Rachel's Essay~
Day by day, we get lost in our routine. Work, school, family, chores, homework, vacation, social networking- it is so so easy in this world and age. But when it comes down to it, this life wouldn't be worth living without love. As people, we all have different stories, all come from different backgrounds, all have different views and opinions and dreams and fears and ways of thinking. But if anything, the biggest thing that ties us together, that secretly and invisibly binds us to one another, is the desire to love, and to be loved in return. And in that way, we are not very much different from one another.
In the U.S., more children die of childhood cancer than any other disease — more than AIDS, asthma, cystic fibrosis, congenital anomalies and diabetes combined. This sickness, this poison that affects the lives of so many, has done its best to drown out hope with hurting. But this cancer does not just affect those who are diagnosed with it. "Their" sickness is our sickness. I hate how this world has unknowingly constructed this impassable bridge. There is no distinguishing between "us" and "them". This disease is hurting people, and it should be up to all of us to fight it, not just those diagnosed with it. The fact that the cause of so many other people's suffering has not yet been solved has affected me in such a way that I have finally decided to act. I hope that by shaving my head through love, I can show others that people are not all that different, and that someone else's child suffering from cancer might as well be your own. Love can conquer all. With love, it does not matter what kind of sickness we are fighting. By donating money, raising awareness, and spreading love, we can come together as people, people who are not at all that different, and MAKE a difference by changing the world into a place where there is no differentiating. In my mind- work, school: they do not matter, nor does status, wealth, or even the next new cellphone. And of all things, HAIR does not matter. People matter. This life is about love. So let's love. Please consider joining me in this cause. You do not have to go as far as shaving your head, but each and every donation is much appreciated.
Alli's Essay~
On October 30, 2014 my sister and I are both going to shave our heads for childhood cancer research. When I first heard of my sister’s plans to shave away her beautiful hair, I was shocked. I didn’t understand how she could do such a thing, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how wonderful the idea was. I kept going back and forth between wanting to join her and not. I wasn’t so sure about how my friends would respond and how other people would react. I started to wonder about why our hair matters so much to us. I realized that it doesn’t make us who we are, only we can do that. I also realized that I didn’t really care what people said about me or what they thought. My hair doesn’t define who I am; I won’t let myself be so vain about dead cells coming out of my head, that I am unable to help in all the ways I can. So, I decided to partner with St. Baldrick’s and the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation and shave my head. I’m not at all worried about anything during or after the shave; I know that what I am doing is right and that there are students out there dealing with much worse. If other people can’t see that, then my goal is to help them as well. I want our world to see just how bad cancer is and to be a walking fact book about the deadliness of cancer in order to show other people how important it is that they do whatever they can to help.
I haven’t really known a lot of people who have had cancer or died because of it. However, I want to help raise awareness and money because thinking about all the children that have had to go through this, and are still going through this, makes me sick. It makes me sad to think of how many types of cancer is our fault and that we still do not have a cure. Cancer is killing children around us and the most that many of us think we can do is stand around waiting for a cure to be found. That’s not true- we can do a lot to help and I’m going to do my best to ensure that I live to see that this cure is found. I’m not going to stand around and wait for a cure- shaving off my hair is the least I can do. By cutting my hair I am helping to raise money to help find a cure for the kids in our world. Cutting my hair is worth the satisfaction of knowing that I have helped in the fight to cure cancer. Every single child in this universe is a billion times more important than every strand of my hair. My hair will grow back and when it does I’ll continue to shave my head and find ways to help out until the children in our world no longer have to worry about this terrible disease.
We can’t do this alone; we need all the help we can get to save these kids. I need YOU to learn about childhood cancer. I need you to donate and your friends and their friends. If we all donate, tell others about how we have helped, and encourage them to do the same, we can help to find the cure that is so long overdue. We can help the children next to us and the children a million miles away. We can look into the eyes of recovering children and smile, knowing that they’ll be alright; knowing that there is still hope in the world and the people within. Because together we can do so much, together we can stop this nightmare.
