Latest / The Tight Curls Project / Curls, Campus & Community: Hair Confidence, Finding Your People & Thriving in College

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Curls, Campus & Community: Hair Confidence, Finding Your People & Thriving in College · The Tight Curls Project

0:08
Hello, and welcome to the Tight Curls Project podcast.
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I'm your host, Shadia, and we have a special guest today.
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Her name is Jayden Pupoh Welcome, Jayden
0:17
Hi, thank you so much for having me
0:19
Excellent.
0:19
We're so happy to have you here.
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Let me give the audience a little taste of who you are and what
0:23
we're gonna get into today.
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Jayden is a third-year honor student at UNC Chapel Hill studying journalism
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and sociology through the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
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Her primary passion is storytelling, specifically with the intention
0:36
of diversifying the voices and perspectives we hear from.
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This upcoming year, Jayden will serve as the vice president of
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the Black Student Movement, UNC's largest cultural organization.
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Congratulations and welcome, Jayden.
0:49
Thank you so much.
0:50
I'm really excited
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Yeah.
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So we are excited.
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I think you came into our radar as a guest because of your storytelling and
0:57
your experience sharing in the class, and we thought you probably have some
1:01
great stories about your experience growing up with your hair and also as
1:05
a student at UNC and how that comes to be a part of your experience.
1:09
So we can get into it.
1:12
You ready?
1:13
Yep, I'm ready
1:13
So what was little Jayden like?
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What was little Jayden's experience with her hair?
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You can tell us a little bit about how you started thinking about your
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hair, your first earlier memories.
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Yeah, I think it's actually kind of interesting whenever I think about my
1:27
hair whenever I was younger, because one thing that, has been the most notable
1:31
about my hair and my hair journey is my hair texture actually changed pretty
1:35
dramatically whenever I was growing up.
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My curls used to be pretty loose.
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I wouldn't say super loose, but it-- instead of like you can see now my
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hair sort of goes up and out, and it tended to grow down, before.
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And I remember my mom telling me that, whenever I was growing up, my hair was
1:53
too fine and too loose to hold a braid.
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And I think that, yeah, it was really, it was, it was almost a struggle,
2:00
just a little bit in terms of figuring out how to do my hair because
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Well, for one, I'm biracial, so my mom is white and my dad is Liberian.
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And so we would go to like Liberian aunties and stuff like
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that, and they would try and braid my hair and it wouldn't hold.
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And so that is where we learned like, okay, this is not gonna
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be an option for me and my hair.
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So then it's so then what do I do with it?
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And I think my earliest memories and associations with my hair was
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not-- it never was negative, which was nice, but it was just like it's
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clear you don't know what you're doing with it and it's just everywhere.
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It's dry usually.
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I also did swim growing up and so like we didn't know how to protect my hair
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from chlorine and things like that.
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But I would wear it out all the time or I would wear it up in like a slick
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backed bun and it was, it looked fine.
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It was just was, it was clear to people around me and also like
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just in our home, like we didn't really know what to do with it.
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So that's interesting, the looser texture and having it be a hard thing to put
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into braids because that's a very go-to style for active little girls, right?
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So I imagine you, they tried a couple times and you spent all that time getting
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the braids and it lasts only a couple days, and then you have to go back to it.
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That's exactly what would happen.
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, I don't think I got my first set, like first real set of braids until
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I was in early high school, 'cause at that point my hair texture, um--
3:23
You'll see me-- If I talk about my hair texture, I'll refer back to the back
3:26
of my head a lot because it changed.
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It started getting really tight back here first, and then it, it moved around.
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Around high school is when my hair texture was finally start-- Like
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everything was, was just tight curls.
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And so I think that's when I was able to start getting different styles like that.
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That's really interesting because I do think some people do have
3:45
significant texture changes, but you don't hear about it that often.
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And I think that changes how you respond to your hair, the
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different styles that will work.
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Um, and so it unlocked another set of styles for you, I guess.
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But
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Yeah It's kind of fun
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That's kind of fun.
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And so let's take a look at some of the pictures.
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We have some pictures.
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Oh my goodness.
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How adorable.
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Do you wanna describe this picture a little bit for the people
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who are
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I think that this-- Yes, this picture is me whenever I was
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probably like f- five or six maybe.
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This is the house we first moved into when we moved to North
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Carolina, and I'm standing there.
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I have my hair in some sort of little bun at the top, and then my hair,
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you can see my curls are much looser and they're growing sort of down.
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And there's maybe a couple beads in there.
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It's, it's, it's out, and then just a tiny little bun at the top.
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But yeah.
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You're very adorable.
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You got a necklace on, a little shrug, a p- a white shrug and your pink shirt.
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You look like - a little girl who's having a good time, you
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Yeah.
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And
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it's definitely styled, but yes, it's not in a tight braid or anything.
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And then this might be a, a little older,
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let me see
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Yeah.
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Oh, adorable
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is our-- the house we live in currently, It's a selfie
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probably on my mom's computer.
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You can still-- My hair texture is still pretty loose.
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It tends growing-- It's probably the same length that I have it now, just more
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growing down again, and it's, it's out.
