California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

    CLU Women: Why I Shaved My Head

    Three California Lutheran University students share why they decided to chop their locks.

    A new buzz is going around California Lutheran University this year since a few female students decided to shave their heads. Each one had their own reason for doing so.

    There were students on campus who wondered if the women did it as a new fashion statement or if they shaved their heads to support a cause.

    Junior Tori La Rocco shaved her head last semester to comfort a 12-year-old girl from her hometown named Lexi, who was diagnosed with cancer.

    The New Normal: Madi Schmader said she will most likely keep her hair short for the next year. Photos by Morgan Mantilla- Staff Photographer
    The New Normal: Madi Schmader said she will most likely keep her hair short for the next year.
    Photos by Morgan Mantilla- Staff Photographer

    โ€œA lot of people from home [did], because my entire town rallied behind Lexi, so we have a lot of people that shaved their heads,โ€ La Rocco said.

    Lexi lost her battle with cancer, but La Rocco continues to encourage people to help raise money and donate to fight childhood cancer. As far as shaving oneโ€™s head, La Rocco said, โ€œI would say anybody who wants to go for it, it is an exhilarating feeling.โ€

    Each student had a different response as to why she shaved her head. One reason was simply because of how much easier short hair is to maintain.

    โ€œI was honestly really sick of having hair. I had shoulder length hair and then I shaved the back and the underside, but it was under everything so you couldnโ€™t see it,โ€ said junior Brooklynn Ramos. โ€œI used to be really into styling my hair every single day. I would braid it or do different things with it and the only thing I was doing with it at that point was washing it and I was like, this is boring and Iโ€™m really sick of worrying what it looks like or what Iโ€™m going to have to do with it today.โ€

    Ramosโ€™ hair is now growing out since she shaved her head in October, using her new haircut as part of her Halloween costume.

    โ€œI also wanted to be Eleven from Stranger Things [Netflix Series] for Halloween, so it was the perfect time,โ€ Ramos said.

    Currently, she is in the process of growing her hair back out, but Ramos said the experience was positive overall.

    โ€œThe person who seemed the most concerned with it was my mom. She thought I was doing it because I was having some sort of personal trauma and felt like I had to change, but it was nothing like that at all,โ€ Ramos said.

    Another student on campus, senior Madi Schmader, still has her head shaved and plans to keep it that way for at least a year.

    โ€œI really just shaved my head because I have been cutting my hair shorter and shorter every year and Iโ€™ve always wanted to do this,โ€ Schmader said. โ€œShowers are so much fun now, because itโ€™s a surreal sensory experience and stuff, but thereโ€™s really no cause that I was supporting when I shaved my head.โ€

    Brooklynn Ramos is in the process of growing her hair out again.  Photos by Morgan Mantilla- Staff Photographer
    Brooklynn Ramos is in the process of growing her hair out again.
    Photos by Morgan Mantilla- Staff Photographer

    Shaving her head also created unexpected benefits for Schmader because of her interest in cosplay.

    According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, cosplay is โ€œthe activity or practice of dressing up as a character from a work of fiction.โ€

    โ€œIโ€™m probably going to keep it for a while because I cosplay at conventions and for photo shoots. My most recent one is going to be Negasonic Teenage Warhead [Marvel Comics fictional character],โ€ Schmader said. โ€œI was in Starbucks studying and I had a black lip and a black turtleneck and someone from the school took a photo of me and tweeted it saying, โ€˜Negasonic Teenage Warhead goes to our school.โ€™ That pretty much sealed the deal for me and I am going to keep this haircut for a while.โ€

    Schmader is currently the only one that hasnโ€™t started growing her hair back.

    โ€œIโ€™m debuting my Negasonic cosplay this weekend at WonderCon. I had planned to [shave my head] for at least another year because itโ€™s so easy and people have told me I have the head shape and I like it,โ€ Schmader said.

    Matt Weisman
    Staff Writer