From an assortment of vivid hair colors to wildly varying hair lengths, 2020 provided students with a unique opportunity to switch up their hair.  Many students saw quarantine as coming with a silver lining: the ability to experiment with different hair dyes and styles to see what best represented them, without fear of making a public mistake.

Freshman Miranda Wilson originally had darker hair, but she took her time in quarantine to bring a change to her hair.  “I dyed it because I was getting bored during quarantine and it was one of the few things I could do to have fun,” Wilson said.  At the time, Wilson experimented with dyes just to see if it would show up in her naturally dark brown hair. “I didn’t exactly get the results I wanted because my hair is dark and I’m not allowed to bleach it,” Wilson said. Despite the faint effect the dye had on her hair, she still tried a number of colors, including red, magenta, teal, purple, and indigo.

Senior Jacob Reeder knows it all when it comes to artificial hair dyes.  “I’ve always dyed my hair, but quarantine gave me the chance to experiment because if it went wrong no one would see,”  Reeder said.  Leaving school in March 2020, Reeder left with long brown hair and has since dyed it a variety of colors including red, black, hints of purple, and blonde, which required lots of bleaching.  Recently, Reeder took a different approach and buzzed his hair, and is considering a possible new color.

In the world of crazy trends, many have seen videos of people cutting their own bangs by twisting their hair and cutting it.  Over quarantine, freshman Victoria Rivera tried her own version of cutting her own bangs, resulting in a unique outcome.  “I had the idea of just getting bangs and there were scissors next to me, so I did it,” Rivera said.  When asked if she received the results she wanted, Rivera, responded with, “Absolutely not.”

Although hair dye was a popular trend among students during quarantine, growing one’s hair out ranked high on the list.  Sophomore Vince Nadder decided to steer clear of hair dyes and instead took a more natural route.  “I grew my hair out because I didn’t feel like cutting it, and I wanted to change my hair anyways, I just wasn’t sure exactly how,” Nadder said.  Nadder’s hair has since grown drastically, making him look like a completely new person.  

Sophomore Ty Morgan followed in Nadder’s footsteps, exploring a more natural side of his hair.  Leaving school in March, Morgan’s hair was short but has since grown out and gotten curly.  “I just decided to stop styling my hair, use product, and let it grow.  Then I found it was curly and then I just let it do its own thing,” Morgan said. Quarantine gave Morgan time to experiment with his hair. He would like to add that “It is NOT a perm.”

Freshman Ella McKnight left March 2020 with her natural hair color at midlength, and when lockdown hit she decided she wanted a change. “First I cut one strip of my hair, then decided to grow out my hair altogether,” McKnight said. “After that, I dyed it blonde, and then the underside pink, and then eventually all of it pink.” When asked why she chose to switch it up, McKnight said, “I chose to dye it blonde because I wanted a change, and I’ve dyed it pink to feel more confident and comfortable with myself.” McKnight didn’t exactly enjoy the blonde, but after her roots began to grow out, she loved it.  McKnight has since upgraded to pink hair.

Senior Vivian Lumpkin dyed her hair purple and cut own her bangs.  “I was bored and need to do a fun change,” Lumpkin said.  Later, she bleached her hair with a variety of bleach products.  When Lumpkin noticed her natural roots begging to bleed through her bleached hair, she took to the internet and began to learn how to bleach it herself since the local salons were closed. Lumpkin found the bleaching process difficult, but said that “I powered through, and it looked good because I am a god.”

Similarly to other students, Senior Olivia Patton decided to trim her hair over quarantine.  “I cut my hair and dyed it purple,” Patton said, adding  “I did it just because it was time for a change I guess.”  After cutting over eight inches of hair, Patton received the results that she wanted and “was excited for a change.”

Senior Olivia Patton decided to trim her hair amid the 2020 quarantine. (Photo by: Kyle Reeder)When quarantine slowly came to an end, some students left with new hair colors and lengths, but above all, a new representation of their personalities.