By Joshua Parrott, Sports Writer

My mind is made up.

I won’t allow the terrorists to “win,” as some people put it.

While much of the country mourns the great losses we all suffered one year ago this week, I treasure the opportunity to write what is on my mind; not forgetting what has happened, but not dwelling on the past.

While this time last year I never could have imagined the pain and loss our country would endure, I also never imagined that one year later the issue on my mind would be so follicle: hair.

Hair? Where did that come from? Run out of great manicure ideas or what?

Actually, after reading a column by Kevin Blackistone of the Dallas Morning-News concerning a Dallas-area high school basketball coach upholding his no corn-rows, no afros policy, I dug deeper into this situation.

Lancaster High School basketball coach Joe Rushing has the idea that if he allows his players to wear corn-rows and afros he is preparing them for a life full of disappointment. Supposedly successful people don’t wear their hair like that.

Some of us who played sports in high school know that some coaches out there went crazy when it came to team unity, ranging from the whole team shaving their heads, sporting head bands or even wearing knee-high socks, but Rushing is missing the chance to teach his players some important lessons in life.

While our outward appearance is so important concerning first impressions, so is the tolerance and understanding we have toward those who choose to be different. I would hope that we have at least learned to love each other no matter how different we are on the outside.

Because on the inside, we are all the same.