Curly and Young: Being Curly In Highschool

By NaturallyChelsea of Curly and Young and NaturallyCurly

At the beginning of my transition it never crossed my mind to be natural in high school. As far as I was concerned it was something you just didn’t do. I mean we are all just little fish in the big sea they call high school and no one wants to be the odd fish out.

Then one day without thinking I cut off my hair, I BC’d!!! When the euphoria and giddiness from my new do wore off I was left with the ‘What now?’ feeling. I mean there were so many things to think through- styling, the opinions of others, how to fit my new hair into my routine and much more. Well I do not want you to be like me so I’ve broken it down for all you lovely divas thinking about taking the plunge and joining team natural and those who are already naturally divalicious.

BEING FLY

I do not know about your school but at my school the girls take their hair very seriously. Weaves and wigs are always worn and hair is gelled, straightened and slicked into submission. This in and of itself scared me. How could I ever match up to those girls? Well I took affirmative action ladies and in my first week of being natural I tried at least 3 styles in one week. I wanted to find my signature look and be able to pull it off at the drop of a hat so at all times at school I would look my best.

Also, if you are anything like me you do not want those girls to outshine you. Sometimes I feel that it is my duty to keep my hair fly to prove to people that natural hair can be beautiful and maybe convince a few other girls out there to consider becoming natural.

Lastly, there are times when your hair may not look its best; be it a bad hair day, a protective style that isn’t too fly or maybe you just haven’t fallen in love with your hair yet, take heart. I can empathize with you as I have been there and all whilst beginning at a new school. The first day of school I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me especially when the comments began and when the cold came in and I began to twist my hair I quickly felt that my tiny scalpy twists looked ugly when compared to the tresses of others. Then I realized something- Who cares? As important as my hair is to me it isn’t the most important thing. Since going natural I have learnt many things and one of them is to let go of the idea that my hair defines my beauty. Simply by continuing to allow my inner beauty to shine through and trudging along despite of my insecurities I was able to make friends and get a guy to ask me out, scalpy twists and all.

Also, I urge you to wear your hair out and not hide it at the beginning of your natural journey. The first few days you may feel self conscience but it is imperative that you learn to be comfortable with your natural hair. The first few days may be rough but any negativity surrounding your hair, be it from others or you, will come to pass. Hang on in there

BOYS

The average teenage girl probably spends quite some time thinking of boys, thinking of ways to attract boys and worrying about whether or not she’s considered cute by the boy she likes this week, I know I do. One of the things that deterred me from cutting my hair, which I am ashamed to say, is the possibility of being labeled ugly by the opposite sex. Can you blame me though, no girl wants to be thought of as ugly by anyone let alone a guy? After my sporadic cut I actually avoided some of the guys I knew for awhile. Eventually I had to meet them and I dreaded what they had to say. But something weird happened, they liked my hair.

When you peruse some of the hair boards and forums you may get the feeling that men are somehow anti-natural hair- especially black males. I can not speak for every male out there but the ones I know loved my new hair and told me so. In fact I had convinced myself that no on would like my hair when in fact the opposite was true. Everyone seemed fascinated by my hair; they asked questions and couldn’t keep their hands out of it (I didn’t mind). We do not give boys enough credit. They can appreciate natural hair and find beauty in it. Also, they do appreciate and will choose substance over a relaxer or weave. However, there will always be ignorant boys but think about it, is this guy worthy of being your BF anyway?

SNOOTY GIRLS

Well this one is simple. In most cases a good side eye and or simply ignoring such girls usually does the trick. At first it may be hard to ignore the unsolicited comments of others but remember this is high school. Today you might be the talk of the school but tomorrow everyone will go back to talking about ‘Who’s dating who?’ and ‘Who did what with whom?’

TIME

I can not tell a lie, it is hard to schedule hair play into the hectic schedule of high school. Usually when I complete my mountain of work at sometime around 12 in the night the last thing that I want to do the following morning is style and moisturize. Also, when the weekend rolls around all I want to do is catch up on the sleep that I missed out on not cleanse, DC and style! The way to remedy this situation is to manage your time. I find that if I set a schedule for myself I can get everything done. This has not only helped me with my hair but with my school work as well as I am now more organized.

RESOURCES

As a new teen natural it is easy to become overwhelmed by not being able to afford all of the organic hair lines out there, but do not fret. There are plenty of affordable lines out there for you to try some of which can be found in our local beauty supply stores. Lastly, I am all for naturals whipping up their own hair products. Without being a pro you can easily whip up your own DC, sealant, twisting cream etc from inexpensive ingredients so get mixing.

Being natural in high school in a sea of straight makes you unique not an outcast. So makes the most of it and represent team natural well

Love, Peace and much hair grease (mineral oil and petrolatum free of course :-)

><> 

Check out a bunch of other posts by Chelsea by going through the links below.

You'll love them!

First Link

Second Link

So, have a great summer! and I'll talk to you guys later.

~SammyWithTheBigHair

p.s those posts 'ComingSoon' are going to come soon not today, maybe not tomorrow, but they're coming soon.