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It looks cute, but - it's not clear like what we're doing with
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it, but it doesn't look bad.
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It's
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No
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definitely tell the texture is much different than what I have now.
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Yes, and, right now for those who are listening, you have a beautiful--
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What do you call this style?
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Is
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I would say afro.
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Yeah.
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Mm-hmm.
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And it's, and it's so pretty, and you can see, all the, the curls and it's great.
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but it is definitely a different texture, so that's that's
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pretty wild how much it changed.
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, I think another thing that you said is really interesting, is the fact
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that you didn't think negatively about, about it even though
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you didn't have it figured out.
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So what do you think helped you remain positive about your hair?
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And I, I think you also grew up in a place there weren't a lot of people
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with similar texture, so what do you think was, was critical for that
5:56
Yeah, I think one, I was very fortunate that my parents sort of-- they s-
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spoke life into how we looked and my, my mom especially, one of the things
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that I like go back to her and thank her for is how much she made sure
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that we were confident in ourselves.
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So in general, that was very helpful.
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But, even in the moments where it was like we didn't know exactly what
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to do with my hair, we were still-- she was still pretty active in
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trying and helping me figure it out.
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Like if it got tangled really bad, she would take the time to sit and work
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through it, um, and wouldn't make me feel bad about letting it go too far
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and get tangled or things like that.
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I grew up, in rural western North Carolina, so very white.
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So I didn't really have a lot of friends that were one, Black in
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general, but two, had hair like mine.
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I think a lot of it just came from the confidence that I had
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in my home where it was even at such a young age it was reflected.
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And so I remember like I would get comments about my hair, like looking
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back now they could have been a little bit microaggressive, but also I feel
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like I understood even as a kid that this was just things that kids were saying
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and they didn't like fully understand.
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I got a lot of comments of like, "Oh, your hair looks like a cloud,"
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or like one time I got directly compared to the sheep from "Zootopia"
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Oh, wow.
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That's very, very specific.
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Okay.
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I just "I mean, I guess like I can see why you're thinking that." And so I think a
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lot of it was just like I was confident in how it looked and knew that like I, I was
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mostly getting compliments about my hair.
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So I was very fortunate in that sense where it was like I didn't feel like
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my Afro or anything was a negative.
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It was just like, "Oh, it makes me different from these
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people, but that's okay."
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And that's okay.
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That's beautiful.
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And kudos to your parents for instilling that to you, ' cause it's not just
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the words, but it's the behavior.
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If they're detangling your hair and it's a lot, are, are there a lot
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of or saying, "This is too much," and you didn't have that, you know?
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So that's, that's really great so even if you heard stuff outside, you
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didn't take it in, it sounds like.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, it was great.
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There were moments like I would let it get pretty tangled,
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so it would be frustrating.
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Like, like it definitely wasn't always a positive experience in terms of
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that, but it was never like a this is a problem my hair was never relaxed,
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which I'm grateful for, 'cause that would've been an easy solution especially
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when I was little, like it would get so tangled that it would start to like
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lock up in the back, which was hard.
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It was kind of hard to deal with.
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But, we just kept it natural, and so I was grateful for that.
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I have three younger brothers.
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They all have a similar hair texture, so the reality is especially
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for my mom, is you have mixed children, like this is their hair.
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You're gonna have to figure it out in some sense.
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So
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Yeah.
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Did your brothers wear their hair longer when they were little?
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Well my dad kept them pretty bald-headed for most of their lives, but then once
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they got a little more autonomy over their hair, I think the oldest one
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wears it pretty short but natural.
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, The middle one, he actually, he had locs for a while, um, and my mom like
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sort of learned how to do a retwist.
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But now he keeps it sort of like, like a nice medium length, but he
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keeps his curls pretty defined.
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And then the youngest is a similar, like a short cropped hair, but
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all natural and everything.
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That's great.
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Okay.
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They're, they're, they, they tried their own things, and I think that's
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the same for, for girls and boys often, growing up and understanding
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what can you do with this?
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How do you express yourself?
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So you said as you got older, your texture changed, and then
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you tried different styles.
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Can you talk a little bit about as you got older and you had more autonomy and, what
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happened when you got into high school or, and things like that with your hair?
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I think honestly, like when my hair started being able, being able to hold
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braided styles, which was good, but also I think this is the point where I
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was like, okay, my texture is changing.
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It's kind of getting hard for me to figure out how to manage.
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I'm at an age now where I do care about how I, like how I look whenever I'm
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going out, so I want to be presentable.
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I think that's the difference between growing up is like in elementary
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school I would just wake up, like fluff it a little bit and go.
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And I can still do that sometimes, but it-- but I think high school
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is where I was like, okay, this isn't always gonna fly.
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So that's when I started to try and figure things out.
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- a girl who was my mom's TA and she came and lived with us for a little bit and
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she was Black and she helped me get my first braids, like she did them for
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me because I also didn't know anyone in the area that was going to do them.
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That was nice.
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And then once I got that first set, I was like, oh, now I understand why
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people do this a lot but yeah, I think high school was just me figuring out
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like, okay, now I care about how this looks and I was still swimming at the
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time, so I was like, how do I figure out how to make my hair look good?
