Think back to the spring of your senior year in high school... College applications & scholarship interviews, job interviews, finding a date to prom, searching for the perfect tuxedo or dress, and deciding how to wear your hair to prom...

Alyssa, a senior at Warren Township High School in Gurnee, can now skip the last question. Because she shaved her head (and donated a pony tail too). In the process, Alyssa raised a pretty good sum of money in support St. Baldrick's–an organization that funds childhood cancer research. 

It was humbling to watch as all her beautiful hair floated to the floor. Her parents, practically in tears, watched from just a few feet away. And I simply tried to photograph the moment as best I could.

Her bravery in that moment was unbelievably inspiring. Without hesitation, she tossed away the ridiculous social pressures of high school, all so that a young child somewhere might simply be able to live to see her prom...