Sitting next to an ordinary-looking person in class every day, one might never realize the lengths that they go to to maintain that appearance. There are people that, when they leave the house, wear a head scarf only to take it off at the bus stop.

Saedah Ham, is a sophomore at Seattle Academy of Arts and Science (SAAS) and often finds herself in this particular situation. “I usually wear things that cover my whole body,” says Ham. “If I wear tights or shorts I’ll wear jeans or leggings or sweats over them and on top I always wear sweaters. I wear my head scarf when I leave the house.”

She dresses this way because of her religion, Islam. This is one of the reasons to “double dress,” as some religions require wearing particular garments as a way to not show hair or skin.

“It’s against the rules to show skin or hair. And my grandparents are really strict Muslims.” Saedah says. She started wearing long shirts and pants, and her head scarf, in elementary school when her grandmother encouraged her to. “I didn’t really get treated differently at all, just asked a lot of questions.”

Though she is personally Muslim, just not as strict as her grandparents, Saedah stopped dressing in traditional fashion all the way back in middle school.

“I just got hella sick of it,” she says, “I just didn’t like the feeling of being forced to wear something that I didn’t want to wear, I guess.”

When asked whether her grandparents ever found out, Saedah laughs. “Plenty of times!” she says. “But I just keep doing it anyway to respect [their] wishes.”

Rachel*, a Garfield student, has the same dilemma. “I always wear my headscarf — that’s the NUMBER ONE RULE in Islam,” Rachel says. “I also wear a skirt that’s past the knees, with loose tops.” Though she leads the “double life” just like Saedah, she still wears her head scarf all the time.

“For me, it’s about how I want to express myself. I think it constricts me to not be able to express myself as freely as I want to. Like if you see a person at school that’s not Muslim, wearing a skirt past the knees, you’d think they were wearing it just because they wanted to. In the same way, I want to be able to wear jeans, just because I wanted to.”

Rachel, though in a very unique situation, nevertheless has a reason that appeals to all of us; “In a way, I know I’m lying to my parents and my religion. But it’s more about what makes me happy, and they wouldn’t understand.”

Sounds like the double life isn’t going away anytime soon.

*Name has been changed