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And I have swim practice, so my hair's getting wet every single day and it's
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chlorine and it's like, I don't know, high school was kind of, it was a very long
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period of just figuring things out, but-
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And that's what it takes sometimes experimentation.
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Okay, so you were swimming,
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you were doing a lot of things in high school, and I think you
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mentioned something about change, the change in going to North
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Carolina School of science and
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Yes, School of Science and Math
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Okay.
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So it is a residential high school, like a boarding school.
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You go your junior and senior year of high school, and you just, you stay over there
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probably for like a month at a time, and then, you do like a long weekend back.
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But for the most part, it's like a if college was high school sort of thing.
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There's two campuses, one in Durham, North Carolina, and one in Morganton, North
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Carolina, and I went to the Durham one.
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I think that made a difference too, because the Durham one definitely has more
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Black people than the Morganton campus.
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Going to that school was actually huge in terms of my understanding of my hair,
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because this was the first time that I was in school with other, Black women.
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The School of Science and Math, I mean, it's not like predominantly Black by
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any means, but the, like, minority cultures over there are very close-knit.
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And so it was, it was great for my hair, like in terms of
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learning styles that I could do.
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I was very fortunate.
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There was a girl named Kiana, who she was on my hall, and she was in the
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process of learning to be a braider, 'cause she wanted to do that as like
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her side hustle when she got to college.
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So she would practice on me.
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This was the first time that I got braids that I was like, "Oh, these,
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like I can actually do a lot with this, and this is fun, and this is cute."
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And then also you're living on your own over there, so it's like w- all the curl
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routines, all the everything you have to figure out how to do now on your own
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and not in the house you're used to.
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Wow.
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Congrats.
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I mean, that's a prestigious school to get into, , I imagine there's also a lot of
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work, so you still time to get your hair braided and everything between all that
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Yes, it definitely-- I think going over there is whenever I was like, "Okay,
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now I also understand why people do protective styles for certain phases
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of their life," because it was a great experience and I'm very grateful that I
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went, but it was, it was a hard school.
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We would be just going, going, going.
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And I think that mix of being with other Black women who are doing these
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sort of protective styles and like understanding that we're in this place
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where like we're focusing on school, but we also have to take care of our hair,
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it just was really good for me in terms of learning how to do my hair and, and
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also because we were, we all understood the school that we were in, it was like
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no one really was judging you for how your hair was looking because we all know
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like it's, it's hard around here, but…
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I love that.
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Safe space
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Yes, very.
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braids go a little longer than maybe would be ideal, but you gotta get
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through those, those problem sets and all the homework and all the I'm sure.
13:19
That's amazing.
13:19
Oh, I love that.
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So you figured out, you developed more skills, you got braiding
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experience, and so you saw what it would look like to work with braiders
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who are-- someone who's trying to be professional, that's a serious hustle.
13:29
That's an, an investment.
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mhm.
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so after high school, then you, uh, enrolled at UNC Chapel Hill.
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So that's a really big school.
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Like, what was it-- what were you thinking coming into college?
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Did you have a different mindset than you were already just
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two years at boarding school?
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What were your thoughts about your hair and how you thought you would
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do it when you went to college?
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In terms of my hair, one of the things I didn't touch on is in high
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school I did like the big chop and I cut my hair very, very short.
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I was kind of in the process of growing it out whenever I went to college.
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So going to college, I was less worried about, figuring out how to take care
14:05
of my hair now that I'm living away, 'cause yeah, like we said, like I had
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been doing that for two years . At this point, I was like, I don't like my hair
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length and I need to figure out how I'm going to grow it out, feel confident
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in it whenever I can't get braids or find a braider like pretty quickly.
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And then also keep in mind that like I'm not the most well off college student,
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so I can't really get braids like every single time that they're expiring how am I
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going to make sure that I'm still feeling confident in my hair and the way I look
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while I'm kind of in this awkward period.
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But
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That's a lot to juggle, right?
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And then you said some interesting things.
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I think just the fact that, one, acknowledging, okay, I feel like
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my hair is this awkward length, but I also wanna feel comfortable
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in what I have in my own skin
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then also, the cost.
14:54
You have to optimize for that.
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So that's a lot to balance and juggle, but I think even just the desire to feel
15:00
good in your own skin and your own hair, that's really interesting and great
15:04
that you are mindful of that, because that can be, can feel like a trap if
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you can only be okay if your hair's one way, then you really are beholden to
15:12
those prices or getting your skills up.
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That's exactly how it was, is just I knew, especially with my short hair,
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is like I sort of knew that it did suit me, but I just didn't like it.
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And I was like, there's already a lot going on with school, I
15:24
can't afford to also not feel confident in at least one thing.
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So it was just, yeah, that, that figuring it out phase.
15:31
And Do you remember going back, what did you end up doing that was help- that
15:35
was helpful for you to feel comfortable
15:37
In the times that I couldn't have a style, I could feel better about it as
15:42
long as I made sure my curls were really defined, so I would spend a lot of time
15:46
on that whenever my braids were out.
