What do I have in common with Johanna Cox?

I must say, ever since November (yes, eight months ago November) when I watched Johanna win Stylista and a position as junior editor at Elle magazine, I've been waiting for what turned out to be today. The day I could read something she wrote for the magazine - as opposed to the many things she writes for the Elle News Blog, which I do enjoy reading.

The day came, I read and reflected. From a journalism POV I'm really impressed, it's certainly the kind of article I would expect Elle to publish - and I mean that in a very good way. It's intriguing, thought-provoking and enjoyable. It's got the right personal-anecdote-to-research-and-expert-information ratio to be an article for the zine. And in fact the only complaint I have, which is hardly a complaint at all, is that it's a tad shorter than most features and articles that Elle publishes (but not dreadfully boring and rambling-y as another another mag's articles).

But back to thought-provoking. Johanna writes about the repercussions of chopping her hair off - a decision I am all too familiar with. A year and a half ago I decided to chop my hair off, my hair was longer than Johanna's, but I did not go quite as short (pictures below). I did this during the winter break of my freshman year at Baylor. In retrospect not the best time for me to make such a decision. Like Johanna says, a pixie cut in her case or mid-length bob as in my case, is not the preference many people have in regards to what a woman's hair length should be. When I chopped it off I was about to go through sorority recruitment, a ritual - unfortunately - predominantly based on one's looks, followed (however closely, or not) by conversations. The last time all of the sororities had seen me was the previous October when I had lovely, long locks. What they saw in January was quite the opposite. Suffice it to say, a large majority of the houses "released" me. Luckily my favorite sorority kept me (also, I should say my sorority has a high number of short-haired girls) and I love it to this day. And I love my hair, too.

I have since made another decision - this one erring on the side of caution - to let my hair grow out to a length more to my liking. I took a risk and endured a love/hate relationship, the result of which taught me a little bit more about myself. And nothing pairs better with the perfect outfit than a knowledge of oneself and the ability to listen to it.

September 2007 (pre-operation chop-it-all-off)
January 2008 (post-operation chop-it-all-off)

May/June 2009 (now-ish, give 1.5 inches)

So what do I have in common with Johanna Cox? Apart from being completely enveloped by world of fashion, we made a decision that may have stung at first, but led to finding a really good fit. She found a guy who accepts her and her short hair and I found my sorority. Hair can be chopped off and can grow back, but the relationships we make in spite of our hair last far longer.

I promise I won't be quite as cheeky in my next post.