I had quite an eye-opening experience last week. I walked into my 11 a.m. class and sat down like I do every Tuesday and waited for the professor to arrive to start class. Like usual the professor started with a class discussion, and then as she passed out some handouts, she took attendance. When she came to me on the attendance sheet she called my name aloud, I responded with “here” and waited for her to move on to the next student, but she didn’t. Instead, she said, “Well it seems you’ve missed quite a few days. We’ll be in touch.” I was stunned. That was impossible unless I slept for a whole week and didn’t realize it. I approached her after class and asked why I was marked absent because I hadn’t missed any classes yet. At first, she didn’t want to believe me, but after I explained everything we had done since day one, she gave in. She didn’t take the blame, though, surprisingly enough. What she said was, “Well I guess I just didn’t recognize you without all the purple in your hair.”

And now as I sit down and write this, I think about how many strange encounters I have had with people since I dyed my hair purple. I reflect on the humiliation and the shame people have made me feel just because I decided to be a little different. It’s awful. I can’t even explain the feeling of being at work (one of my happy places) and trying my hardest to help a customer find a book they are looking for and being totally blown off because somehow they made a judgment that I had no idea what I was talking about. It made me feel helpless. They never even gave me a chance to change their mind.

My point in writing this all down is that never in my life have I ever felt so down on myself because of who I am and what I look like. I have always been happy in my body and happy with my personality. But I know that what happened to me is nowhere near as bad as the treatment that a majority of the people in this world face every day of their lives because of their skin tone, or the amount of money in their bank account. There’s no need to try to get to know a person because miraculously everyone thinks they can judge a person and know exactly who they are just by their appearance. And the small town, white girl that I am had never experienced disrespect that was so soul crushing until I dyed my hair purple. That’s something I chose, though. I cannot even fathom being disrespected because of a characteristic that I have no control over. A characteristic that has been brutally stereotyped. And those stereotypes say nothing about who I really am.

I feel that this is an issue that will never go away because some of us are too stubborn to change, but I know I’m willing to change and I know there are so many people in this world who understand what I’m talking about. I’m willing to slow down in my life and make sure to treat every person I encounter with the respect that I wish to receive. Even if they judge me by my purple hair. Maybe I can stun them with my absolute politeness and cheerfulness despite their bad attitude. And maybe I can make someone who has had a rough day smile and think “maybe there are still good people in this world.” And cheesy as it is to say, "be the change you wish to see in the world."