“A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.”

Coco Chanel’s lovely quote was mentioned to me by my hair stylist while I sat in the cute coastal-themed hair salon about to make a major change. Not only was I cut off 5 inches of my hair, I was dying it from my natural brunette to a bright honey blonde. I was also going through another change in my life.

After two and a half years in my current neuroscience research program, I was graduating with a masters and switching fields to pursue a career in science communication. After ten years of studying science to prepare myself as a research scientist, this switch was life-changing, and that made me realize the power of a good haircut.

Aside from the physical beauty that comes with trimming away those dead split ends and having a professional stylist create a perfectly coifed masterpiece, the process of cutting hair is often associated with times of change.

Hundreds of movies feature a woman cutting her hair in a pivotal scene when a drastic life event occurs.

From Tris Prior giving herself an ear-length cut after watching her parents die in “Divergent” to Mulan dramatically slicing her hair to shoulder length with a sword, these hair transformations not only symbolize a life event but signifies a control over their lives. Tris was living in a highly structured, controlling society before she hopped on the train to start a rebellion, Mulan was constricted by the pressures of her culture and was being prepped to find a husband before she disguised herself as a man to go to war.

In life, we often see women cutting their hair after a breakup, before a new job, or after a traumatic event.

It is a way to re-invent ourselves, change how we present ourselves to society in a statement of self-empowerment. It is, quite literally, a weight off our shoulders.

In my current work situation, I felt trapped. The road ahead filled me with dread instead of excitement. I knew that I had to make this change at this moment. With my hair, this change was not made in a split-second rash decision. I made the appointment two weeks in advance and I researched examples of different styles and colors on Instagram and Pinterest. I was 100% certain about my choice, and very satisfied with the results.

So, how did my new haircut work out for me in terms of my major life change?

The morning that I went to make my degree decision official, I was still extremely nervous. Nothing was going to cure that. But what I realized was during that morning, there was nothing left I could do to prepare, and that my worry was futile.

Instead, I focused on how easy it was to shampoo my very short hair and how smooth it felt as I was styling it. I noticed how the light reflected the highlights in my hair and how the blonde color brought out the blue in my eyes. I smiled. I felt good for the first time in a very long time.

I felt beautiful, I felt confident, and I felt fearless.