My rookie era: ‘Why don’t I cut my own fringe? I have hands. I have a mirror. What’s stopping me?’

‘The fringe remains my safety blanket. It is my identity. My friend and sometimes my foe.’ Photograph: Jessica Hromas/The Guardian

I have had a fringe since I was 15 years old. I will never forget this life-altering haircut. For years before it I had been suffering lingering effects from a bob cut I received unwillingly in primary school.

You were not a cool person if you had a bob as an adolescent in the early 2000s. But finally my hair had grown sufficiently for styling and I got it cut to sit neatly on my shoulders with front bangs.