Hi Lisa,I'm sorry for the delay in responding. The inability to set a custom avatar picture is actually an explicit security setting on the forum here. It prevents potential spam and/or hacking problems from general registrants. We have had a number of spammers and "spambots" register here in the past, and in one instance we had a rather nasty porn-related poster (whom we fortunately caught fairly quickly). So we take a bit of extra precaution because of that. I apologize for the earlier misinformation but Marlina was unaware of this security measure.If and when you become a student you will of course be able to add your own avatar.- Oshyan