The Cupertino Courier

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For Rebecca, it's hair today, gone tomorrow

By MICHELE TJIN

Rebecca Alberts is sporting a new look these days, and she can't wait to show it off to her classmates at Kennedy Middle School.

Rebecca, who was known for the curly dirtyblond mane that hung down to her waist, recently went to a salon to have 14 inches of her hair chopped off to benefit children without hair. Last month, the Saratoga resident donated her lifelong growth of curls so that it can be made into wigs for children, who have suffered medically related hair loss.

"At first, it was startling," said the 11-year-old of her new 'do. "I kept saying that it was so short. But after a while, it was easier to manage, and I got used to it." Today, the curls hang just above Rebecca's shoulders.

"Friends might be surprised at how I look but not surprised that I cut it," she said.

Rebecca said her motivation to cut off her hair came from a family friend in Hawaii who has breast cancer. "That got me thinking," she said. "When she loses her hair, how does she look when the chemotherapy is over?"

Judy Alberts said her daughter had been talking about her goal to donate her hair for more than a year and had been waiting so that her hair would be long enough.

Rebecca donated her hair to Locks of Love, a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to children.

"I was really proud of her because she wanted to do this, and it was finally happening," her mom said. "It was neat and scary to see her face because she was concerned about it being shorter. But she said it will grow again."

This is the first time in a long time that Rebecca has hair framing her face. Rebecca, who swims year-round and plays soccer, always had her hair French braided or tied in a ponytail. In the pool, her hair was constantly bunched under her swimming cap, and coaches had no idea how much hair she had in there, her mom said. Letting down her hair was reserved for special occasions.

Mom approves of the new look.

"The overall management is wonderful," she said. "Now, there's no ponytail. She leaves it down. It's cute."

Rebecca had her hair cut at La Nouvelle in the Quito Shopping Center, with salon owner Suzanna Salim doing the cutting herself. Salim also handled all of the donation details.

Rebecca, who will soon be a seventh-grader at Kennedy, tells those with hair to spare to consider giving it to others who can benefit from it. "A lot of people don't realize that it doesn't make a lot of difference to those who cut it, but it makes a big difference to those who get it," she said.

Rebecca is also convinced that donating her hair is such a good idea that she made a promise to herself to do the same thing again two more times--once when she's 21 and again at 31.

"When I'm 31, I'll just keep my hair short," she said.