 "Photo: Courtesy of Chase Martin")
Chase Martin spent his 21st birthday surrounded by a group of friends clutching a gleaming pair of scissors.
For Martin, a junior, donating 10 inches of his hair to Locks of Love last month was No. 1 on his list of priorities.
"I invited all my friends and just stuck my head in a trash can and let them go at it," he said.
"All my different friends got to take a swipe at my head."
Locks of Love is a nonprofit organization that provides hairpieces to children younger than 18 who suffer from long-term medical hair loss.
Most of the children who receive hairpieces suffer from alopecia areata, a non-life-threatening autoimmune disorder.
Lauren Kukkamaa, communication director for Locks of Love, said the disease has no known cause or cure and is permanent in most cases.
"They can still go to school and lead a normal life, but many children stop doing these things because of their hair loss," she said.
Kukkamaa said many of the hair pieces go to children suffering from cancer as well.
Krista Pool, a junior who has donated her hair to Locks of Love twice, said she was inspired to give when her mother died of cancer.
"I thought it was a good way (to give back), and I wanted to get my hair cut anyway," she said.
Pool said she donated for the first time when she was a senior in high school. It took more than a year for her hair to reach the 10-inch minimum donation length.
Kukkamaa said the organization receives donations from diverse groups.
"Families and children who might not have the resources otherwise see this as a way to get involved and give back that's a little less traditional," she said.
College students fit into that mold as well.
Martin said that donating to Locks of Love was rewarding, but that he was relieved when he was finally able to cut his "massive head of black hair."
"I think that it's pretty cool to have a chance to be outwardly focused on other people," Martin said.
"This is an example of a time you can do it without trying very hard, and it's an opportunity to help people and still be lazy. That sounds great to college students."
Junior Ivan Stojanov is growing his hair with the intention of donating it to Locks of Love.
"College can be kind of busy, and I only have so much time to give out," he said.
"Growing out the hair is not hard to do, and it's not time-consuming, so it's a good way to have time to help people."
But some of his friends said his 10 inches might not grow fast enough.
Stojanov said some people have warned him that he might get sick of having all of his thick, heavy hair.
"Right now I'm having fun with it by trying new hairdos," he said.
"But it does get annoying when I'm showering."
And though Pool said her first haircut was shorter than she expected, she was still pleased with her decision.
"I didn't regret it because I thought, 'I still have hair and some people don't.' So, I didn't let it bother me too much."
She said she plans to donate her hair a third time.
But Martin's motivations for donating his hair were a bit different.
"In high school I wrestled, so I wasn't allowed to grow my hair very long," he said.
"So after I graduated I decided I wanted to grow my hair out, and my parents didn't care for the idea much. So Locks of Love gave me a good excuse to do it."
Locks of Love has only six full-time staff members and hosts between 15 and 20 volunteers at a time.
All the hairpieces go to children in the U.S. and Canada.
But Locks of Love receives donations from all over the world.
"It's a neat thing when you see that it's spreading that far," Kukkamaa said.
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