 at age 18 (top photo). Yes, my mother wasn't happy with my hairstyle; she wanted me to get a haircut for the photo, but I thought my longer hair would look better, and it was how I wanted my classmates to remember me.

Then, in 1980 at age 19, I graduated as a "P.G." (post-graduate student) from Northfield Mount Hermon School, a prep school in northern Massachusetts. P.G.s were considered part of the senior class even though we had already graduated from other high schools.

I can explain why my hair looks strange in the lower photo. After I emerged from taking a shower in my dormitory, a friend asked me if I had my yearbook photo taken yet. I said no. He told me that the photo session was ending in 10 minutes, and if I didn't get there, I would not appear in the yearbook.

With my long hair still wet, I frantically got into my suit and tie. I ran down the steep snowy hill, slipping and sliding from my dormitory (Wilson Hall) to a nearby boys' dormitory (East Hall), where the photos were being taken.

It was the dead of winter and very cold. By the time I arrived, my hair was frozen. It thawed before this photo was taken, but I just wasn't able to make my hair look good.