Senior season is approaching its end, but I’ve got a few final, stellar galleries to share with you before it’s all over. Today’s blog is all about a particularly special senior, Sami Kate Kickert, soon-to-be University of Alabama alum and Carli Jo’s sister!
Sami Kate began her journey at Alabama in the fall of 2020, arguably one of the most challenging times to be a college freshman. Nevertheless, she quickly found her niche by joining Calvary Baptist Church where she’d spend the majority of her time the following three years. She’s loved serving in the children’s ministry, and is looking forward to working full-time for the church after her graduation this May! Calvary has been such a large part of her journey, so it was only fitting that we started our session on its beautiful steps.
Sami Kate is graduating with a degree in Advertising and a minor in Religious Studies. She’s incredibly talented and always loved the creative freedom that her Advertising classes allowed for. Her sophomore year, she was selected to join The Minerva Project, the University’s prestigious two-year portfolio program. While in the program, she crafted and produced commercials for companies like Indeed and Curology! You can check out her portfolio here!
Carli Jo, Sami Kate’s older sister and my Studio Manager, joined us for the session, along with FOUR of Sami Kate’s sweet friends! Let’s normalize inviting all of your friends to your senior session to help hype you up…
It’s so telling that Sami Kate’s friends love her enough to come support her at 7:00am on a random Tuesday, but that’s just the kind of community she’s built! Her friendships have been one of the most important aspects of her life in Tuscaloosa. Additionally, every Monday night, she leads a “Life Group” of underclassmen, walking through the Bible with them and just talking about life as a college student!
On one fateful day in the Fall of 2023, Sami Kate and some friends were walking across campus when the tiniest black and white cat wandered out from underneath a bush. Naturally, she claimed him as her own and named him Skipper, and he’s now her pride and joy. A few days before our session, she had the incredible idea to include Skipper in her senior portraits, and it turned out SO STINKIN’ CUTE!
And, of course, we couldn’t pass by the walk of champions without getting a photo with the GOAT, Nick Saban.
If Sami Kate isn’t in class, at church or studying at home, you can guess with a 99% certainty that she’s on a pickleball court. In fact, the sport has picked up so much momentum on Alabama’s campus that they’ve turned half the tennis courts into pickleball courts! She’s become a bit of a prodigy, and her final request of the session was to end playing pickleball!
This was my second senior session at the University of Alabama, and I love it even more than the first go around! I had so much fun hanging out with Sami Kate and her sweet friends, and I can’t wait to hear about all the great accomplishments she makes at Calvary from Carli Jo!
