Growing up, my grandma would always call me ‘Sister Pink’.

And it made sense. At the time, it was just me, my older sister, and my younger brother, and I would always choose the pink option. Whether it was a water bottle, the coloured hangers in the pack, or goggles when we were going swimming: pink was always my colour.

When I got to middle school, though, I started to feel a little embarrassed about it. People started acting like pink was childish and immature, and I started to be a little ashamed of myself. I know it was silly, but I wanted to be seen as grown-up, not just a little girl. So I gave myself a new favourite colour: cyan, but a little more green than blue.

I lasted like this up until the COVID-19 Pandemic. It was during this time at home that I realised just how silly I was being. There was no need to hide such a huge part of myself out of fear of how other people would perceive me. I thought to myself, I should be able to enjoy what I do without worry.

So, upon returning to school in my Junior year of high school, I did exactly that. It started with a phone case, but slowly evolved to reach every facet of my life. My friends all became well aware of my colour of choice, but, most importantly to me, my grandma started calling me Sister Pink again.

As I started preparing for college throughout my Senior year, almost everything I bought was pink. My bedding, my hangers, my water bottle, my trashcan. Even my laptop was pink (a rosy gold, but close enough!) I felt a lot of comfort knowing that, as I was entering a new stage of my life, I would always have a sense of comfort.

I was a little worried though, when I got accepted into Harvard. I started having some doubts about whether or not I would be seen as a serious student, coming into class with all pink supplies. As silly as it may sound, my worries melted away quite a bit rather soon into my time here. At the beginning of every Fall semester, all of the First-Years gather on the steps of Widener Library to watch a movie: Legally Blonde. While I know it’s fictional, seeing a representation of someone who loved pink a little bit less than me that was still able to ultimately succeed made a lasting impression on me, one that I’ve kept with me throughout my nearly four years here.

As I go to Pre-Law conferences, walk into my courthouse internships, and study at the Law School, I always keep a bit of pink on me. It was specifically at my internship that I realised that my pinkness and femininity would not only be tolerated in the workplace, but also celebrated. When I first started this past January, I would come to work dressed in black head-to-toe because I still envisioned that as what professional had to be. However, I was happily surprised to walk into the Clerk’s office and see a collection of colours. There were women in sage green suits, deep purple skirt sets, and even pale pink tops. All of a sudden, my silly little pink notebook and pen didn’t feel so silly anymore: they felt like my sign of belonging.

Femininity and professionalism are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they go hand-in-hand in ways that I could never have imagined. Whenever I feel doubt, or worry about whether I’m doing too much, I think about my grandma and I remember the little girl who would do anything to make her happy. Honouring and celebrating my pink isn’t just for myself, but for the people women in my family who worked hard for me to unabashedly be exactly who I am. It’s because of them that I’ve switched from saying I want to be the Black Elle Woods to wanting to be Faith in her entirety.