UPDATE #2: Announcement! I have decided to keep my hair buzzed for a while. I know this will make some of you really happy lol, but I actually have a reason for it that has nothing to do with anyone liking how it looks. Let me explain; Since shaving my head I have gotten a lot of stares, and have felt some judgement, but for the most part when people have commented on my shaved head it has been positive stuff, such as complimenting me on my hair (or lack there of), the shape of my head, and sometimes asking me (politely) if there was a reason for my short hair, or if I had done St. Baldricks. I've gotten to have some great conversations with people, including cancer survivors who have loved hearing about what I did. The awesome conversations were enough to make me consider keeping it short for a little while, but what really decided me was an experience I had a few nights ago. I dealt with some of the rudest people I have ever encountered. I ushered for a show, and I was being very friendly and as helpful as possible greeting people as they came in the door. As a crowd, this is the rudest group I have ever experienced while ushering. People were being cold and/or snippy with me, and giving me condescending, jugdementtal, or dirty looks, and even talking about me with others in their group while shooting disgusted looks at me. The crowd was made up of entirely older people who have had pleanty of life experiences to know better. I even had multiple people say very snidely, "you got a hair cut". The way that people were acting really bothered me and made me mad. I wasn't mad because what they were saying hurt my feelings; I never like bullying but I can handle being insulted, but I was mad because the way that they were acting was unacceptable and they could have been doing that to someone who was truely sick. They know nothing about me, or my life, or why I have a shaved head, but they felt the need to rudely speak their mind based on their assumptions. People who are going through chemo or have another disease that causes hair loss, are already going through enough and should never have to deal with rude people like that. Or people who have a close friend or family member who is experiencing hair loss and shave their head as an act of support for them, have close emotional ties to it, and don't deserve to be critized for it. During the night when this happened I was taken by surprise and my main forcus was on keeping my cool and staying friendly, so I just brushed off eveyones rudeness. But now that I have had a chance to think about it, and to think about how to respond to these kind of people, I'm ready. I feel like the best way to reach these rude people is to put myself back out there for them to judge and insult me, and to be ready with a response. It just breaks my heart that anyone who is dealing with an illness, in themself or in a friend or family member, also has to deal with questions and comments from rude people. No one should have to explain or justify their lack of hair. So I want to catch as many of these rude people as I can in hopes that after talking to me they will no longer feel the need to speak their mind whenever they please. In hopes that they will not judge people for their hair or lack of hair, or that if they do, they will at least keep it to themselves. Thank you to all my friends for supporting me! UPDATE FROM AFTER THE EVENT:

On March 15th I shaved my head with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. When I left for the event I was still about $500 short of my goal. While I was getting my head shaved, people at the event were inspired to help me reach my goal by sponsoring me, and I raised another $800 on the spot ! I also continued to get online donations from friends and family after the event, which brought the total up even higher. (The checks and cash that were turned in at the event are still being processed, so they don’t show on my online profile yet, but the grand total should be up soon.) Thank you to everyone who helped me reach, and pass, my goal and raise over $2,000 for childhood cancer research!

While wearing my bald head I’ve gotten a lot of stares and even some rude comments, but I’ve also had the opportunity to have some amazing conversations that would not have happened otherwise. I’ve also gotten a lot of random complements on my “nice shaped head” haha. And people have been complimenting me on my eyes a lot, which is funny because people never noticed my eyes when I had hair.

With our bald heads, St. Baldrick’s “shavees” stand in solidarity with infants, children, teens and young adults fighting cancer. More important, the funds we raised will truly help save lives.

If you want to hear more about it, please let me know! It’s never too early to plan on getting involved next year – and donations are accepted year-round.

I truly appreciate the support of everyone who helped me reach my fundraising goal, and mostly helped raise money to save the lives of kids right here in our community and around the world.

I really miss my hair, but have absolutely NO REGRETS of participating in St. Baldrick's. :)



Original message:

I'm shaving my head to raise money for childhood cancer research! Kids' cancers are different from adult cancers and unfortunately childhood cancer research is extremely underfunded. So I decided to do something about it by raising money for cures. Many kids with cancer who loose their hair feel ashamed off their bald head, so I want to show my support by shaving my head voluntarily. As a girl, shaving my head will pose some social and professional challenges, but I am so excited to be doing something to help. Please come along side me and help make this worth it. Every dollar makes a difference for the thousands of infants, children, teens, and young adults fighting childhood cancers.