Saumya Hingorani

Change is something most people fear. But for me, I love change. It brings excitement to my life. I'm not sure whether I love it because I'm impulsive, or because i'm fearless. Hopefully it's the latter, but i'll let you decide.

I grew up in Mumbai, India and decided to move miles and miles away for college, in the United States. There were multiple reasons for my decision, but the main one was independence. Looking back to when I started school, I can see how much I've grown from knowledge I've gained through the mistakes I've made.

One thing I really wanted to do this year was give back to society. Some of my highlights included adopting a 7 year old lab-hound from an animal shelter, giving out food to homeless people on birthday and one that I'm most proud of- donating my hair to Cancer patients.

If you have female friends, you know how possessive we are about our hair. I had hair all the way down till below my waist, and if i ever thought of cutting it, I was immediately shut down by everyone around me. My mother was particularly against this idea.

One hot afternoon in Mumbai, I accompanied my brother to the barbers shop while he got his haircut. I sat in the chair next to him and stared at myself while the hairstylist dampened his hair. I had a rather ridiculous thought to myself. "Why don't I chop off my hair and donate it to Cancer society?". I didn't really think for even a second before I blurted this out loud. I could see the expression on my brothers face- 'Do it!! But beware of the backlash'. He's always been supportive of my ideas, and the hairstylist was obviously thrilled.

Within 3 minutes of me having the thought, chop-chop, snip-snip; All my hair was gone. Most people were unhappy looking at what I had done- because people fear change. However, they grew to love it after they learnt it was for a noble cause. Including my mother, she even posted on Facebook about it.

Certain things in life we do to make others happy, and in turn make ourselves happy. Special experiences in your life teach you things, inspire you and help you learn things about yourself. So whether you're impulsive, foolish or fearless, don't forget to experience things that help you grow as a person, because that is the most valuable thing you'll get out of life.