Since I was little, I've always been told how thick my hair is. My mom took care of it and kept it moisturized. She always put different styles in my hair and a bunch of bows and beads. I hated those hair bows so much- they were the ones with a big ball on the end. They made my head sore and if I turned my head too quickly, they would smack me in the mouth. I tried my hardest to keep her from putting those bows in my head whenever she would go get the box full of hair supplies. I'd say that I'd really wanted beads instead and I think that something else would look nice.

I'd say my mom did a pretty good job with keeping my looking hair nice and making sure it was healthy. But there is one problem: she permed my hair. Oh, whenever I would see that "Just for Me" box, I knew my scalp was about to be fried. Whenever my mom would go buy the perm or take you to the salon, she'd tell me a few days beforehand to NOT scratch my head. I'd listen to a certain extent, but I mean there are some itches that won't go away by patting it.

I've always had a head full of hair, and to this day I still do. So, when they would start applying the perm, about 15 minutes in everything started burning. I'm whining and rushing for whoever was doing my hair to hurry up. But the finished product, to me, was never worth the burning and pain.

So, after my mom died, I proclaimed that I would stop getting my hair permed. I hated it and I didn't want to do it anymore. I started transitioning, not knowing that I was going natural. I just knew I had a bit more freedom to do what I wanted with my hair. I had my hair in box braids and when they were out, I would get a blowout. I still used heat to straighten my hair and keep it tamed. So, when the whole natural movement came around again and I realized that what I had been doing was part of it, I embraced it. It meant that I could wear my hair out without having to have it in a protective style if I didn't feel like it.

Thus, began my journey of understanding and figuring out my hair's needs. I didn't know anything about how to take care of my hair. My mom always did it and then Ashley would do it as well, which left me in the dark about my hair and pushed me towards Google in hopes of finding answers. It helped along with trial and errors. During the beginning of my journey, when I decided to wear my Afro and while it was a bit tangled, I also didn't know my hair then. If you were to compare my hair then to now, you would see how much better it's gotten. I used to get comments about how I needed to do something to my head and that I should get my hair straightened. In order for me to better my hair and my hair skills, I need to figure out what to do with it. My dad a negative comment about it but I shut him down with the fact that he doesn't have hair, nor has he ever taken care of my hair.

It kind of hurt my feelings that people were so negative about my hair. Even though my hair wasn't where it could have been, I was proud. I was doing something on my own and trying to learn how to do things on my own. I even did like my hair for prom.

When anyone with a tight curl pattern wears their hair natural, everyone always uses the term "nappy." They used it for my hair quite frequently. But they also said my hair was good because it was so thick and that the getting it permed didn't make it thick or brittle. I took compliments wherever I could.

My ex told me he didn't like my natural hair and that he preferred it straight. I couldn't keep my hair how he wanted it unless I got a weave, wig, or perm, and I wasn't going to go through that pain just to please him.

Since I've gone natural, it's been a struggle to find products that worked with my hair and learning that cutting my hair, wasn't as stressful as I made it out to be. I'm also still learning to love my hair and whenever someone compliments my puffs or Afros, I smile with my teeth and thank them. Like, thank you for appreciating my hair and the amount of effort it takes. Being natural is not easy. Some people think it's so much simpler being natural but you still have to take care of your hair. You have to get your ends clipped, keep it moisturized, and keep it in protective styles to keep from manipulating it too much.

So, to everyone with natural hair, keep on pushing because while everyone might not like it, it's not for them to like.