Hello! My name is Emma Simon and I am currently a senior in high school. I'm shaving my head to raise money for childhood cancer research! I am going to donate all of my hair to Wigs for Kids and then shave my head for St. Baldrick’s on April 1st, 2017! Please donate!! All money goes towards a great cause and any amount is welcomed and encouraged. Whether it is only a few dollars or a few hundred dollars, any and all donations help make the world a better place.
If you want to know more about why I decided to shave my head, please keep reading below. If not, please donate!! Let’s work together to help make this world we live in a better place :)
In first grade, my best friend and I created a game called “Superheroes.” Our superhuman job was to walk around the playground and pick up litter. We loved it because we got to be superheroes and we were helping people. As you can probably guess, I have never been the most “popular” girl in school.
In fact, I was bullied quite a bit throughout grade school and middle school. I had always been shy, but when my third-grade crush said he would “never like a fat and ugly pig of a person,” I started to isolate myself and hate my appearance. After years of being told I was unattractive, I began to believe it. Junior year was when I finally realized what it takes to be beautiful. It was not a particular thing that made me “find the light;” I just got older and realized that no one other than myself gets to define who I am or how I view myself. All you need is confidence- confidence in yourself and your capabilities.
Although ten years have passed, I still want to be the superhero I dreamed of being in first grade. I was put in this world to help others, to make a difference. On October 24th, 2016, I finally became the superhero I dreamed of being as a little kid; I signed up as a shavee for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation. I hope to raise money to help the kids with cancer achieve their dreams. I want to shave off my almost-twenty-two inches of hair to show that everyone can be beautiful. I am not perfect, but that does not mean I am not beautiful. I want to show little girls that it should not take sixteen years for them to realize that they are beautiful just the way they are. Hair is an accessory, not a necessity.
I may not be able to cure cancer or completely alter society’s view on beauty with my single fundraiser, but I can make a difference, even if it is a small one. I want to shave my head so I can be the change I want to see in the world. I am shaving my head so I can be the hero I dreamed of being years ago, and so I can do something meaningful in my life. I am choosing to shave my head for all the little kids who do not get the luxury of a choice.
As of now, on November 26th, my hair is around 22 inches long from root to tip. I will be shaving my head at a St. Baldrick’s event on April 1st, 2017. I plan on donating all of my hair to Wigs for Kids where it will go towards making wigs for children with cancer. As of now, my goal is to raise at least $2,000, but I hope that I greatly underestimated! Please donate any amount you can. It all goes towards a great cause and any amount of money helps. Whether it’s a few dollars or a few hundred dollars, you are helping make the world a better place. :)