I used to dye my hair a different color every year. Searching for a place to fit in, trying on different personas, I was lost and looking to find myself in a store-bought bottle of bleach.
My gateway to dyes was the straightening every morning in middle school. I wanted the stereotypical “don’t talk to me” vibe. It stemmed from a mix of negative emotions; switching between mom and dad, meeting expectations, making friends, all combined with being thrown into a new school. This was all bottled up unit the second year of middle school, when I became loud, openly questioning authority, discarding my old friends for temporary, bad-influence kids, scowl seemingly tattooed on my face. I gave everyone a hard time, especially my mother. Much like my hair, school was …show more content…
Working with the children at the summer program really spoke to me, finally connecting all the dots. My natural hair came with me to the program and to my job interview, and it was with me when I realized I wanted to be a teacher.
Senior year everything fell into place. My job started the first day of school, as did my presidency of the FCCLA. Leadership positions used to be something I shied away from. Natural Alyssa has aspirations the other Alyssas never would have dreamed. As natural as my hair that grew back, my dream to become a teacher fell into place. I am focusing my energy on becoming a teacher, through coursework, my job, my volunteer work.
I see myself working with kids who are struggling. I want to guide them, support them, instill within them that love of learning that I developed for myself. Teaching is something I have to do, something everything in my life has been leading up to. Going through the straightening, the hair dying, all those months of building it back up, and growing my hair out naturally. It was a confusing path, but it lead me to my
My gateway to dyes was the straightening every morning in middle school. I wanted the stereotypical “don’t talk to me” vibe. It stemmed from a mix of negative emotions; switching between mom and dad, meeting expectations, making friends, all combined with being thrown into a new school. This was all bottled up unit the second year of middle school, when I became loud, openly questioning authority, discarding my old friends for temporary, bad-influence kids, scowl seemingly tattooed on my face. I gave everyone a hard time, especially my mother. Much like my hair, school was …show more content…
Working with the children at the summer program really spoke to me, finally connecting all the dots. My natural hair came with me to the program and to my job interview, and it was with me when I realized I wanted to be a teacher.
Senior year everything fell into place. My job started the first day of school, as did my presidency of the FCCLA. Leadership positions used to be something I shied away from. Natural Alyssa has aspirations the other Alyssas never would have dreamed. As natural as my hair that grew back, my dream to become a teacher fell into place. I am focusing my energy on becoming a teacher, through coursework, my job, my volunteer work.
I see myself working with kids who are struggling. I want to guide them, support them, instill within them that love of learning that I developed for myself. Teaching is something I have to do, something everything in my life has been leading up to. Going through the straightening, the hair dying, all those months of building it back up, and growing my hair out naturally. It was a confusing path, but it lead me to my