When I decided to get my septum pierced last Saturday, I made a very big decision. Even while just debating it with no one but myself, I knew people would be very critical of it. Some would like it and some would not. But that goes with anything.

I am a small eighteen year-old female. I have blonde hair with blue tips that have faded to a teal-green color. I have gauges, second lobe piercings, and an industrial bar. I wouldn’t think that adding another piercing to the mix would throw anything off.

However, when I started telling people I was thinking about getting my septum pierced, everyone felt the need to react. I wasn’t looking for approval, I was just looking for opinions. I watched a lot of youtube videos of people getting their septums pierced and their friends and family and everyone else loved it. That was not the case with me.

My two best friends both said it was going to be a bad idea. However, an ex-girlfriend highly encouraged it. My person-of-interest also said “Oh yes.” when I asked him if he thought it would suit me. This alone was enough to show me that it was a highly controversial piercing. (I didn’t tell my mom I was getting it, which was a big mistake, but I wanted to see her reaction when I came home with it.) Did it influence my consideration? Maybe a little bit.

Fast forward to the day of the piercing. I had my best friend, Jenna, there, and I kept telling her that I was super nervous, from the time we got into the car all the way to the tattoo shop. I couldn’t figure out what had me so worked up. When I got my industrial bar, I was perfectly calm. But this was something different. I was so nervous that it was making me nauseous. I signed the papers and was waiting for the piercer to set up. I kept telling Jenna that I couldn’t believe I was about to do this, that I was so nervous, and other things along those lines. The piercer called us in, told me where to sit and pierced me. She cleaned me up and told me to look at it in the mirror. I loved it. I was so happy with it. I paid her, we left, and I couldn’t stop smiling.

That day, I took so many more selfies than I would’ve on a normal day without my septum piercing.

I was happy with it. I feel like it added so much more to my face. Also, I’ve never liked my nose, and looking at it with my septum, I started to like it. My septum piercing makes me feel beautiful and so much more confident. It makes me happy.

However, it didn’t stop people from voicing their obvious dislike of it. In the first eight hours of having my septum pierced, I received multiple comments referring to my septum piercing as my “bull ring” or some variation of the same sort of insult. I didn’t expect everyone to like it. I didn’t expect everyone to lie and say it looked good if they didn’t think so, but I also didn’t expect them to be so rude.

When I came back to campus, it was obvious that I was turning heads. My professors all looked at me strangely when they saw it. People I passed in the hallways were staring longer than usual. I’ve had some people even come up to me, say they’ve seen me around before, and that I looked better without my septum pierced. What a rude thing to say to someone.

Here’s my take on it: I got my septum pierced because I wanted it pierced. I like it. I think it makes me look better. I think I look nice with it. I think it compliments my face. Also, more than anything, I think my opinion matters more than anyone else’s. It is my body. I will do what I want with it. And unless you are my mother or one of my close friends, I don’t care what your say is. Thank you for staring. Thank you for making your dislike obvious. It only fuels my self-confidence.