As a first-year college student, Alexandra rarely has time for herself as she tries to adjust to her new life away from home. Her hair has always been a huge part of her identity—she is constantly experimenting with it and trying new and better things. Recently, though, overwhelmed with school and personal matters, Alexandra had put her hair on the back burner for a while—three months, to be exact. Without styling or washing her hair during this time, she felt her confidence plummeting and her motivation to do her hair diminishing day by day.

One night, however, determined to restore her hair, she moisturized it and tied it with thread in a style called African threading—a technique used not only to protect the hair but also to stretch it out of its shrunken state. The next morning, she took the threads out and decided to film her experience. Not expecting much, she posted the video to her TikTok account, which had only 500 followers at the time. When she checked her account the next day, she couldn’t believe it—her video had gone viral, and thousands of people had started following her.

Over the next month, she watched her account grow in disbelief, reaching heights she had never imagined. Her account is now approaching 25,000 followers, and as both an aspiring filmmaker and the young Alexandra who tirelessly made videos since childhood, she couldn’t be happier. She feels like her dream is no longer so far away. She feels like her dream just might come true.