Former student shaves her head for awareness
From shaving to saving, Saddleback College students across campus are meeting for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation shave event on May 2. Although not an easy task to hold the title of shavee, especially in a generation where hair embodies beauty for most girls, co-coordinator and past member of Student Development, Abigail Freeman, is taking the risk.
“For me, shaving my head isn’t a huge sacrifice. People are willing to pay, so why not do it? Why not match my friend Max (DiPadova)?”
The 23-year-old child development major at Cal State University, Fullerton, decided to hold the shave event with the help of 19-year-old Dakota Branson at Saddleback after having worked in the Student Development Center with Audra DiPadova, director of student life.
“It’s been a collaboration with fantastic friends both in and out of the Student Development Office,” Freeman said. “We knew we wanted to have it at Saddleback because we know the campus.”
After getting to know DiPadova, Freeman babysat her kids and became more involved with understanding the St. Baldrick’s
Foundation which funds research and methods of healthcare for pediatric cancer.
Although she hasn’t worked at a St.
Baldrick’s Foundation event before, her drive to support the cause continues to grow, especially having cared for Audra’s son, Max, who ha been dealing with a brain glioma.
“Max told me last week that he’s going to shave a booger into the back of my head. It was hilarious. He’s so excited,” Freeman said.
Freeman doesn’t worry about gettting rid of her hair. She saw the beauty behind the act and praises Audra for also having shaved her head.
Although Freeman is concerned people may not attend because of the commitment, she feels optimistic after raising awareness for pediatric cancer in past events.
“All the fantastic students and faculty participated in the Pluck-a-Duck event last year, so we stayed hopeful that people would also want to participate in this,” she said.
With an hopeful view and an open heart, Freeman is hoping to draw a big crowd and establish the issues she thinks aren’t acknowledged enough.
“Pediatric cancer is a big issue,” she said. “Every 3 minutes, a child is diagnosed with cancer. People are touched by it in some way, and this is an excellent opportunity to take a stand in the face of such a huge gap in funding for research. By having the event at Saddleback, I think it benefits the student body by encouraging cause-driven efforts and charity work on campus.”