When I was throwing around the idea of shaving my head last year I remember mentioning it to my mom. "Mom what if I shaved my head?" to which she retorted "Why? You would be so ugly. (This is not at all a way to expose my mother. I love and appreciate her so so much and she always has my best interests in mind.) I remember hearing that comment and rather than feeling hurt, I felt empowered. Her negative comments only made me want to do it even more. The fact that bald and ugly are used in the same sentence is so unfair. Cancer patients don't get to choose whether or not to shave their head. Many are forced to to make procedures easier. To me bald is bold, bald is brave, bald is beautiful. Many view shaving your hair as losing a part of yourself but I view it as showing your most genuine self. I shave my head to stand in solitary with cancer patients, to not have cancer define who they are but to define what cancer is to them. Through Texas 4000 I have learned that cancer means a variety of different things to people: hopelessness, death, sadness, and worry but it can also mean strength, hope, faith, love, and bravery. Hair doesn't define who you are, cancer doesn't define who you are, you define who you are. I am fighting cancer every mile... with or without hair.