In order to achieve academic success, one must dedicate an abundance of time and effort to their studies. “Successfully Getting Through High School and Off to College,” written by Patrick O’Sullivan, is an image essay that is dedicated to the journey of academic success. In this essay, the author portrays the necessary steps to obtain success. His work is comprised of seven images, all of which communicate a unique message to the reader. This essay tells the story of his own personal success that he experienced in high school, and what steps he took to achieve his goals. A few of the major visual elements that O’Sullivan uses throughout his work are facial and body expressions, color scheme, and size or location of the images. Collectively, these elements help communicate his personal journey of academic success to the audience. 

The first two images that O’Sullivan displays are comics that represent the two most primitive steps to obtaining academic glory. Image number one is a depiction of attending class, which includes five children, sitting at their desks, with illuminating smiles. A few different visual elements are present here in order to represent the importance of attending class. The most important visual element is the location of the image. O’Sullivan chose this as his first image to indicate that it is the most important step to reaching academic success. Another major visual element of this image are the facial expressions of the students. The glowing smiles on their faces indicate that they are all attending class with positive attitudes. The final visual element in this image is the body language of the students. All five of the students are sitting upright and appear ready to learn. The author uses this image to represent the first step to reaching academic success, which is attending class with a positive attitude and a readiness to learn.

Image number two portrays several students with their hands eagerly raised. This image represents the importance of participating in class through the use of three different visual elements. The first important visual element is the fact that it is located on the first page. The author positions this image here to highlight the importance of class participation. The other two important visual elements of this image are body expressions and artistic detail. First, the students are all smiling, sitting up straight, and every student has their hand raised. This element tells the reader that these students are participating in class because they are interested, not because they were forced to. Secondly, the artistic details used here are little scribble marks drawn around the student’s hands and the blurriness of the image. The scribble marks illustrate the back and forth motion of the student’s hands as they are raised in the air. This detail indicates how eager and excited they all are to be chosen by the instructor. This image is slightly blurred in order to represent the digression of participation as students age. The students in this image are older than the ones in the first image, therefore, O’Sullivan uses a blurred image to communicate to the audience that as students grow older, their drive to participate dwindles. The author includes this image to discuss the importance of participating in class all throughout one’s years of schooling.  

O’Sullivan’s third and fourth images are indicative of his last two major steps to achieving academic prowess. In the third image, a boy can be seen completing his homework assignments. The boy is alone in the picture, which is important because the author is trying to communicate to the reader that isolation is often times helpful when trying to finish work efficiently. Also, the boy’s facial characteristics suggest that he is relaxed and thinking deeply about his assignment. Finally, the boy is laying on the ground, probably because he enjoys utilizing all the open space. The author’s message here is that in order to achieve optimal results, it is important to find an environment that is quiet, isolated, and spacious. The next image portrays a boy studying for his examinations. The boy’s facial expressions suggest that he is mind-blown with the amount of material he is studying. Additionally, there is a medium shot of the boy which focuses on his upper body. This shot features his hands on his head and his distressed face, which further shows his overwhelmed state. Lastly, the plethora of open textbooks on the table suggests that the boy is studying vigorously for an upcoming test. Each one of these visual elements culminates to convey the authors message that intense studying is vital to one’s academic triumph. 

After the first four images were focused on the steps to reaching success, these next two images are dedicated to celebrating one’s academic accomplishments. Image number five is arguably the most impactful piece of this work. First and foremost, this is the only image crucial enough to occupy its own page. The size of this image allows the reader to understand the magnitude of this part of the essay. In this image, there are students seen walking out of school with their arms raised above their heads and they are all smiling from ear to ear. These visual elements describe the joy these students are experiencing after completing four years of rigorous academics. Most importantly, this image captures the exact moment that the students realized all of their hard work has paid off. O’Sullivan’s penultimate image is a picture of him and his parents on graduation day. An important visual element in this image is the color scheme. The pearly white tuxedo, and sharp red bow tie and cumber bun, imply that this day is an extraordinarily important one. The background indicates that the photo takes place in a home, despite a typical occasion for a tuxedo usually being a special event, like a wedding. This detail suggests that something special must have been occurring, like a high school graduation. Further, the parent’s facial expressions demonstrate a sense of pride in their son’s accomplishments. Ultimately, the author is stressing the importance of working hard to eventually reach the point of finishing exams and graduating with no regrets.

To begin his conclusion, O’Sullivan includes an image of the magnificent Darla Moore School of Business. The obvious visual element here is the breathtaking color scheme. The electrifying colors here give the reader the idea that if one works diligently in high school, he or she will attend a university as spectacular as Darla Moore. The energetic colors of the sky also add to the sentiment that this school is a very desirable institution to attend. This last image serves as motivation for the audience. In other words, this image portrays the potential next step in one’s academic endeavor if he or she works vigorously throughout high school. Despite the last image inspiring the audience, the essay, in its entirety, was not merely a motivational piece. As stated earlier, this image essay was also a representation of O’Sullivan’s high school success story. Many different interpretations would agree that this image essay was an attempt to illustrate his own academic success. However, there is another prevalent interpretation regarding the intended message of the author. This final interpretation of the image essay suggests that this piece was meant to inform other students about how to achieve their academic goals. Without question, O’Sullivan’s image essay is open to a multitude of different interpretations. O’Sullivan’s broad use of visual elements helped contribute to the multifaceted interpretation that the reader is left with.
