Ali Lau

Ali Lau

Second-Year Graduate Student | Major: Masters of Architecture, Masters of Community and Regional Planning

I've been told to "look professional," and while I think it's about my clothes, I realize it is about my hair when I wear it natural. "Just brush it," they say, as if I haven't spent time trying to look nice. They don't realize that the more I brush it, the bigger it gets. What they mean is, ''Just spend $200 every month to get it chemically relaxed, a few hundred dollars on products when it starts to break and fall out, and an extra hour every morning to get it to sit just right. Duck under roofs and use umbrellas to make sure it doesn't get wet. Don't go swimming or it will poof right up. Look less ethnic." That is the only way to be "professional."

Photograph by Jasmine Jackson