After being teased for her haircut, Soliane Pells-Wehner learned not to focus on negative opinions.
I woke up on a Tuesday morning, and after the usual brief period of bliss, the reality hit me. I rolled around for 10 more minutes until the bed wasn’t as cozy as it just had been. I wandered into the bathroom and flicked up the light switch. I looked into the reflection of a young girl who had made a very bold decision the night before. My hair was no longer attached to my head.
I thought about the years of life my hair endured, now it is outside in a pile, waiting for birds to make it into a nest. Before I went to school, just to be safe, I put a beanie on. Just in case. I was prepared to face scrutiny as a sixth-grade girl with 2-inch long hair. Five minutes into that Tuesday morning, a boy ripped my hat off, and before I could look at his face to try and see what he thought, I heard laughter. I felt my cheeks burning up.
He told me “You look like a boy.” My haircut was the first thing people notice when they saw me, like a first impression with only the hair to base everything off of. I was the same exact person as I was before the chop, but I felt so different. The eyes that rested on me were curious, they were judgmental, and they made me feel bad. I just felt terrible.
Why did my self worth begin to disintegrate after a simple haircut? Why did it change my life so much? I like to think of my short hair adventure as a lesson life wanted me to learn. Perceptions and impressions aren’t always what they seem. I learned that I needed to take judgmental people and opinions about me with a grain of salt.