15:48
Or if I just really wasn't feeling the length, I, I would wear a lot of head
15:52
wraps, and that, that was actually helpful for me because I would just make sure
15:56
my hair was taken care of underneath, and then I would just wrap it up, and
16:00
that was-- that-- it helped for a bit,
16:02
Yeah, that's very, very productive.
16:04
You know, literally covering it and figuring out the style
16:07
of the hair wrap that you wanna
16:08
do
16:09
I think that's really, interesting that you highlight the cost of
16:12
braids because I think they've gone up significantly, right?
16:17
Do you know in your area, what are people paying for braids
16:20
Yeah.
16:21
So I think anywhere between like 150 to 200 something are what people
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are paying, which I don't know.
16:27
It feels, it feels kind of ridiculous to me.
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That's how, why my freshman year, um, at some point I was like, "I'm just not
16:34
getting enough money to keep this up." So I forced myself to learn how to do, um,
16:40
like a Marley twist style.
16:41
I taught myself.
16:42
That's the only style I can do on myself.
16:45
Um, but because I-- Yeah, it's great.
16:48
It's, it was good to learn, but it also was like at just, at some point I was
16:51
like, it's just gonna be so much more cost efficient for me to just buy the
16:54
hair myself and do it, 'cause yeah.
16:57
As great as braids are, I don't think they're the most accessible
17:00
es- especially for college students if you can't do them on your own,
17:04
No, I appreciate you highlighting that.
17:06
When I was in college, occasionally people had braids, but people
17:10
were really into relaxers, which I think it was $65, you know?
17:14
It was not the norm to have braids.
17:16
After you brought that up, I'm thinking about, "Oh yeah, braids are
17:19
really expensive." Depending where you live, it can be even higher.
17:22
Some are paying up to $300, to get their braids done.
17:26
So as a college student, having other tools in your kit, or styles you can
17:31
wear, that makes a lot of sense because that's a, that's a nice chunk of money.
17:36
It is, yeah.
17:37
You kind of have to consider just every single aspect.
17:39
Like, would it be nice to not have to worry about my hair for a month?
17:43
Yes.
17:43
Do I need to?
17:44
Like, is this specifically a time where I feel like I need braids?
17:48
You can figure out something else to do, which is where it gets hard whenever if
17:51
you're in a position where like maybe you don't like your natural hair, I feel
17:54
like it's not talked about too often, like just how much not being secure in
17:58
something about how you look can really affect how you carry yourself or how your
18:01
day goes or something like that, which is frustrating and it's-- I think that's why
18:05
a lot of people end up maybe overspending or something like that because it's
18:09
like you have to figure something out.
18:11
Yeah.
18:12
What's gonna give?
18:13
Yeah.
18:14
And I think also If every- everyone around you is not wearing their natural
18:20
hair or they feel pressure to wear wigs or weaves all the time, sometimes
18:23
that just becomes a norm, and how do you feel comfortable in what you have?
18:28
Especially in media, all the influencers, a lot of them have this really expensive
18:32
hair, and that's so popular right now.
18:34
It sounded like you had worked on that, making sure that you're still putting your
18:39
natural hair as something that's valued.
18:41
Have you seen that shift for any of your peers or friends, or what
18:45
has been helpful for people trying to embrace their natural hair?
18:48
The most helpful thing is just when people around you are also wearing
18:52
their natural hair and making sure that they're like acknowledging it.
18:56
One of the things that I do like to do whenever people around me are wearing
19:00
their natural hair is I'll compliment it, 'cause I feel the same way.
19:02
I think especially like there's so many different textures, and the tighter
19:05
the curls get, the harder it can be to really feel confident I think that it
19:10
helps to have a group, that is uplifting you . But other than that, unfortunately,
19:15
I've had this conversation with my friends, a lot of it is you kind of
19:17
just have to do some exposure therapy like which is hard, but you have to.
19:23
The truth is with my hair is I let it breathe.
19:25
Like I, I do a style and then I'll wear it out for like a month,
19:30
which is har- it's hard sometimes.
19:32
There are still moments where I'm like I just don't feel confident in
19:34
it But I know that as I let it be and as I let it breathe, it's healthier
19:39
and like the protective styles help, but it's the protective with letting
19:44
it just be for a second and it's easier said than done you have to be able to
19:48
get there first if that makes sense.
19:51
I really, um, agree with what you're saying and also
19:54
have had similar experiences.
19:56
So when I was first natural to wear my hair, out in a fro, and I
20:01
didn't really know how to do it.
20:02
This is before wash and goes were a thing, and there was all these tutorials.
20:05
And I realized there's part of me that's thinking I need to and just be able to
20:09
embrace this and enjoy this, To grow my hair out from a relaxer, I wore weaves.
20:14
So then I came out of that, and my hair had been straight, you know?
20:17
So even going to wear my hair naturally, to have my curls
20:21
out, it was an adjustment.
20:23
It really was.
20:24
And I had to say, "Okay, how do I look in the mirror and, and enjoy this?"
20:29
At first it's surprising 'cause it's so different, and I think that's very common.
20:33
Even if when you get a haircut that's really different and you see yourself
20:36
in the mirror, or even when you get braids sometimes and it's a, it's a
20:39
jolt and you're like, "Do I like these?
