Personal Narrative: My Experience With Lice In High School

Words: 575
Pages: 3

Most kids have an experience with lice during their elementary school years, especially girls. Little did I know, my first encounter with these tiny bugs in my hair happened at a point in my freshmen year of high school.

The first memory I have of high school is having an itchy head. I thought nothing of it. I was used to having an irritated scalp, due to my unusually thick, coarse hair. About a month into the school year, I started to become concerned as to why this itch wouldn’t leave my head. After unbearable itching, I started to ask my best friend if I had lice. She was a cosmetology student so I trusted her input on anything to do with hair. She laughed and didn’t put much thought into my silly question. “You need major moisturizing
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After the hairdresser washed my hair, I noticed she was looking around the bottom of my head. “Has your hair recently felt itchy?” I told her just about all year. She immediately told my mom to take me to the doctor because I have lice.

I was in shock, but not that surprised. Spending most of the next two weeks at a lice removal salon, sleeping on my wooden floor to avoid contaminating my bed with lice, and having others be afraid to come near me did not affect me as much as my lice affected others. Shortly after, two of my friends found nits in their heads as well. My parents had to pay for each of the treatments and disinfect the whole house, as well as each of my friends parents having to wash each blanket, pillow and hairbrush I have came in contact with in the past nine months (which happens to be a lot). The guilt I felt from having bugs in my hair for nine months and not being aware was immense; until I realized that I was aware. I knew something wasn’t right.

Ever since my experience with lice, I had become more outspoken than I ever had been before. I learned that actions affect everyone around you. My action of not trusting my own thoughts affected more than just myself. Self confidence is so important in any