Right before the hairdresser chopped 10 inches off of her head, senior Isis Muñiz experienced a brief moment of doubt as she realized just how short her donation to Locks of Love would leave her hair. And although she almost changed her mind, the prominent thought in her head were all the children who would benefit from her donation.

Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides what is considered to be high quality wigs to children who suffer from a number of medical conditions that result in temporary and permanent hair loss.

“Locks of Love mainly just gives [the hair] to children,” Muñiz said. “It isn’t just for children that have lost their hair to cancer, but also for children that have alopecia, so they couldn’t really grow their own hair to begin with.”

The process of donating hair was not as easy as she expected it to be, Muñiz said. But since there were only a few requirements she had to meet, it did not deter her from donating her hair.

“It couldn’t have been bleached,” Muñiz said. “If it was really damaged, then I couldn’t donate it either.”

Her main focus once she entered the hair salon was the fact that her hair, then cascading past her ribs, would be cut to a length close to her face.

“I knew I wanted to do it, but I wasn’t sure just how short I wanted to go,” Muñiz said. “She definitely cut it shorter than I wanted, but I mean, she did cut it to my chin. I felt like a boy and I didn’t like it at all.”

While it only took a few moments for the reality of her new, short hair to sink in, the shock that came with it was definitely long term, Muñiz says. Muñiz’s mother helped comfort her afterward and reminded her why she made this long-term decision.

“I cried and my mom was telling me to stop because I did it for a good cause,” said Muñiz. “And she told me that I shouldn’t be crying because I lost my hair, since other children lost their hair, didn’t have hair, or couldn’t grow their own, so I should feel better because I was giving them my hair.”

The biggest issue Muñiz has now with her short hair is how little creative control she has over it. She cannot change or style it until she grows her hair back.

“I go to school and I see all these cute hairstyles everyone else has,” Muñiz said. “I’m always thinking, ‘Oh, I love that ponytail!’ or bun or hair-do and, ‘I’m going to try that!’ and then I realize that I have short hair and I can’t do braids or anything.”

Despite it all, Muñiz said she had a great experience donating to Locks of Love. Her contribution to the confidence, self-esteem, and image of children was more than enough reason for her to donate.

“I would probably do it again, but I would definitely not cut it as short as before,” Muñiz said. “I would make sure that my hair’s super long so they could still get the same length, but my hair afterwards would be a bit longer.”