“Do you like my outfit?”

When I left for college, I feared more than just looking like a lost five-year-old at every party.

Do boys like extremely short girls? Where was I supposed to buy food? What extracurriculars would keep me occupied? And most importantly, what would my mother say about my outfit?

The last concern may seem trivial to you. However, as an 18-year-old, I couldn’t remember a time when I left the house without hearing, “thank God, I found those pants in the petite section” or “are you really going to wear that?” This lack of independence was taking a toll on my morning routine and making me late to class, so I did what every rational young adult would do. I took a picture of myself in a full-length mirror every morning and asked my mom, “do you like my outfit?”

These pictures went on for four years. I’d be sure to slam my laptop shut in class if I got a text from my mom because you never knew if a friend could get a glimpse of my array of weird mirror selfies. Sometimes I wouldn’t get a response until my day was over. I would lay in bed staring at the text “I don’t really like that together.” So instead, I went to sleep with the knowledge that my mom didn’t think my pants went well with the shoes I wore all day.

Today as a postgraduate I try to refrain from asking my mom if she likes my outfit. That was college, I’m a WOMAN now. Instead, she has saved every last photo and threatens to make it into a slideshow to present at my wedding one day. I have no regrets.

-Sarah Rosenthal