Vintage jacket / Susto the Label blouse / Zara tweed top and skirt / Public Desire boots

The last time I found myself in a letterman jacket was in my first year; I was 17 and had just landed my first magazine job. I was in a rattier version of a letterman during a chilly, air-conditioned history class the moment I heard a ring from my phone. The first subject being an e-mail that I had made it to the final cut and can come for an interview with the magazine. I was ardent about life and the industry — juggling between article deadlines and this very personal space all while staying on top of my school workload. My parents still figuring out how “taking pictures” and “writing about it” could make a career and I, on the other hand, still figuring out where I stood in any of it.

Ironically, I find myself in the same position four years later except my parents have grasped the idea of what blogging is. Or at least they try to. And me, back in a letterman, pondering over how I managed to multitask a job, a blog and university without going into hibernation for at least three days. Maybe it was being new to caffeine and I’ve gradually developed a sort of immunity to it (really, coffee is milk to me now) or my persuasion has depleted overtime — which I credit to years of freelance exhaustion and an ungodly amount of floor plans and three-point perspectives (because sure, let us blame the beverage).

Moving beyond my nostalgia, if there’s any takeaway from this last set I shot with Aya is that 1) you can not break a sweat in three layers of clothing if done in the most forgivable month of December and 2) campus life is beautiful if you actually stop and take a moment to look around. Again, seize the moment kiddos.

Sincerely, a nostalgic senior student.

Photography by Aya Cabauatan