Many African-American women fear to cut their hair because at a young age they are told by the media, their parents and friends that they have to have long straight hair, or that the natural state of a young black girl's hair is nappy. Over the last five or six years, many women have jumped on the natural hair trend, embracing the beauty of the natural state of their hair.

What does natural mean one might ask? Well here's the Webster dictionary definition: "Existing in or caused by nature; not made or caused by mankind." My definition of being natural means, "Embracing one's beauty, whether it be hair or physical features, without the judgment of friends, family and society."

Here's my natural hair story: I like many other young black girls had been using a relaxer or perm in my hair ever since I could remember. So, transitioning from eighth to ninth grade I decided that I no longer wanted my hair to be straightened or use an enhancement in my hair. For the entire summer I was wearing my hair in funky styles; braids, blown out with a headband around and I even wear pigtails.

After a few months of those hairstyles, I really enjoyed it and I could tell that there was a difference with my hair already. The biggest reason why I decided to go full fledge natural and what I mean by that is: I did the big chop, cutting off all parts of my hair that are permed. My mother was the main factor of why I made the natural decision. She was already six months into her journey and I loved the way her hair looked. It was very thick and full, and she was always going on about how free she felt.

I wanted to feel that same freedom with my hair. For as long as I can remember, I've also been the kind of girl that just threw my hair in a ponytail and called it a day, unless my mom wanted to style it for me. As my freshmen year came to end, I really wanted to experience the freedom of my hair. So my mom told me that once school was out, if and only if I was serious that she would cut it for me. A few days into summer vacation, I had embarked on my natural journey which was four and half years ago.

About the middle of my senior year, I decided that I wanted something different. I had been accepted to an out of state school, I didn't feel comfortable knowing that I didn't have anyone to do my hair for me. I made the decision of getting my hair locked up, or dreaded up. I have always liked seeing well-maintained dreads. I figured that would be a good style for me since I barely liked doing anything to my free hair.

I was in the beginning stages of my lock journey and my hair was growing like wildfire. I was stressing about how I wanted my hair to look because I had to attend college orientation a few days later. I didn't want to look like "who shot john". So I confined what I was feeling in my mother. I didn't want to cut my hair again but I didn't feel comfortable with my hair looking a mess either. I decided to cut off all of my babies locks which had hung past my shoulders very quickly.

That same emotion of freedom overtook me. All I had to do was get up every morning and wet my hair, or if I didn't feel like doing that, I would just slide some conditioner through it. While being natural I never really experienced an "ugly phase", for lack of a better term I have "good hair" very curly and somewhat thick. My friends often get mad at me because I refer to my curls as, "Jesus hair." That's the confidence I have in myself, which is something else I learned while being natural. Which I totally understand now, being natural you do have to have a lot of confidence, because being a black woman with hair as low as a man. Many people will try to assume sexual orientation, or that being natural with low hair means that we don't care about ourselves or have low self-esteem. Which is not true at all, it takes a brave woman to walk around with a low fade and be able to ignore all the backlash that comes with being natural.

The final time I cut my hair it was the second semester of my freshmen year in college. I was really bored, I didn't have any friends, and I was stressing a lot due to being away from home and I had received bad news about my health. This is when I endured my ugly phase; my hair was really low like a fade, and it was uneven in some places. Luckily for me, it was the beginning of the year, so I could get away with wearing a hat all the time. You know that saying, "A person can be their own worst critic." Well, that's how I was. When it would get too hot in my classes, and I would remove my hat for a brief moment I would get all kinds of compliments. I wouldn't even take the compliment seriously or I would try to get that person to see the flaws that I saw. They never would and would tell me, "Girl you tripping. I wish I could rock a hairstyle that low."

So here I am seven big chops later... I can finally say that I don't have the need or want to cut my hair anymore. I've always been obsessed with seeing how fast my hair grows back and how my curl pattern looks different after every chop. Now I'm ready to fully enjoy my natural journey, which means no more chopping. I'm not making this decision because of friends, family or society. I'm doing this for me! With that being said, I want the world to know, I'm not my hair. Signed a sister, happy to be nappy!