I HATE. HATE. HATE, GETTING MY HAIR BLOWED DRIED.

I woke up in the morning thinking it was going to be an amazing day but I was wrong.
Really wrong.
Right before Christmas Break in 2019, My mom told me she wanted to take out my hair.
She told me “Pumpkin come on, let’s tackle these braids and get it over with.” I replied “
Ok mummy but after you’re done do you think I can wear my hair in an afro” . My mom
replied with an “ of course ” . After that answer nothing could stop me from saying “ are
you done ” every five minutes. Fast forward, my mom was on the last braid and I was so
EXCITED !! We were finally done but my mom said ” we have to blow dry this hair “ ,
after I heard that my smile quickly faded away . I HATE . HATE . HATE , GETTING MY
HAIR BLOWED DRIED. I let her but it felt like my mom was burning my scalp, like my
scalp was melting, like she was setting my hair on fire. Now don’t get me started on the
hard brush and comb as that was a bad combination between my scalp burning and the
brush playing tug-a-war in my head. When I heard that blow dryer turn off I quickly
dashed to the bathroom to see my hair. I looked in the mirror and I saw my big, huge,
fluffy afro. I loved it . My mom came into the bathroom and said “ well you weren’t
playing when you said you wanted an afro.” I replied ”Nope, not one bit ”. After that my
mom put my bonnet on and walked me to my room and said “ good night pumpkin “ .The
next day I woke up and put on my uniform . It was nothing fancy, just a navy blue shirt
and khaki pants . But that didn’t stop me from having the highest self esteem I have ever
had. Fast forward to school. Everyone loved my hair except this one 4th grader . She
bullied me so badly my ”highest self esteem” went all the way down to my lowest self
esteem. she said things like ” eww why is your hair like that ”, “ You look ugly!”, but I
stood up for myself even though I was scared .
I remember that day when I didn’t look like any of those other kids but that’s ok because
you may not always look like everyone but you will look like YOU! That’s all that
MATTERS. Now today, NOBODY can stop me from wearing my BIG, FLUFFY, HUGE
AFRO! It is a part of me. Always remember that nobody should stop you from being
yourself. “ Don’t be scared, stand up for yourself without hesitation and without
desperation. Be fierce. Be COURAGEOUS ” !

This story was initially submitted at MAXCourage. For over 30 years, MAXCourage has created a platform for teens to tell their stories of courage.