A Professor's Hair Diary -- Week 5

Four weeks into the semester, I've successfully worn a different hairstyle for each day of class -- that's 14 days out of 45.

My goal is to wear a different hairstyle every day I teach. I'm sharing on Instagram, where you'll find me @runningfan63 and on Twitter @paulitakincer. If you want to hear more about my crazy scheme, you can find the original post on my blog A Professor's Hair Diary.
"Did you get a haircut?" a male student who hadn't been in class for more than a week asked me.
"No, my hair is up," I said, turning around for him to see the back.
And that is as close as I got to a student noticing that I have warn my hair different every day of the semester so far.
On Monday, I wore a bubble ponytail. That's a pony tail with extra ponytail holders so that a bubble of hair is created between each one. Fat braids or ponytails are in this year, so any time you make a braid or a bubble, you are supposed to tug at it to make it fatter.

On Wednesday, I braided the sides and connected them to a braid in the back over my waterfall of wavy hair.

On Friday, I created a braided bun with three braids, each of them pinwheeled next to each other at the nape of my neck. I also twisted the sides before braiding them.

One more week down. I'm almost a third of the way done for the semester.

A Professor's Hair Diary Week 4

Four weeks into the semester, I've successfully worn a different hairstyle for each day of class -- that's 11 days out of 45.

My goal is to wear a different hairstyle every day I teach. I'm sharing on Instagram, where you'll find me @runningfan63 and on Twitter @paulitakincer. If you want to hear more about my crazy scheme, you can find the original post on my blog A Professor's Hair Diary.

"Did you do something different to your hair?" the garrulous student who sits in the front row called out at the same time that another student said,"Your hair looks nice."
Finally, during Week 4, my students had noticed and commented on my hair. Unfortunately, it didn't have anything to do with an elaborate hairstyle,  like the kinds I'd been wearing for four weeks. The comments came the day after I got a haircut and the stylist straightened it.
I would have gotten a comment from a student even if I'd worn my hair the exact same way every day - down and curly.
I do love having my hair straightened though. I felt quite beautiful with my long, flowing locks on the walk home

My hair is generally just below my shoulders when it's curly, but it reaches to the middle of my back, past my shoulder blades when it's straightened. Sometimes I feel like it's choking me at night as strands get wrapped around my throat.
So, after four weeks of hairstyles, my students noticed a difference, but they haven't noticed all the carefully sculpted hairstyles -- a different one every day.
Technically, the comment, "Did you do something different to your hair?" is kind of insulting since I've done something different every day.
Here are the pictures from this week.
Monday I wore a side bun. I rolled the sides and gathered my hair into a bun on the right side of the back of my head.

On Wednesday was the noticeable straight hair.

On Friday, I tried four or five different hairstyles before I ended up just pulling the sides back in a barrette.

That's it for this week's Professor's Hair Diary. Thanks for hanging around. I hope I can stick to it. I may be losing enthusiasm. 

Three Weeks of A Professor's Hair Diary

Three weeks into the semester, I've successfully worn a different hairstyle for each day of class -- that's 8 days out of 45.

My goal is to wear a different hairstyle every day I teach. I'm sharing on Instagram, where you'll find me @runningfan63 and on Twitter @paulitakincer. If you want to hear more about my crazy scheme, you can find the original post on my blog A Professor's Hair Diary. And the first week post at Week 1.
 I thought I'd catch you up on the past two weeks.

Week Two we only had class two days because of Labor Day. 

Grace did this side-braided bun on Wednesday. 

Then on Friday, she twisted the sides and created a rose in the back. 

Next we moved on to Week Three on Monday.

This is a braided headband. 

As I look at all these pictures of my  hair, I realize that parts of it have really gotten redder or lighter from the sun. Never fear, I'm going to the hair stylist next week and she can hopefully rectify that. 

This is the first day I've had to do my hair myself because Grace left for a trip to Dublin and London. I fell back on a traditional French twist. The filter I used on instagram makes it look a little purplish. 

