I believe that it is a fact of life that having a good headshot comes in handy. Humans are notoriously good at facial recognition, so seeing someone’s face is a lot more memorable than just hearing a name. Still, they’re not necessarily the first thing someone considers when thinking about professional life. For a long time, I thought headshots were only for Broadway performers or aspiring movie stars. But even when I realized that I should really have one for my still-unfinished LinkedIn account, I had no idea where I was supposed to get one.

Good headshots are hard to come by, as they’re hardly a DIY endeavor. I’ve yet to see a professional headshot selfie, and even if I could rope a friend into taking a semi-professional photo, the background would have to be whatever bit of uncovered dorm-room wall we could find. On top of that, I am somewhat tragically unphotogenic. I have the tendency to look like I don’t have a soul whenever I smile for a camera. The various school, government, and friend mandated pictures of me are all embarrassing to various degrees.

Fortunately, the headshots taken this evening by Patricia Wall were not like the other school, government, and friend mandated pictures. Namely, she didn’t just take one picture and let me deal with the facial contortion I chose for the picture later. Instead, she gave everyone tips on how to sit, took a few pictures each, and let us look at them afterwards so we could decide if we liked them. For that, I’m extremely grateful. Furthermore, I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to get a professional photo taken of me. It’s a small detail, but an important one, and something I would have had a hard time getting on my own.

I’m looking forward to finally having a good picture of me.