The roots of my hair are pitch black – dark as night; the individual strands are thick and heavy. When my hair hits the sunlight, it turns dark brown. The individual strands are speckled with a few dust particles; they look almost translucent.

My hair has been through many exciting journeys.

In fourth grade, it endured days of endless dandruff, whose flakes and particles were finally banished with a medicated shampoo.

In sixth grade, it was dyed red, with streaks running all through my hair.

Since then, it has battled multiple dye-jobs, both professional and amateur; last summer, the ends were tinged electric pink.

Having long hair is weird. Males wonder if it’s a hassle. Does it get caught in hooks? Does it tangle? I think my ethnicity sort of comes into play; I can say with confidence that my hair rarely gets tangled.

I have no incentive to drastically cut my hair. It’s really an issue of facial proportion, and I think I have one of those faces that just looks better with long hair. Girls with short hair are easily mischaracterized as feminists or radicalists, when in reality some just don’t enjoy the weight, or are following the newest fads (bobs, pixie cuts).

Long hair means braids: a constant distraction for my restless fingers.
It means messy buns and simple ponytails and swishing it through the air every chance I get. It means sympathizing with other girls with straight hair and wishing for curly hair while the curly-haired girls watch us with envy of our stick-straight hair.

It means sleeping in braids and waking up to beautifully crimped hair,

It means pure joy the first time you buy a curling iron.

Yet, my inability to walk into a hair salon and request a cut indicates that I am afraid of change! I can’t even gather the courage to change the part in my hair. The minuscule risk of it not looking as good as it could be gets blown up, and deters me from allowing my hair to change.

I am still conflicted as to whether or not I should finish out the summer with ridiculously long locks, or to make the big move.