Wasted Years by Dorcas

Wasted Years by Dorcas - July 2017 Scholarship Essay

Hmmm, lots of ideas are running through my mind right now. Juggling through all of them, I feel the need to talk about ‘natural hair’. Yes, natural hair is beautiful. Growing up as an African minor, I use to admire long hair and the joy of just spending time at the saloon to perm one’s hair. It was the norm in my locality so children grow up thinking they need to perm or curl their natural hair with harsh creams.
Throughout my teenage and adult years, I have been perming my hair without knowing why I even do it. So just recently, I started questioning myself as to why I keep perming my hair but still loses my hair and even gets sores underneath my hair due to the harshness of the perming cream. I finally concluded that there was no need to keep perming my hair but wait, my natural hair is so difficult to maintain, right? Yes, it is, but due to human advancements, we now have combs that could help detangle my kind of hair. So now is it necessary to go through all the hurdle just to keep it straight.
I have not permed my hair for the past three months hoping to let the permed hair gradually shed by itself and to regrow my hair. Doing this will help me feel confident about myself and to also have a healthy hair and life. I cannot believe I have wasted all these years perming my hair for nothing but I am glad that I have come to light now.