20:40
I don't know." But when the, we have all the social layering that goes with
20:44
texturism, saying tighter hair is not as good when you're seeing straight hair
20:48
all the time, and these perceptions that sometimes we got from our families, we got
20:52
in media, they're internalized, that adds another layer that can make it harder to
20:56
look at yourself and say, "This is good."
20:58
Yeah, it is.
20:59
I think one of the things that was helpful to me to getting back to liking my natural
21:03
hair is I started to prioritize braids that focused a little bit more on volume.
21:10
Um, because that's one thing I noticed is like whenever I would have my natural
21:13
hair out, I was missing that like long, straightened look, whether it's braids
21:19
or boho style like which don't get me wrong, I love and I think is so pretty.
21:22
But the truth is if you're only seeing yourself with long, straight type hair,
21:28
, it's gonna be so hard to start to like the way that your hair naturally is.
21:32
We don't blame you for that at all 'cause that's just the reality of it.
21:35
We've been taught that these styles are best for your hair, protective
21:38
styles are those for a reason.
21:40
But you have to remember that you're not wearing a protective style usually.
21:43
There's some good, weaves and wigs that are like Afro style, but for
21:46
the most part, you're going with a long and straight style and if
21:49
that's all you're seeing on yourself and that's what's being praised.
21:52
Yeah.
21:52
Yeah.
21:54
Absolutely.
21:55
That's a really good point.
21:56
I hadn't really thought about it that way.
21:58
But yes, especially today, especially with a lot of styles where they're
22:01
doing, loose hair and the additions.
22:04
Usually the loose hair is very loose, so it's very different texture and it's
22:08
sometimes you can't even see the braids.
22:10
Yeah, literally.
22:11
And it, like, it looks great.
22:12
I was gonna say, like, I really do love this style on you
22:14
and the, the miracle knots.
22:16
That's one I wanna try.
22:17
It looks, it looks great.
22:18
But like, call it what it is, it is.
22:20
You're adding loose long hair, like that doesn't reflect what
22:23
your hair actually is probably.
22:25
So it's like this is what you're getting used to.
22:28
It can be very jarring and yeah, it's hard to undo that.
22:32
And I think, we have the, the freedom to have choices and do what we want with
22:35
our hair I think is really important.
22:37
But I do think a challenge and part of what I think is beautiful and why we have
22:43
this podcast is to be able to still enjoy those tight curls, and I think you can try
22:49
lots of style from a place of confidence with, "I like what I have, I like to mix
22:53
it up," versus feeling trapped that I can only show up in one way, you know?
22:59
That's not that fun, and also it's, it can be stressful, and if you don't have
23:03
the budget to keep up with that, then that's not always the move that's gonna
23:07
make the most sense for your finances.
23:10
Very interesting.
23:11
All right.
23:11
So you also touched on this idea of community and connection, and I think
23:17
you from really early on found community at UNC, which is, a predominantly
23:22
white university, very large.
23:23
So can you tell us a little bit about how you found community early on
23:27
Yeah.
23:28
Maybe I'm a little biased because I am the vice president now, but, the
23:32
Black Student Movement, I think, does a very good job of building a community
23:38
within the Black students on campus.
23:40
All the Black orgs on campus are very, very close-knit, and they do a lot of
23:43
social events and things like that.
23:45
As long as you're going to those events and putting yourself out there, like you
23:48
can find someone that you're close with.
23:50
There is someone who wears their hair the same way you like to, or talks
23:54
about hair the same way that you like to, or just engages in a similar way.
23:58
And I think that, because UNC is so white, in most of my classes,
24:02
I've been the only Black woman or just Black person in general.
24:07
And so it's like we are kind of all feeling this in our classes, so we're
24:11
seeking this community out even more.
24:14
That's great.
24:14
I'm glad that you found that early on 'cause it is a-- going to college
24:17
is a big adjustment and, being in a place where you're one of the
24:21
only, that can be very challenging.
24:23
And even just as you're saying from the social aspect of seeing people
24:26
who have similar hair and you can talk about it, so there's a lot of benefits.
24:30
But I think also you didn't just show up, you also got involved.
24:34
So can you tell us a little bit about how you started to get into
24:38
leadership and then, and grow as a leader through that experience?
24:44
Yeah, so one thing that I had to learn about myself very quickly is
24:47
I'm a pretty introverted person, but I do like to be involved.
24:51
Even despite me just talking about all the events and showing up, that is important.
24:54
It doesn't really work for me as much.
24:57
And so I was like, "I need to find my in in a way that I'm good." And I know
25:01
that I'm pretty good at leadership, and I know that I can help out in some way.
25:05
The Black Student Movement has a first-year class council, and they are,
25:10
the very first leadership experience that you can have as a freshman in BSM.
25:16
And so I sought that out, I applied, and I got, , the membership chair,
25:21
which was kind of ironic because that was, like, the person that was
25:24
supposed to be at all the events.
25:25
But where I sort of slacked in that specific role, I tried to make up for
25:30
it in just, like, helping planning and being engaged in everything.
