My long, thick, curly hair is who I am. For my entire life, I’ve had the same hair to a point where it is a part of my identity. However, it does have its own struggles; it gets knotted, broken, or damaged. For me, my life is similar to my hair. There are ups and downs in life and knots and tangles in hair. Nobody is perfect and no one’s hair is perfect, but we all try our best to hide the flaws. I’m guilty of this myself. I’ve worn makeup to feel better, and I’ve dressed like those around me to fit in. But when I look in the mirror and see the same hair that’s been on my head for years, I think of my younger self.

So many times I’ve thought, “If only my 7th grade self could see me now.” I still do. In 7th grade, I wasn’t the most social person, which really had its effects. Once I joined BBYO, it took a minute for me to find my footing, but now I can speak with confidence to anyone. If I hadn’t had the experience I did, I wouldn’t be the same person I am today. So by looking at this mess of memories on top of my head, I’ve never forgotten where I’ve come from and who I am.

My life is nowhere near perfect. I don’t have the grades I want, I keep losing almost everything I run for, and my hair is always knotted. With the stress of school finals approaching, it’s been harder to relax. Due to the stress, my hair has been more knotted and damaged than ever. It’s really annoying when I’m getting ready in the morning. Sometimes, I don’t feel like dealing with my hair to the point where I just want to rip it out. Well, yes, by ripping out my hair, it’s one less thing I need to worry about. However, doing that action, I also know that it would be losing a core piece of my identity, of who I am. In other words, by doing this, I would be losing a core piece of my story.

Everyone’s hair is different. Some have short or long hair, but I believe hair tells the story of a person. Some people cannot grow hair, and because of that, their story is different. My story is that my hair is long, thick, and curly, with millions of memories woven into each strand of hair. Everyone’s hair is different, and everyone’s story is different. However, we do have one thing in common. We have a story to share through ourselves. We each have our own identity that no one can take from us.