If someone asked me to define myself, one of the first things I would bring up is that I'm a very religious person. My family grew up teaching me and my sister the Arabic alphabet, and then teaching us how to read the Quran fluently. I pray 5 times a day, attend programs at my mosque, and used to go to Sunday School to learn about things crucial in order for me to pray correctly. Additionally, I wear my religious headpiece, my hijab, everywhere out in public. To say the least, it's become a very normal and needed part of my life, and just another aspect in order for me to outwardly express myself to my peers and quite literally anyone else's eye I catch. The first day I saw my cousin wear her hijab to school in seventh grade, I felt knots in my stomach. In short, it made me nervous to acknowledge she was my family, and to even look at her. After a while, I bet you could imagine exactly how I felt when my sister asked my mom if we could wear our hijabs to school. After approval from her, and from my principal (after discussing what color they should be to fit our uniform) my sister was 100% ready to put it on, and ready to head to school. The first day she showed up wearing her black and (slightly) sequined hijab, people stared. It gave me butterflies in my stomach, made me so afraid that someone would have something to say. Every single day following that, my mom, my sister, my friends, and even some of my family asked: Aren't you going to wear yours? Embarrassingly enough, I couldn't work up the courage to wear my matching sequined black hijab until 3 days later. I told myself, “It's okay if people ask questions! It's okay if they stare!”, but I was undeniably very, very nervous. Imagine the sight of us, two Muslim girls with matching hijabs walking together into school. All eyes were on us, even when I got inside the cafeteria, and took a seat for breakfast. “Are you allowed to wear that? Are you a Nun? What is that on your head?” I felt so afraid, so nervous, that I simply couldn't bring myself to answer their questions and said that I would just tell them later. That day, I remember, it was windy when I was out in morning formation (which is what we do at my military based school). I kept silently willing my hijab in my brain to “Stop moving with the wind!! Stop blowing in my face!”. That whole day, I cowered in fear when people looked at me longer than they needed to, or when they asked about my hijab. I was afraid. But why? Now, after wearing my hijab at school and out in public for around 3 to 4 years, I look upon my past actions with shame. Why was I so afraid? Whenever someone asks about my hijab now, I smile. I tell them how to pronounce it, say yes, I am a Muslim, and that I have almost 2 whole drawers full of multi-colored hijabs! People tell me I look lovely (and I agree), and they're curious about why I wear it, what made me want to wear it, and more. It makes me so much stronger, as I can openly tell people from one look that yes, I feel very strongly enough about my religion enough to wear my hijab out in public, everywhere. In fact, I can quite proudly say that I act the complete flip side now if people are curious. There was even one instance where I was grocery shopping with my family, and a man came up to me and my sister and said, “I have something to say to you… You two look so pretty with your hijabs on!”. At first, I was thinking that the man was going to say something that could potentially cause a debate in the middle of a store, and I was ready to defend myself, but this was a complete surprise that warmed my heart. Also, it's been a source for me to make friends with people! Teachers and adults ask me what my hijab means to me, what it means in my religion, and even go on to ask where I'm from. Also, my hijab tells people that I am Muslim, so whenever I see any Muslim out in public or school, we give each other a smile and greet each other with, “Assalamualaikum!”. Yes, I can say that my initial reaction to wearing my religious headpiece was fear and anxiety. However, I can now also say that I see it as such a positive and strong part of myself, that I feel very naked and lost without it. So, this is why I believe many people can also change their viewpoints on my hijab and about my religion as a whole. Although it was difficult to change my own views about my religion, I wholeheartedly believe others can as well. My story isn't one full of fear or danger as others are, but I still want to get my message across. Do you, yourself, think you can change?