For the of the month of November, people all over the globe participate in No Shave November, a month in which participants refrain from shaving in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer.
Sophomore Samhith Punukula took part in the cause this November and describes the reactions of the people around him when they saw what he was taking part in.
“I got a lot of mixed responses when I participated in No Shave November,” Punukula said. “Lots of people didn’t like it, while other people loved it. There were lots of mixed emotions with the cause. It all depends on your position, but when people realize what the underlying goal of the movement is, they tend to think better of it.”
While the main purpose of the movement was to raise awareness and embrace the hair that lots of cancer patients lose, students like Punukula took part in the movement just for fun.
“I did No Shave November this year just for fun,” Punukula said. “I can grow a beard in about three days so I just thought, ‘Hey, let’s grow it out for a month.’ People do it mostly to support prostate cancer in men and raise awareness, but I did it this year completely for fun. With adults, I think that No Shave November would be a bigger cause than with students.”
Having raised over 174$ million dollars for prostate cancer and being one of the top 100 non-profit organizations in the world, No Shave November has grown as one of the most popular and influential movements in the world.
“No Shave November is a great way to increase knowledge about prevention and an increase in awareness for a lesser-known form of cancer,” Punukula said. “The movement is very unique and if people don’t want to do it to support prostate cancer, they can still do it for fun.”