25:33
The next year, I actually applied for a position that I did not get.
25:37
I was asked to lead the Political Action Committee, which is where I kind of
25:42
felt that I was able to really get my foot in the door and start, asserting
25:46
myself in like a leadership position and also start to really do the work in
25:50
the organization that I wanted to, which was continue that community building and
25:54
making sure that this was a spot that people could find their footing too.
25:59
And so one of the things that was great about my committee,
26:01
we had about 12 active members.
26:04
Most of them were freshmen.
26:06
And we were doing regular events.
26:08
I know one of our most successful was a, we called it Let's Talk Politics,
26:13
People c- just came into the room and we had prompts, and we split into
26:15
two circles, and we just had open discussion about stuff that was going on.
26:19
That was a great event.
26:20
It was a really successful committee, and I was very proud of it.
26:23
And one of the things I was also very proud of is the way that I wanted to
26:27
run the committee was make sure that people, especially freshmen, like
26:30
had a chance to share their voice and really feel like they were a
26:34
part of something because they were.
26:36
Y'all were organized
26:38
organized Yep And I think that that was such a great way to do things, and I
26:43
think that's honestly why my committee stayed active and why people kept
26:48
coming back was because they had a spot.
26:50
And then that was really exciting to me because as the year went on
26:54
and we started to think about the transitioning leadership and I
26:58
decided to run for vice president,
27:00
and then from there, we open applications to fill the rest of our executive board.
27:05
And it was really exciting because so many people from my committee were the ones
27:09
that were applying to do these next level leadership positions, which was great.
27:13
Building up leaders
27:14
Right.
27:15
Yes.
27:15
It was exciting.
27:16
Um, and so yeah, That's a lot of the work that I did in BSM this past year,
27:21
What I'm excited about as vice president is the main part of my position is
27:25
to be in charge of the committees and have those committee report to me.
27:29
So I'm hoping that like what made my committee successful last year is
27:33
something that I can share other committee leads and that like it'll really get
27:37
the BSM like back on track and be strong because I don't know, like it was, it
27:42
was nice to see this pay off in not in like a transactional sort of way.
27:47
genuinely enjoyed doing it, but it was like, this is nice that I can see
27:51
how this worked, and now excited to be the one that can be like, "This is
27:55
Scale it up.
27:56
Yes.
27:57
have that experience.
27:58
And I think also, I think you had a genuine desire to involve people
28:02
and get them engaged and feel like they had a place, like you said,
28:05
a place to belong, a place to contribute, to be heard, to be seen.
28:09
And that's what people often want, and it's hard to do that, but it takes
28:13
perseverance and you said consistency too.
28:16
So that's a sign of good leadership.
28:18
That's exciting.
28:20
And so well, We also reached out to some of the students in BSM and asked them
28:25
about their hair experiences and things they would want to know if they were
28:30
freshmen or for other college students.
28:33
So we had some interesting answers and things we wanted to touch on.
28:37
So we asked, " What was your biggest hair culture shock when you first got
28:41
to campus, and how did you navigate it?"
28:44
Mm-hmm.
28:44
someone said, "Having to find a way to get to Durham to get to a simple beauty
28:48
supply store." Uh, so what does that mean?
28:50
You said there's also one in Carrboro, but who are not in North
28:53
Carolina, what, what is this?
28:55
What does this mean?
28:56
Yeah.
28:56
So, Chapel Hill, a lot of the town is the college campus,
29:01
and then there's stuff outside.
29:02
But really if you want to get somewhere especially beauty supply stores,
29:07
like Chapel Hill's pretty white, the Black population is larger in
29:11
Durham, have the beauty supply stores.
29:13
But that is like if you're on campus, Durham is at least
29:17
20 minutes away off campus.
29:19
So if you don't have a car-- Well, 20 minutes in general, like even if you
29:22
have a car and city traffic, like a lot.
29:25
But 20 minutes away, you can only get there by bus probably, which means you're
29:30
not making a last minute, like there's no more, I grab packs of hair." So you have
29:36
to, you have to ve-very strategically plan what you're getting because you're taking
29:40
a bus, which now 40 minutes to an hour to go to a beauty supply store in Durham.
29:45
There's also one in Carrboro, I think it's called Eye Beauty.
29:49
It's the town right next to the campus, I would say like 10, 15 minutes off campus.
29:55
But still it's the same thing where if you don't have a car, you're
29:58
taking a bus, it takes a while.
30:00
It is frustrating.
30:01
Like you run out of hair products, you didn't get enough hair packs
30:03
to do braids, stuff like that.
30:05
Like it's frustrating because you're not gonna find that anywhere but 20 to--
30:10
minutes to an hour in either direction off Like that, yeah, that is a real struggle.
30:15
So you gotta plan ahead, make friends someone with a car.
30:20
Another thing that came up was how do you manage hair during finals
30:24
or while juggling a busy schedule?
30:26
One person said, "I always leave in a protective style that I don't
30:29
have to worry about doing and taking care of for long periods of
30:32
time so I can focus on studying."
30:35
And another person said, "I usually tuck my hair in a protective style during
30:38
busier times, so I risk less damage in the cases where I don't have as
30:42
much time to nourish it as I normally would when it was out." So it seems
30:46
that's very similar to what you said.
