Ok, so I know boys are probably going to want to stop reading after like 2 paragraphs, just keep going! It's not really superficial.


I chopped my hair in 8th grade. I mean, it was at my ear. I hated it. I spent the next year growing it out to a normal length. Then I kept on growing it, only going in to get a trim every 3 months. So for the past 4 years, I had long, blonde hair. I liked it, but it got in the way. Try kissing a boy lying down and having all your thick hair cascade over his face, but because there's so much of it, that it's not really sexy but just... ew. And imagine hair that all sits together because it's too heavy to really FLOW. Yeah, it was bad. It looked good, sort of. Stylists always LOVED it, but you can't DO anything with hair that reaches the middle of your back except put it down or in an awkward pony.



So back to the days of living with Karen the Douchebag. I blabbed about cutting my hair constantly, maybe donating it to Locks of Love, but when it came time, I just couldn't. Instead, I got a trim and layers on the bottom (didn't look that different, just wasn't so heavy). Over the past two weeks, every time I walked past a salon, I squirmed. I knew it was time for a change, but I just was nervous; remembering my awkward middle school haircut made the thought of really changing kind of scary.


So friday between classes, I finally did it! I got a haircut! Not a trim! the real thing! I cut 5 or 6 inches off and now have shoulder length hair with lots of layers! The hairdresser (Kim at Nogginz on South U., I highly recommend her) was really excited to do a dramatic cut (I told her the length I wanted and to do whatever she wanted that would look good) so at first I was really nervous because some hairdressers are CRAZY. When she was done, I looked in the mirror and smiled. It was me, but me without the weight of so much hair. And without the same hair I'd been sporting since I was 15.


Ok, so here's the point to this really girly and superficial story:

I was sitting at lunch with my friend A one day, and being her real philosophical self said, "I've always felt that when you get a major haircut, it symbolizes making major changes in your life. My friend chopped her hair and broke up with her crappy boyfriend." It got me thinking. Was I afraid of this haircut because I was really afraid of changing myself? The more I thought, the more timid I got. Then my friend J, who has shaggy hair everyone loves, got his hair cut short for his internship. If everyone else could do it, why couldn't I? I wanted it, but at the same time it scared me SO MUCH. So much that on the walk to Nogginz from my dorm I almost turned around.


Walking back from Nogginz, I was so proud of myself. Silly, I know, but I faced the thing I'd been putting aside forever and just did it (the first time in a long time I didn't wait until my mom asked me to just go get a freaking trim-- and it wasn't just a trim!). Who knows if this haircut will brin major changes with it. Will I finally have the guts to tell the guy I've been crushing on since November that I think he's just awesome and that maybe we should hang out one-on-one instead of just at parties and in groups? Will I be a whiz at Calc? Will I get into the b-school? Will I finally tell my asshole boss he'd better send me the $350 he owes me or I WILL take him to small-claims court? Honestly, I don't know. What I do know is that I feel good about myself. Maybe that's where the confidence stems from? So go do what you've been putting aside. You'll feel better and positive energy will definitely radiate from you.

This post was originally written by E3
University of Michigan · Undecided · 04 Feb 2007