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this evening, one of my best friends, emma, will be watching skam with me for the first time. 

when we were first getting to know each other, a little over a year ago on the almost always vacant floor of the department store we worked at together, we would talk for hours without interruption. most of our conversations were centered around asking each other about our opinions on topics, or listing out favorites of different types of things. one conversation i can distinctly remember was when she asked me to name 5 tv shows that have shaped me the most as i grew. instantly only two came to mind, and i racked my brain for another half hour or so trying to think of another few to add to the list while she completed a task. however, i could only confidently name those original two. sure, i had grown up on prime early 2000s disney channel, and in middle school i stayed up on school nights secretly watching gossip girl on my ipod touch. but nothing else could i look in the mirror and see the lasting effects of today.

the first show was the rachel zoe project. i had a young mom who was obsessed with reality tv as it dominated the 2000s networks and she watched probably any one you could name, whether it was a classic still on today like teen mom, or a random oxygen channel one only 3 people tuned into. the rachel zoe project followed a prominent celebrity stylist in LA and i credit it 100% with my life long love for fashion. the way they talked about clothes spoke right to my barely developed 7 year old soul and to this day i feel a deep connection to the way i dress and fashion as an art form. i even was convinced until very recently that i would work in the fashion industry my entire life, all though that is a different post for another day.

the second was skam. i found it through tumblr, on my old account long deleted, when noora’s season was airing. of course it was those infamous frames of them laying in bed that were everywhere. when i finally got a hold of a google drive file to watch the translated first season, i finished it in two days, only stopping for school. the moment it grabbed me was when they used a world alone in the second episode. and the moment it had me forever was the infamous clip of all of the girls walking into the party, dick in the air by peaches scoring the moment. as i caught up to the airing season, a new love blossomed for me as i watched the clips and instagram posts roll up in real time.

the lasting effect of skam i see in my reflection today. my bleached hair is a direct pull from noora. the light wash jeans and button ups that take up the majority of my wardrobe, the light grey overcoat i found a few weeks into my obsession on sale at h&m. if i wear lipstick its only red. nowadays noora amalie sætre doesn’t dominate by everyday life, but from 2016-2018 she had me in a chokehold. every outfit was pulled from her and i chopped my gorgeous long hair and curtain bangs into a short platinum bob. skam even snuck its way into a poetry anthology i had to write for my final project in Pre AP Lit, where i mentioned it in my forward focused on the lack of realistic and relatable teen media.

skam is a big key into understanding me, who i was years ago and who i am now. i am so excited to share it with her, and if i decided to share it with you, know it means you are important.