30:48
So to me, that seems like some good advice about if you know you're coming
30:53
into final season, midterm season, busy season that's the time maybe
30:58
you wanna do a protective style.
31:01
Mm-hmm.
31:01
Yeah, definitely.
31:02
I think that especially in college, like moments like that, it is nice
31:06
to just know that like the only thing you have to commit to is
31:10
one day to get your hair braided.
31:12
then from then on it's, I don't even have to think about it, like oil
31:15
it, whatever, whenever I need to.
31:17
But even that is like way less stress than actively doing something every single day.
31:23
it does, it makes a difference.
31:24
Like if that's one less thing that you have about, Yeah
31:28
So maybe committing a weekend or a day where you don't have classes to go
31:31
and get it done or doing it yourself.
31:33
Yeah.
31:34
And I think when we were talking, you were asking about like, what is
31:37
a protective style really, right?
31:39
Was that your question?
31:40
Mm-hmm.
31:41
Yeah I've seen a lot lately, like-- And I don't know if it's just like
31:46
engagement rage bait, some sort of thing.
31:49
I-- But I've seen a lot, especially lately, that's like all the protective
31:53
styles you're doing are actually they're like destroying your hair.
31:57
I suspect, and I-- this is where I'm interested to hear like, 'cause
32:00
obviously like you do this and you, you've done this research.
32:03
But one of the things that I am curious about, like I've seen people
32:06
say like: No, these styles are still good, it's just you have to be very
32:09
specific in how you're taking them out or how you're taking care of it while
32:12
you have them in, things like that.
32:13
And like, like maybe it's not best to get super tight small braids all the
32:18
Like those sort of things I think are the questions that I have now that
32:22
I'm at a place where I'm like: Okay, I like my natural hair, I like styles.
32:25
But it's like, am I sure that this is what's best for my hair?
32:29
I don't know.
32:29
Am I just it 'cause I know it's gonna look good?
32:32
it worth looking good if it's also breaking my hair?
32:35
Like the questions I think that I have still too.
32:39
Yeah
32:39
those are really good questions and it can be really confusing.
32:42
I did a braids care series and we were talking about that and, and one of them,
32:46
like we can link it below and share it with you is, what is protective styles?
32:51
What are we really protecting our hair with?
32:53
So I give you the short, the short story here, but basically that's the question,
32:57
what are you protecting your hair from?
32:59
So our hair when it grows, we have to deal with hair touching other hair.
33:04
So the curlier the hair is, the more likely you're gonna get a lot of friction
33:07
between the strands of hair on your head.
33:09
And if you pull it straight or, you know, and it's, or it's very tightly
33:13
curled and any kind of manipulation, that puts you at risk for breakage.
33:18
So it's mechanical damage.
33:20
Even if you have your hair down and it's rubbing against your shirt
33:23
collar, if you have, you know, rough material, that can damage your hair.
33:27
So all these things can… They call it weathering, just behavior that happens
33:31
to your hair just living as a human.
33:33
And so for tightly curled hair, we have the extra part of our hair is coily and
33:38
it shrinks, so it can be prone to tangling and it can be prone to the hair touching
33:43
each other a lot more in different ways and, and, having friction there.
33:47
So the idea was if we have our hair in a braided style or in a style that's
33:52
sectioned and it's contained together, then you're gonna have less of that
33:55
friction, you're gonna have less of the potential for it to, to break,
34:00
and then also, the benefit is you don't have to do as much detangling.
34:03
Like you were saying when you were a little kid and you-- if it would
34:05
get matted in the knot in the back, you know, you get knots because
34:09
it's rubbing probably against the back of your neck or your hair.
34:11
So if it's already aligned together, 'cause when you're braiding it,
34:15
you're gonna comb it, detangle it, or twisting it, you're
34:17
aligning it and grouping together.
34:19
Or if, you know, like little kids have the, you know, the balls in
34:22
their hair and their hair is like, you know, sectioned so it's all together,
34:25
that's protective in the sense that it's not gonna have the, the friction.
34:31
However, if it's really tight, then you're not protecting your scalp,
34:34
because when you're pulling tightly on your scalp, especially along
34:38
your hairline, that can damage your follicles and that can be temporary.
34:44
If you have a set of braids and maybe, they're too tight and then
34:47
you take them out, sometimes that can be reversed and so it can cause,
34:51
you know, inflammation in your scalp.
34:53
But other times if you keep doing it, that's when people lose their
34:56
edges and have issues growing them.
35:00
And so the scalp is important just for the fact that this is where our hair
35:04
grows, and so you want the healthy hair strands that are gonna stay, stay in
35:08
there are gonna be the right thickness, 'cause as they get damaged from traction,
35:12
they get thinner and thinner and thinner, so your hair gets thinner and thinner.
35:15
If you wanna have it braided, you don't want it to be too tight.
35:18
And so that's another reason why the really small braids, if they're
35:21
really tiny and small, they could be pulling on your scalp a lot.
35:24
Does
35:24
Mm-hmm.
35:25
that make sense?
