I don't know when I first visited the thought of going natural. I know it was while I was completing my undergraduate degree in biology at Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (GO RATTLERS!!). Being at an HBCU (historically black collge or university) I saw all kinds of "black folks" with all kinds of "black folks" hair. You name it it was there on campus. But it was here where I became more acquainted with the natural hair of african americans. My freshaman year, a girl (what upTiffany!)  in my biology lab transitioned from this thick permed hair (that I thought was gorgeous) to a natural 'do. That was the first time I had known someone personally who went through the process. By the time I graduated I saw at least four more people do the same thing. I always wanted to go natural because I think somewhere in the back of my brain I knew that relaxers weren't good for my hair. Ironically, I didn't because I was afraid to cut my hair off and reveal my thin edges... do you see the irony?? Had I stopped relaxing then, I'd probably have better edges by now.

 

I don't even remember my natural hair. I know I have pictures from kindergarten that I clearly have a perm in (TCB I think it was). My mother did stop perming my hair in the 6th grade in an attempt to salvage it from the breakage I was experiencing. A year later, we we're relaxing again. And that's been the case since then. I'va occasionally worn braids... actually I did a lot when I was in elementary school. When I reached middle and highschool, I usually did braids in the summer. I do know that people would always say "girl, you don't need a perm" when I told them it was time for a touch up. Or they would laugh when I told them that a JUST FOR ME got my hair bone straight. And whenever I went to a new hairstylist, she'd always comment on how "soft" my hair was when I tried to explain that I could never hold a curl.

 

Now that I'm in graduate school, I've found myself thinking about chopping off my relaxed hair. My hair has grown back since my senior year at FAMU... I can put it in ponytails and everything. It's well past my ear and even longer in the back (yes it's uneven). I only grew the cut out (which I thought was my best look) to please someone else (HI SWEETIE). But i'm over that now and so is he. 

 

Longer story as short as I can make it... in an attempt to have healthier hair that doesn't dictate my activities (i love to dance and work out)...I've decided to start my NAPTURAL journey.

 

I'm a master's student in Biology at Georgia State in Atlanta right now. I'll be studying to take the MCAT over my summer break while I'm transitioning. The MCAT is on August 16 and I'll take it when I get back to Atlanta (I'll be at home in Mobile, AL for the summer). So after about 20 weeks in transition, I'll celebrate getting through the MCAT a few days later by doing my BIG CHOP!!