As the 2017-18 academic year approaches, we invite you to submit a photo that represents this time of transition, be it to kindergarten, college or grad school. Parents, show us your children as you let them go; students, show us the opposite. No need to be literal. Express yourself. Use this form to upload your photos.

Here are some responses we’ve already received, in readers’ own words, lightly edited and condensed.

Growing Up

“The first picture is 5-year-old me on the first day of kindergarten. The second picture is me on the first day of my senior year of high school.”

KAYE JENKINS, Occidental College (California), ’21

Moving In

“Only child. Worried and nervous! Packed up, drove and bam! Here, my daughter was having her stuff carried up to the room by a moving company.”

SANDRA DEI DOLORI, mother of Olivia, Syracuse University (New York), ’19

“How many engineering students does it take to loft a bed?”

SHELLY RANSOM, North Carolina State University, ’19

“Looking for ways to maximize space, my roommates and I tried to arrange our furniture differently.”

KELSEY THOMAS, Harvard (Massachusetts), ’20

Letting Go

“Going through a checklist with my dad that my R.A. gave us. My parents were really sad about letting me go. They had a huge part in setting up my room — from setting up the bed to hanging stuff on the wall and putting clothes away. They ultimately didn’t leave for back home until the end of the week!”

THERESE PANG, St. Edward’s University (Texas), ’20

“Friends.”

BRANDON GREENE, Florida State University, ’21

The Next Step

“Going back to school this fall means beginning my final year. I won’t be the only one getting ready to say goodbye — Thurber, our bulldog mascot, will be retiring at the end of 2017–18, when I graduate. To take his place, the university, after a long tradition of instating male bulldogs, appointed a female bulldog as the mascot-in-training.”

TAYLOR MATOUSEK, University of Redlands (California), ’18

“Going back to school has been the biggest investment in myself for my adult life. I felt much more motivated and focused, and I got more than all the rest of the years of my education.”

CHARISMA GLASSMAN, Harvard Business School, ’16

“Every June, alumni of Princeton congregate to remember and celebrate their collegiate experiences at reunions that capture the spirit of going back to school. In my eyes, the event represents some of the central themes of my own undergraduate experience: hope, excitement, beer and sheer fun.”

JI-SUNG KIM, Princeton (New Jersey), ’18