I’m at the age where I’ve been shooting friends high school aged kids for a few years now. Which always seems impossible, haha! It’s a blast to reminisce and share old stories, although not all stories can be repeated in mixed company! It seems like high school was only a few years ago and now here we are as parents of high school students. It’s true, the years do fly by. That’s one of the reasons I love photographing seniors. I get to “freeze time” during such an exciting, pivotal time in their lives.

I was super excited when Mira’s mom, Sarah, messaged me about Mira’s senior portraits. I’ve known Sarah since my 20s and her dad, Mike, since middle school in Calumet City! Mira had the funniest expression on her face when she heard me refer to her Dad by his childhood nickname, Cheese. Haha!

I was so impressed to learn that Mira achieved her goal of being accepted into several prestigious colleges. This impressive list includes: Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Emory, University of Michigan and UNC (to name a few). Mira was also a direct admit to Kelley School of Business and Hutton Honors College at IU-Bloomington. According to mom, all of the schools offered her generous scholarships, but through Kelley, Hutton and IU, they offered four years of full non-billable tuition, room and board, and study abroad. (this includes books, travel and personal expenses ). On top of this she was rewarded and additional 15,000 of renewable scholarship outside of IU. All of this made the decision a “no brainer” for Mira. She is planning on majoring in Information Systems and Business Analytics and minoring in Data Science.

So, how did she get here and achieve so much?? Mom says she’s always been a hardworking, organized, academically gifted student, earning straight As K through 12th grade. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a GPA well over 4.0 and an honors diploma. She’s been awarded the National AP Award, National Indigenous Award, National Hispanic Award, Alpha English Award, Student of the Year, and a couple Academic Excellence Awards. She was involved in Honor Society, International Honor Society, Key Club and Spanish Club.

Along with an impeccable academic resume she can add star volleyball player to the list. By the middle of her freshman year, she was the middle blocker for the varsity team and also selected to play in her club’s elite team. By graduation she was a 2 time 3A Sectional Champion, NIC-All Conference, Academic All-State (Gold), All-District Team and 2 time IHSVCA Player to Watch. Not bad for a girl who, according to mom, “was scared of the ball” when she started.

I asked Sarah to tell me something about Mira and this is what she had to say;

“More than all this, Mira is a very compassionate, humble, hardworking young lady that is able to get along with a lot of different types of people and has this awesome ability to quietly lead. She’s passionate about equity in literacy, and has volunteered in that capacity for many years. She’s genuine. An extroverted introvert and we love her much.”

Upon meeting Mira I was blown away by her beauty, intelligence and sweet personality. This girl is a super star, destined for great things. I look forward to seeing what she does next! I’m so thrilled I got to be a small part of her senior year!

1. You're going on a road trip. A: Where are you going? B: What one person are you driving with? C: Which song is definitely on your playlist? D: What's your must have snack? I’ve always wanted to visit somewhere in California, and I think it would be so fun to drive across country with my best friend, Thalia. We both are huge fans of Lana Del Ray, and what better time to listen to her song “California.” Chex Mix is definitely our go to snack.

2. If you were putting on a concert for your school, which three bands/artists would you book? I would personally book Drake and the Weeknd because those are two of my favorite artists, but also Zach Bryan because my school is very country.

3. Movie you could watch over and over? I could watch Twilight everyday.

4. Tell me one stand out memory from your year so far. One stand out memory would be spring- breaking with my mom and my friend Violet in Florida, especially the drive down.

5. Dream job when you were a kid? Dream job now? I used to dream of being a model when I was younger, but now running my own successful business seems more ideal.

6. What skill would you like to master? Speaking a foreign language fluently.

7. Fave Quote: “Have courage and be kind.”

8. 3 words your friends would use to describe you: Selfless, Kind, and Funny.

9. What do you value most in a friend? The ability to trust them.

10. Favorite way to treat yourself? I treat myself way too frequently by buying an iced coffee.

11. Tell me something about yourself that not everyone knows. My father and I have matching initials, which are MRH. It’s so sweet.

12. What would a world populated by clones of you be like? The world would probably be a lot more peaceful and less divided.

13. For what reason did you last cry? I last cried thinking about leaving for college.

14. What's the last thing that made you laugh? My brother and I have the same sense of humor, so anytime I see him, which was today, he usually makes me laugh.

15. Name something you are proud of. I am proud of myself for getting into Cornell, even though I decided not to attend in the fall.

16. What fictional place would you most like to visit? The younger part of me would love to visit a kingdom from one of the original princess movies, I’ve been dreaming of that since I was a toddler.

17. What is one of your favorites smells/scents? I love wearing vanilla perfume year-round.

18. You are building a virtual time capsule commemorating your senior year. What 3 things would you include? I would include the night my volleyball team won sectionals, going down to Indianapolis for my high schools state football game, and prom.

19. Your advice for incoming freshman: Everybody says this, but it really does go by so fast, so make sure to savor every moment because you will miss it in the end.

20. What are your plans after graduation? I plan on attending Indiana University for the Kelley School of Business and majoring in Business Analytics and Information Systems and minoring in Data Science.

Congratulations and best of luck Mira!