Meet this week’s campus celebrity, Myranda Brodsky- a freshman with a story so inspiring, you can’t help but admire her. Myranda is dedicated to helping find the cure for breast cancer and has chosen to shave her own head to spread awareness. Read up to find out more about her heart-warming journey and how you can help.
Hometown: Londonderry, New Hampshire
Major: English Literature
Class Rank: Freshman
So Myranda, we heard about your amazing commitment to breast cancer awareness. Why don’t you share with us more about the steps you have chosen to take in this fight?
The steps I have chosen to take in this fight are not the easiest, but they will ultimately be rewarding. My goal is to raise $10,000 by New Year’s Eve, with hopes to present a check to the American Cancer Society on January 10, 2014 at my hometown high school’s Pantene Beautiful Lengths event. At this event, I will be presenting the check of however much I have raised, and will also be shaving my head in front of about a thousand people that have known me for years. The biggest step to accomplishing reaching the $10,000 is getting the word out to as many people as possible, which has been the hardest part yet.
Unfortunately, there are many women out there must wake up every morning without the choice to be bald, but you have this choice. So why go so far as to shave your entire head?
I want to shave my head because being a woman in today’s society, I understand a lot of the social pressures pushed on us to be beautiful and to look like the super-celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Mila Kunis, etc. Especially being right out of high school, I witnessed a lot of these pressures first hand as some of the less fortunate girls would be made fun of for what they lack, or what someone else perceived as ‘different.’ I can only imagine the way a woman diagnosed with breast cancer must feel not only having to deal with this life-threatening disease, but also knowing that they will have to lose their hair in the process and look the complete opposite of society’s standards. My hope in shaving my head is to one: bring an increased awareness to the battle that so many women in the world have to face with no choice, and two: show all of these women that it is okay; it sounds cliché to say, but it doesn’t matter what’s on their heads, what matters is what’s in their hearts.
Do you have any fears or concerns of shaving your entire head?
At first, I was really scared about how people would react to the news of me shaving my head, and to me being bald, as well. My fundraiser hasn’t been public for that long now, and the amount of love and support I’ve already received honestly makes me excited to shave my head. Everyone, even people I haven’t spoken to in years or people I have never talked to at all, has all been so supportive in my decision to both raise money and shave my head. I feel so confident about my decision and I can honestly say that I am truly excited to carry out my commitment, hopefully being able to present the $10,000 check in the process.
Tell us more about your personal life. Do you have any hobbies or special interests or are you involved in any groups or organizations on campus?
I’ve always been a huge photography girl—I have my ‘Myranda Whitney Photography’ page on Facebook for people to browse my photos if they want to. I am also a new member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority on campus, and the support I’ve received from my sisters has been so overwhelming. I absolutely love my sorority.
As of now, you have raised just over $2,000 in donations. What is your ultimate goal and how can we help?!
Reaching $2,000 in under just two weeks is so inspiring. I did not think that my fundraiser would impact enough people to even reach $1,000 in two weeks. I am totally humbled by how many people have reached out to help me reach my goal. My ultimate goal is to reach $10,000 by New Year’s Eve, which can hopefully be accomplished by getting the word out to as many people as possible! Day by day, my audience grows a little more. My dream is that by New Years, not only having the $10,000 to give to the American Cancer Society, enough people will know about my cause that an increased awareness will maybe one day cause somebody else to hold a similar fundraiser to mine, and keep spreading the awareness throughout the rest of the world.
We were amazed to find out that you don’t personally know anyone with breast cancer, and that your strong commitment is solely out of the kindness of your heart. What ultimately motivated you to do so much?
Last year, a dear friend of mine held a very similar fundraiser. Rachel Boucher, 22, of Hudson, New Hampshire, held a fundraiser with a goal of $5,000 to shave her head for children’s cancer research. In the matter of a month, she exceeded her goal and raised $11,000. It wasn’t until I actually saw photos of her getting her head shaved that I was inspired by her actions. The more I thought about what she did, the more I realized that I had the power to do the exact same thing. Although children’s cancer is equally important as breast cancer, I chose breast cancer specifically because of the event my high school holds (Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which is a non-profit organization that collects donated hair and makes free wigs for women with cancer), and because of the connection of simply being a woman, and trying to understand the emotional scars that having to lose a perfectly good head of hair must leave.
I think we can all agree that what your doing is absolutely amazing and probably much more than anyone would expect out of one person, but do you see yourself continuing your breast cancer awareness farther down the road with future involvement?
Although my heart lies in the direction of becoming a writer and/or editor, I do very much plan on continuing to spread awareness farther down the road. The more I learn about breast cancer, the more I want to put an end to the fight. It is a horrible disease that I want to see prevented and found a cure for hopefully in this lifetime. Now that I know more about it and how rampant it runs throughout the world and more so, how completely random it is and how many deaths it causes per year, I want to share this knowledge with as many people as possible so we can all be educated on it and understand why research should be funded. It’s simple—the more funds research organizations have, the closer we come to a scientific breakthrough that could hopefully end the breast cancer fight forever.
Have you done anything in the past related to breast cancer awareness?
Other than attending my high school’s Pantene Beautiful Lengths events every winter, I have not. Unfortunately, until recently I have been ignorant on the issue. By not being affected personally by the disease, I never gave too much thought about it until I realized I could do something to help.
We can imagine the support from your family and close friends must be tremendous. What do they have to say about your dedication?
I don’t even know where to begin with this question. I have never realized just how many true friends I have until I decided to do this fundraiser. My friends are the most incredible people in the world and have been helping me every step of the way, by donating, spreading the word, and just being all around supportive. When I first told them of the idea, not a single one of them gave me any negative feedback—it was all so positive and encouraging. My family, too, has just been unreal with the support. Along with donations, getting the word out and support by each of my family members, my father has decided to shave his head alongside me for extra support. It’s truly inspiring to me how encouraging the people in my life of are my decision. I can’t thank them enough.
Myranda, we wish you the utmost of luck and support in achieving your ultimate goal. Your story is truly an inspiration.
To help Myranda achieve her goal of $10,000, visit her Relay For Life page. Remember every donation, big or small, gets her one step closer to her goal and one step closer to a cure.