On Friday, I tried a complicated, basket-weave type hairstyle. Because my hair is curly (or because I did it wrong?) it doesn't look the same. Basically I created four pony tails on the back of my head and tucked them through, then separated them and curled them under at the sides. It looks a bit of a mess, doesn't it? 

Here's the original photo of what it should have looked like. 

But  you can see she did it on a mannequin and I don't have mannequin hair. I get my hair cut on Tuesday and since she usually straightens it, I could try this hairstyle again and see if it is more successful. Or would that be cheating to use the same style?

When I finished working on my hair that morning, I felt like I'd had quite a workout. 

After three weeks of different hairstyles, none of my students have noticed or said anything, including four students who had me for class in previous semesters. 

I did have one student who told me she liked my hair when I wore it in the French twist, so at least she noticed something. 

A Professor's Hair Diary -- Week 1

Here I am on the last day of the first week of the semester, having completed three days of classes with three different hairstyles.

My goal is to wear a different hairstyle every day I teach. I'm sharing on Instagram, where you'll find me @runningfan63 and on Twitter @paulitakincer. If you want to hear more about my crazy scheme, you can find the original post on my blog A Professor's Hair Diary. 

I figured that each Friday, I can summarize the hairstyles here on my blog.

I started on Monday simply wearing my hair down and curly. I always straighten my bangs because they drive me crazy. 

On Wednesday, I dragged Grace out of bed and had her give me an upside-down braid that ended in a curly ponytail. The braid was a French braid and might have stood out more if was a reverse French braid, with the hair going under instead of over. Funny thing, that's how my mother learned to braid, so whenever she braided my hair, at my request, she braided it under long before it became popular.

By the time I finished teaching around 2 p.m., my head was aching from the braid pulling on it. I took it down as soon as I got home.

Today, I rousted Grace from bed again and she created a twisted tuck bun. 

None of my students have mentioned my hairstyles, but a student in the elevator gushed about my hair. And several of my colleagues admired today's style, giving me a chance to invite them to follow me on Instagram and Twitter. They immediately began to doubt that I'll be able to find 45 different hairstyles throughout the semester. Time will tell.

Also, Grace downloaded an app to my phone that allowed me to show two pictures simultaneously. I'm definitely learning from this experience.
I'll update you again next week.

Shouldn't We All have Gone to College Someplace Like This?

After a 16-hour drive, we arrived.

Ah, yes. Let the learning begin.

But first, the parents deserve a refreshing drink.

Grace Update

For many regular readers, you know that Grace has had an up and down college career. She finished her freshman year last May unsure whether she'd return to her Upstate New York college. She took off autumn semester and went to hang out in France with some French friends and blogging friends. Then she bit the bullet and returned to Upstate New York in January.
So, how's that going?
Super! Thanks for asking!
Although she has been homesick, she has lucked out with the weather. This has been a very mild winter from the Midwest through the Northeast. She has avoided the below zero weather and the thigh-high snow fall.
She started the semester with a roommate she didn't know, but the girl dropped out within a few weeks, leaving behind her microwave and mini refrigerator. So for awhile Grace had a room to herself, until a girl she works with asked if she could move in with Grace. Now she is rooming with Emma, who she gets along with and doesn't spend every minute of the day with -- a healthier relationship. The girls work together doing makeup for stage performances.
Grace settled on a major -- multi lingual studies and she's enjoying her French and Italian classes, along with Oceanography and Global Studies. Plus, she starts German next year and will spend Winter Semester in Vienna next year. Some life, huh?
She says the world of short men continues at her college (Grace is 5-foot, 10-inches) but she has found some good friends and this weekend was initiated into a sorority. One of the first orders of business -- a toga party, of course.
Grace and I talk and text a lot. I miss her, but I'm so thrilled that she is enjoying college and thriving. When her global studies professor returned her essay, he told her she could have it published. Every little blip of success helps to build her up, reminding her what a spectacular young woman she is.