Donating to Children With Hair Loss

Over the last few years that I’ve been in college, I enjoyed assignments that pertained to my goals. Reason being that I already had goals in mind so these assignments were natural and easy. What I am now realizing is that I’m glad I always had goals in mind. Sure, I didn’t write them down or make a vision board but I knew where I wanted to go. Turns out, you can check yourself by writing down goals in a SMART manner. No, I don’t mean there’s a stupid or smart way... SMART is an acronym for:

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Time-bound

Of course, there are other words that can be used for the acronym such as Significant, Motivating and so on. So how exactly do SMART goals work? Well, if there’s a goal that you may have in mind, you use that to break it into the 5 categories. You ask yourself questions like “how will I know when I’ve reached my goal?”, “what will I do to get to my goal?”, etc. That being said, I recently used this method on a personal goal of mine: donating my hair to Children With Hair Loss (CWHL). Listed below is the SMART method I applied.

S- I want to be able to put a smile on a child’s face. Everyday, people get haircuts and most often then not, it’s thrown away. I want to take advantage of the hair on my head and give it to someone who is struggling and may benefit from it. There are organizations that are dedicated to creating wigs for children, one of which is CWHL. They make wigs and give them to children for free. This is an organization I want to support because I appreciate what they do and I love the fact that they provide their services to families at no charge.

M- Hair is 8 inches or longer (the length I will donate).

A- CWHL prefers hair that is healthy and not treated. From the time I started my goal, I have not damaged my hair by dying it and limited heat exposure (straightening/ curling). I could also start taking vitamins that will help my hair grow faster and healthier.

R- I rarely cut my hair so growing it is no problem.

T- Hair takes awhile to grow (especially mine)! I’ve been growing my hair out for about a year now and I still have more to go. I hope to have my hair down to my middle/ lower back by the time I donate it (1-1.5 years from now).

As I’ve mentioned before, using this method helped me determine if I was taking the right steps toward my goal. I encourage you all to do the same! :)

Figure 1. The logo for Children With Hair Loss, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating and donating wigs to children with diseases that affect their hair ("Donate Your Hair", n.d.). 

Citation
“Donate Your Hair.” Children with Hair Loss, https://childrenwithhairloss.us/donate/donate-your-hair/.

Community College Presentation

When it comes to creating PowerPoints, I absolutely love it. I put so much detail into the spacing between words and pictures, font size or the lining of pictures. Yes, I am very picky when it comes to PowerPoints and presentations. Recently, I’ve been preparing one for my presentation at South Mountain Community College (SMCC) tomorrow (April 12th). Luckily, I won’t be the only one presenting; other TRAIN students will be there to share their own experiences, research and/or advice.

For my presentation, I will talk about summer internships and go into detail as to what to look for and why they’re beneficial. At the end, I hope I’m able to convince students to apply to them. I chose this topic because my summer internship at the University of Iowa made me want to inform others about such opportunities. Before I applied, I wasn’t aware of these internships. Looking back, if I could help someone have the same (if not better) experience than me, why not share it?

During our TRAIN class yesterday, April 10th, we practiced our presentations to help us prepare for tomorrow. After seeing everyone present, I can’t wait until the real presentations! I hope students enjoy what we share and are able to benefit from it. :)

Figure 1. Logo of South Mountain Community College. TRAIN scholars from ASU West and I will be sharing our stories and advice to attending students ("Brand Guidelines", n.d.). 

Citation

“Brand Guidelines.” Maricopa Community Colleges, https://www.maricopa.edu/about/brand-guidelines