Opossums playing dead under extreme stress, much like us mentally shutting off to overwhelming deadlines The food chain in high school is a competition of popularity, it can be a wild jungle for whose who compete A group of sardines will form a fish circle in danger, pushing each other out to the edge of the circle to face the predators, a group project gone wrong A hoverfly mimics the apperance of a wasp, pretending to be dangerous to its predators An octopus uses camoflague to avoid attention, like a quiet kid who just wants to be left alone The flying fish skips out the water for a brief escape, similar to students day dreaming in class The porcupines spikes keeps other away, like an antisocial edgy teen The gecko drops its tail in a tight spot, some teens drop a part of their lifestyle to grow anew Ants will sacrafice themselves for the colony, the group mentality is core in team sports The texas horned lizard will spew blood out of their eyes as a last resort, a dramatic desperation move Close High School Self Defense “High School Self Defense” is a series of illustrations depicting various ways students get through high school using similar strategies as animal self defense mechanisms. Michael Zhang 2022 Maryam Sadeghpour Mitch Duncan