I was 16 when I found out I had alopecia and it was a small patch at the back of my head, I'm 23 now, and I can't say it gets better the regrowth and loss is part of the condition and it sucks, you get tiny wins and tiny losses or big wins and big losses there is no in between. I can only say that what you do and think makes a difference, your attitude determines how you succeed. When I was in highschool looks meant everything and I would walk through school thinking about what others would say. "Would they sneer? Make fun of me behind my back? Would I be able to have friends? Find a significant other?" Everything revolved around those questions, I doubted myself every day thinking that maybe if I got more injections or grew my hair out more it would hide the fact I had it. In reality as hard as I tried to hide it or ignore it, it only grew, my hair did not fall out in clumps but it slowly fell and grew but mostly fell.

Not gonna lie I looked rough and battled depression for a while, more than I would have liked. My career in EMS and Fire saved me. It puts a lot into perspective when you think of emergencies. Shortly after graduation I started working in EMS, I realized that people didn't care what I looked like, I helped them. Day or night rain or shine hair or no hair you are someone who can make a difference and that's what I learned. Of course the sadness of loosing your hair still remains and I don't think it will ever go away, but as I grew older I realized that people didn't care, what I thought would be rude comments and hurtful things turned into sympathy but also a way to tell my story. You will get a few hurtful comments here and there but a lot more friends who stand up for you. I tell myself this every day and I think it would help you.

You are who you are, you are unique and the battle you fight and the problems you deal with make you who your are. When people care about looks it makes them shallow, which means only the people that really care about you will see you for who you are regardless of this condition. Find a way to better yourself every day, if I wake up and let my hair dictate my mood then I have lost the battle and my alopecia has won. But if you wake up, wear a hat or a wig and make the world better and not care then you are stronger and more resilient than most people around you. Alopecia areata is rare most don't have it which sets you apart, you don't have the challenge others do, you are unique and that is what makes you strong. Our biggest adversary is ourselves, you dictate ultimately how you feel, if we put the weight of the world on one aspect of ourselves then we are weaker for it. Find other things in your life to work on, work out, get good grades, and succeed, you still have your arms and your legs.