Zirkle: Life, like picture day, shouldn't be taken too seriously

By Keith W. Zirkle

757 Teen Columnist

My friends tell me I'm photogenic. But show me a picture of myself and I'll point out my gaping mouth or slumped back.

That's why two weeks ago I was none too pleased when senior picture time rolled around. The pressure overwhelmed me. If teenage angst wasn't enough, the anxiety brought a volcanic pimple to the center of my forehead on the day of my pictures. What to do? I had an appointment.

Upon my arrival at the studio, the photographers showed little sympathy. They thrust me into a seat and demanded I pose. When, of course, I didn't meet Abercrombie & Fitch model standards, they posed me themselves. They twisted my head to an angle that it had never reached and then had the nerve to ask for a real smile. As if I can just hand one over on a platter when I'm nervous and statuesque. But the smile came after I giggled at the situation's awkwardness.

Click!

"Next!"

When they showed me the pictures they took, I was surprised. I never knew I could look so good (just kidding).

Still, the pictures captured the essence of me: my face contorted into a laugh. After all, I am a laugher.

And I hope that over the next year as I write columns for 757: Teens

Cover the Code, you will laugh with me (or at me, depending on the situation). Because, even during my brief stint on Earth (adolescent melodrama included), I've come to realize that life shouldn't be taken too seriously. Sometimes you have to forget about GPAs and SATs and remember who you are. Abraham Lincoln had it right when he said, "And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

During my first three years in high school I chased my dreams when I lost nearly 100 pounds by becoming a proverbial hamster on a wheel. I walk more than five miles a day. When not exercising, I read and I write (and not just columns). I'm an aspiring novelist with my "E! True Hollywood Story" just waiting to be made.

When not building castles in the skies, you can find me hanging out with friends, frequenting the movies, hanging at Atlas Grill and Bar, cruising around town or peppering my friends with frivolous bumper stickers on Facebook.

In any event or situation, I can smile at the comedy of life, even when I can't smile without prodding for my senior portrait.

Keith W. Zirkle, a senior at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach, keithwzirkle@yahoo.com