If my time in college were a TV show, each semester a new season, then Season 5, Fall 2021, was easily the most intense. The highs were really high, the lows were really low, and somewhere in the middle I changed a lot.

Both as a creative, and as a person.

That semester I took a film photography class with Jane Akiba and learned to shoot on the Pentax K1000. What started as assignments slowly became a personal archive. These photos are moments from throughout the season, everyday life, late nights, friendships, and a few class projects like Abstract Still Life and Self-Portraits all woven together.

Looking back, I’m really grateful for the characters who passed through this season of my life. Some felt like guest stars, some like series regulars. I’m excited to see their spinoffs, and I hold space for the possibility of future crossover episodes, the kind that feel unexpected, familiar, and earned (like in real life, I guess). Just as much as I’m excited for the many versions of my own story that have unfolded, and are still unfolding, since graduating.

Collage by: Tristen Pon

Additional drawings by: Henna Jamal