I started wearing the hijab when I was in grade 4. I grew up in a Muslim majority country where most Muslim women do not wear the hijab, nor are the Islamic rulings strongly established in the country. But there are fully burka clad women with niqab, only burka wearing women with a headscarf, headscarf wearing women, and women who would lightly put a scarf on their head. I didn't know about the compulsiveness of the hijab, but I wanted to try it out anyways.
So I started out with a very thin scarf around my head the day my family was invited to a wedding ceremony. I wore the headscarf a couple of times, but then I wanted to go back to my life without hijab. But my mom ordered me to wear the hijab all the time from then on. P. S. I didn't have my menstruation yet.
After it became compulsory for me to wear the hijab, and I was wearing the hijab already, but I wasn't sure about the Islamic rulings about the hijab.So I went to my cousin's pre wedding ritual(গায়ে হলুদ /gaye hold) without my hijab disregarding my mom's preference for me to wear the hijab.That night, I thought I felt free from the hijab, but after the night, I thought that it was better to stick with the hijab. It made me feel better. However, gradually, I got to know the importance of hijab, and then I felt proud in this barrier, I felt safe in this hijab.
I love myself and appreciate myself in my hijab.