Park High School Senior Portraits in Downtown Hastings: Anita Tep

11/8/2021

This girl is working hard to take on the world. Meet Anita, a Park High School senior who is busy in student council, National Honor Society, yearbook, random acts of kindness, working, homecoming preparations, and golf this spring. Just the thought of all that brings me right back to my high school senior year – excitedly taking on the world and doing my hardest to prepare for the future. That’s why I particularly loved how we finished her senior photos outside of Geek Haven Coffee in Hastings with her laptop and planner in hand, because how true it photographs this stage of life – working hard and staying organized with all the things.

Anita is the oldest in her family. Her family lives in Cambodia, so on top of all her hard work, she has been living with her aunt’s family in Cottage Grove for ten years. She said it has been a little while since she’s seen her family especially with everything going on in the world since COVID. She shared about the challenges of staying connected, saying that they try to facetime and share about what is going on in the day-to-day. The more that I walked and talked with Anita, the more impressed I was with this girl. I’ve been working through the emotional intelligene section of Adulting 101: #LiveYourBestLife’s book 2 and on page 53 it talks about how:

“emotional intelligence is the ability to accurately perceive your own and others’ emotions; to understand the signals that emotions send about relationships, and to manage your own and others’ emotions. It is the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s own emotions. It is how we perceive people and how people perceive us, how we experience people and how they experience us."

All this to say, Anita is someone with some seriously natural and also intentional emotional skills. Her control of her emotions, the way she sounds to talks to herself amidst challenges, and how naturally she expresses gratitude is something that will help her achieve so much in life. Like Henry Ford says, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” Anita is someone who is willing to keep her head up amidst situations that could easily discourage or overwhelm.

Anita, thank you so much for the fun walking along downtown Hastings for your senior photos! I loved your adventurous heart, your drive for life, and your passion for those around you. Hope you have a great senior year and are able to continue to enjoy all your activities. Press on, girl, as life presses in all around you!

Hey! We're Mark & Lindsay!

We're a husband and wife wedding and portrait photographer team based in Cottage Grove, Minnesota! What exactly does that mean? You'll have to find out more about us but the basic idea is that Lindsay rocks all the portrait sessions and Mark joins in the fun for engagements and wedding days (because #lifewiththreekids)!

get to know us

i want photos taken!