I think that everybody (those on Williams Campus specifically) has something to be proud of such as intelligence or even athletic ability. For me, it’s my hair! Being natural in a place where it may seem foreign is a very invigorating feeling and I recommend it to every black girl on campus.
First things first what does it mean to have natural hair or be natural? Being natural refers to the fact that your hair still kinks and coils without extra chemicals added. Natural hair is still natural regardless of being covered by wigs or weaves; as long as it’s still the texture that your Mama gave you. Just like all things that are valuable and precious you have to input a lot of work to output perfection. Obviously all hair needs to be managed and taken care of, but for me, as a black girl it’s more like a ritual. My hair always needs the extra oils, special shampoos, and conditioners, and a lot of time and effort. This is where Williamstown makes it a little harder to support my hair type.
The first struggle that I feel like a lot of black girls on campus can relate too is washing. I was lucky enough to get a roommate that I was comfortable having my washed hair out with or comfortable with watching me undoing my box braids. But for a lot of girls out there in doubles or bathrooms shared with many guys, the struggle is real when you finish washing your hair and it has shrunk to half the size, and you look like 12 year old boy. I understand. What I do to deal with this is plan my hours of washing and maintenance like it’s homework. It’s a separated time when the bathroom traffic is a little less. Sometimes I like to bring a shower cap to put over my head and my hooded robe after washing my hair. For those of you fine with the hair shrinkage look, ROCK IT!
Another problem in Williamstown is that we are in a Natural hair product desert. The widest variety is probably shea moisture at Rite aid and a couple other well known products at Walmart. And we all know neither Walmart nor Rite aid are directly next to campus. All the hidden gems such as corner shop’s no named brand creams, black castor oil, and etc have no place in the shelves of these big stores. But lets face it there wouldn’t be a little shop like that in Williamstown any ways. For me, Amazon and my Mom are my best friends. Certain products that I love I get on Amazon. Other products, I try to give my Mom a list and in return she makes a little care package of products that I need or anything new that she likes. I also have friends that go to colleges where the beauty supply stores are not sparse and I get cute little packages from them as well.
In Williams you may get the occasional “is that your real hair?” when you have box braids in or “Wow I didn’t know you could get it so straight!” when you have that nice new wig that you felt great about before the questions, or even the “wow it’s so curly, didn’t know it was possible for your type of hair!” when you just spent all night on your bomb twist out. But for me, I never look at the questions as annoying; I welcome the questions! I simply take pride.
Be confident, It means your hair is different! Your styles vary! You can go straight, curly, wavy, blonde, and brunette all without even picking up a hot comb. My hair embodies me as a dynamic person with many sides and I would never change that!