If it’s not on Instagram, did Fall actually happen?
1. #Rotunda
This is probably your first picture at UVA, possibly taken during Days on the Lawn, or maybe at Orientation or Move-in if you were a late arriver to the UVA Instagram game. How would all of your loyal followers know how beautiful UVA is and how excited you are to be here without a picture of you posing in front of the most heavily under-construction building on grounds? After all, beauty comes from within. Within many, many, many layers of scaffolding, that is.
2. First football game! #girlsinpearls #guysinties #GoHOOS!
This is an essential post for 2 reasons: 1) it shows that you have school spirit (HOO wouldn’t?!?), and 2) it shows that you look really cute and so does everyone else here. Where else are guys wearing ties and girls wearing pearls while standing up for 4 hours, cheering on a football team? Probably somewhere, but definitely not somewhere that is as well documented on Instagram as UVA!
3. #FallColors
Fall is undeniably the prettiest season on Instagram, thanks to all the filters that make any picture you take have that beautiful “fall glow.” Even so, everyone knows that fall is actually prettiest at UVA. Nowhere else do leaves change colors so beautifully and fall into little piles so picturesquely. What better way to celebrate the great fortune of seasonality than 1-3 posts documenting the beauty of fall on grounds?
4. Thomas Jefferson Appreciation
I don’t care how you do it, but Thomas Jefferson has to make it onto your profile in some form. Whether you update your profile to say “In a Relationship with Thomas Jefferson” or you post a picture hugging any of the various statues of him around grounds, or even caption every existentially contemplative photo you post with a quotation made by TJ. If you have done one of thoses, your duty is done.
5. Apple Picking
Apples are just okay when it comes to the definitive ranking of fruits, but the moment you become a UVA student, you must develop an undying love and appreciation of apple picking. It doesn’t even matter if you don’t actually like apples, as long as you can get a cute picture in front of the orchard while you’re up there. Be sure not to make any mention of how ungraceful apple picking actually is, and definitely do not showcase how you actually had to become one with a tree (in that REALLY cute outfit you decided to wear) just to find a decent-looking apple, pick it, and then accidentally drop it in the dirt on your struggle back down the tree. You may or may not fall, trip, or scream while picking apples, but, no matter the case, apple picking (and its documentation on social media) is an essential bonding experience between UVA students. As always, bonus points are awarded for witty captions!
If you’ve successfully completed these posts, congratulations and welcome to the UVA Instafam. If not, don’t worry! Fall is just beginning, and you’ve still got some time before it leaves.
Show me your favorite UVA Instagram pictures with the hashtag, #UVAInstaFam!