Students of the Iona College campus joined together on Oct. 7 to participate in No Hair Day, which helped raise awareness of the cancer patient’s struggles and true inner beauty.

The event was sponsored by the Office of Mission and Ministry, the Office of Residential Life and Phi Sigma Sigma sorority. During the event, the LaPenta EndZone was flooded with a sea of students participating in the event. Everyone was asked to wear hats, scarves and hoods to signify when a cancer patient loses their hair throughout their fight.

The amount of genuine support felt throughout the room was unreal, especially when two Iona students and cancer survivors, senior Monica Jesby and sophomore Niki Molfetas, got up and bravely shared their stories.

Jesby was first to share her story.

“You have no idea how inspiring this event is,” Jesby said. “For those of you who don’t know there is a 90% chance that you will lose your hair throughout the chemotherapy process.”

Corrine Valenti, the host of the event, stated that the objective of the evening was to make people understand some of the difficulties of going through chemotherapy.

“One of the points of this program is to feel that uncomfortableness that cancer patients have to feel every day,” Valenti said.

A reoccurring feeling shared among everyone throughout the event was uncomfortableness. Especially for the girls in the room, not being able to see your hair gave the overall feeling of nakedness and being exposed.

Both Jesby and Molfetas shared that hearing that they would lose their hair was heartbreaking, and it took a long time for them both to be able to look at the situation from a different light.

“I was losing my hair, not my life,” Jesby said. “My hair loss is just a reminder of the battle I faced and the battle I won. Yes, those cancer patients lost their hair, but they didn’t lose their dignity.”

After Jesby finished speaking, Molfetas took the stage to give a little background on her story. Although Molfetas didn’t end up losing her hair, last year at Iona College’s first annual Relay for Life, Molfetas was one of the people that donated her hair, which resulted in the production of two wigs for cancer patients.

Molfetas shared that she had anxiety about donating her hair and was hesitant at first but wanted to give back to girls in a similar situation like she had been in.

“I am donating my hair to those who are fighting cancer like I did,” Molfetas said. “I donated 11 inches at Relay for Life last year for Monica and all those other girls fighting.”

It was clear that No Hair Day was an powerful event. Many Iona students showed their support and continued on throughout their days, wearing hats and scarfs after the event in the LaPenta Endzone concluded.

“Hair is just temporary, but the impact you have all made today, is permanent,” Jesby said in her closing statement.