High school is the time when a person finds themselves. This is the time when students find their groups, their interests, and find an idea for their future. It’s the time to explore new things and change up old things, like style. 

“I’ve definitely changed a lot from freshman year,” junior Seoyeon Park said. “Before quarantine, I was scared to be different in any way, I would dress in the same plainclothes that everyone else was wearing, and I wouldn’t feel like myself at all.”

Before quarantine many students’ styles were similar. It was less popular to have colored hair and a unique fashion sense, but quarantine opened up individuality. It allowed people to explore their differences and love them. 

Life is about expression. One popular way of expression is hairstyles. This ranges from how hair is cut, colored, or just simply done. Hair is an important part of self-expression because it’s one of the first things that people notice. Hair is perfect for making a person feel more like themselves. Before quarantine, Seoyeon Park had long black hair. Now she has short half-dyed pink hair.

“It seems like such a small change when you think about it,” Park said. “But every time I look in the mirror the person staring back at me, is everything I want to be”

Originality is a difficult thing to achieve because with it comes many fears. There’s the fear of feeling alone and the fear of not being accepted for who you are. Then there’s the aspect that students in high school are surrounded by people who aren’t accepting. With all this in mind, being different in any way is terrifying, but it is also the most freeing thing a person can do. 

“On the first day of school, I was scared people would judge me for my bright and different hairstyle,” Park said. “But the fear slowly dissolved because I was simply being myself.”

Without expression, there would be no individuality and no sense of self. Over quarantine, many people changed their self-expression, because it was a time when one could take a break and just reflect about themselves and their life. As the school year started up again after Covid-19 it was astounding to see the variety of hair colors and styles. 

“I didn’t recognize half of my friends from freshman year,” junior Rebecca Figueora said. “It was really cool to see how much they’ve evolved into themselves.”

Rebecca Figuero’s dream job is to be a hairstylist. She thinks hair is a powerful thing that can make people feel more connected to themselves. It allows change to a person who needs it, and it allows people to explore within themselves. 

“My favorite part of this school year was seeing all the varieties of hair,” Figuero said. “It’s amazing that you can see different stories for each person just by their hair.” 

This school year, it is not rare to see colored hair, or different hairstyles, at all. Quarantine definitely had its pros and cons, but everyone can thank it for supporting self-expression and individuality.