Since 2008, Notre Dame students have been going bald to support childhood cancer research by participating in The Bald and the Beautiful, or TBAB. Men brave enough to channel their inner Bruce Willis and a few brave, possibly even heroic, women have gone bald to raise funds for this amazing event. This year, I will be one of those men.
My Story
I grew my hair for more than nine months for this event. What could have possibly caused me to do this? Well, I was reading an article online and it had these two tips: Every guy should shave his head at least once in his life, and every guy should let his hair grow past his ears at least once in his life. And then I read about TBAB. So I let it grow.
I hoped it would be long enough to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths. In order to qualify, hair has to be eight inches long from the ponytail. Unfortunately, I don't quite make the cut. My hair is quite long though - about eight-and-a-half inches. As a male who has never had long hair before, it was quite the experience.
I had to use conditioner consistently. I bought hair gel for the first time since sixth grade, and I even had a shampooing schedule, so my hair wouldn't be too frizzy throughout the week. I now know way too much about hair, more than I ever needed to know. However, this was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I learned I like my hair to be about five inches long. I learned the difference between shampoo and conditioner (I seriously didn't know). Without this experiment, I would never have learned these things.
Most importantly, though, I realized how lucky I am to even have hair. I hope everyone comes out this Wednesday through Friday to support someone participating in TBAB. Several other Dillon Men and I will be shaving our heads on Wednesday at 8 p.m. in LaFortune. Come on out and support us and childhood cancer research. Donations can be made at bald.nd.edu, or in person at LaFortune.
What will I do when I go bald? Will I have phantom-hair syndrome? I honestly do not know what will happen. Such a drastic change is kind of crazy for most people. And, I have to be honest, it's a little scary. However, I know that what I am doing will make someone who is much worse off than me have a chance at a life, or at least a little bit of hope. Even if I look terrible when I'm bald, I know that I have made a positive impact on someone else's life, and that is more important than anything style-related. However, I'm going to try my best to pull it off.
Contact Sean Fitzgerald at sfitzge3@nd.edu
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