35:26
Yeah, it does.
35:27
I think that's where, like, a lot of what I have been seeing is like you just
35:31
have to make sure that you're finding the balance of like don't do too tight
35:36
styles, especially too frequently.
35:39
'cause like obviously like, like they, they do look nice, but if that's all
35:42
you're doing, like that's sort of where you're starting to lose the protective
35:46
and more like you're-- you might be killing your scalp a little bit,
35:49
Yeah And the weight too.
35:51
So if it's long and with really heavy hair, that's also just
35:55
weight that's on your scalp.
35:57
So that's why, like you were saying, taking a break is good 'cause
35:59
it lets your scalp be relaxed.
36:01
You know, they're not having all that tension on there, and also
36:04
for your hair to relax as well.
36:06
That's why I think a lot of the mini twists are great with your natural
36:10
hair and also doing cornrows if they're not too tight, and even braids,
36:15
they can be, they can be protective.
36:17
And I think it's also what's your goal, because there is some risk,
36:20
especially if you're using synthetic hair and you're doing, you know,
36:24
knotless braids or, or box braids, that the synthetic hair can be rough.
36:28
The surface of it can, can cause friction and damage to your natural hair.
36:32
that, that is some risk, but, you have to choose what's most
36:35
important to you, you know?
36:37
And so also washing and deep conditioning your hair if you can while you're in a n-
36:41
protective style, that clears your scalp that slow the growth rate of your hair.
36:45
So giving it a good foundation, and I think a lot of people don't wanna
36:50
wash their hair when it's in braids or cornrows because they're worried about
36:54
the style, but there's different ways to do it, like put a stocking cap on, but
36:58
you're not, like, scrubbing your scalp.
36:59
But,
36:59
you know
37:00
just getting that and focusing on your scalp can be helpful.
37:03
I actually like washing my hair in braids, like when I go on Right?
37:07
easier.
37:08
just gotta dry it.
37:09
I don't have to detangle it, know?
37:11
I'm like, "Let my hair get a moisture bath regularly when I don't have to
37:15
section it and comb it and it," because then that's also, like, you know, a
37:20
risk for breaking your hair, and also I just don't wanna be doing that, so.
37:25
Yeah.
37:25
So yeah, so they can be protective in the sense that your hair is not
37:29
gonna be having to be detangled.
37:31
That's, like, the biggest part, and not having to deal with that, which can be
37:35
a place where your hair can get broken.
37:37
yeah.
37:37
Yeah that makes a lot of sense
37:40
Awesome.
37:40
So as we wrap up, Jayden, is there anything you want people to know or maybe
37:45
a freshman somewhere, maybe they're coming to UNC, maybe another place, what are some
37:49
things that might be encouraging to them?
37:51
They're entering a new world where they haven't had, to think
37:54
about all these things about their hair living in a new place
37:58
Mm-hmm.
37:59
I think honestly the biggest advice I can give is find community.
38:04
Just find community for a number of reasons.
38:06
One, you're gonna be exposed, like if you're someone who comes from somewhere
38:09
like I do where maybe this is your first time that you're gonna be around like a
38:13
Black community, like find people that are going to help uplift you in your
38:17
hair, whether that's your natural hair or figuring out new styles, things like that.
38:21
That's super important.
38:22
Find someone-- Find community with a car.
38:25
That's gonna
38:26
yes.
38:26
Try and get to those beauty supply stores you can.
38:29
Um, that's g- that's a big one.
38:32
But yeah, I think just like don't be afraid to try things out with your hair.
38:38
Like at the end of the day, like no matter the conversation, the
38:42
goal-- the end goal is for you to be confident in yourself just regardless.
38:45
And if that's If you're not at a place right now where that's gonna be in your
38:48
natural hair, then figure out what style really works for you and you feel best
38:52
about isn't just like damaging everything.
38:55
I think that's like the biggest thing is, is community and just figuring out,
39:00
figure out how to remember like you're on your path now and you just have to
39:03
figure out what works best for you.
39:06
That's very wise advice.
39:07
I, I cosign with that.
39:09
And, you know, you're in college is a time to try new things and, and you're
39:13
still figuring out what you like, and that's gonna change, and that's kinda fun.
39:16
So not putting that pressure on yourself that you have to have it all figured out.
39:21
It's okay.
39:22
It's a journey.
39:23
Yeah
39:25
Well, this has been such a great conversation, Jayden, and we're very
39:27
excited for you and what's next.
39:29
We'll be following, your leadership this year and on.
39:33
And so thank you so much for being part of the podcast.
39:35
Yeah, Thank you so much for inviting me.
39:37
I've really, really enjoyed this conversation and this whole process
39:40
Yes.
39:41
I learned some things today.
39:42
Uh, I'm gonna be thinking about it.
39:43
So thank you so much.
39:45
This is the Tight Curls Project podcast.
39:47
I'm your host, Shadia.
39:48
And there's ways where you can follow us and stay connected, so wherever
39:51
you're watching or listening, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, you can make sure to
39:55
subscribe so you never miss an episode.
39:58
And if you have questions or comments, you can find us on Instagram.
40:01
until next time, take care and show your curls some love.