No one, not even sophomore Sharon Cooper, knows exactly what it is or where it came from, but one thing’s for certain: It’s definitely not from this planet. In sixth grade, the first time I saw it I was amazed and maybe even a little shocked. The long, dirty-blonde locks of curls also known as sophomore, Sharon Cooper’s hair, draws stares and giggles from around the Paly campus. Her hair is curly, but it’s not your average wave… Sharon’s hair is an electric frizz encompassing her head like a halo.

“I could never see in class,” commented sophomore Adam Sohn, “When she tilted her head it was like a lunar eclipse!”

She wears it often in a braid or ponytail, but during the 2003 Paly Journalism Trip, I was fortunate enough to see it unleashed, free to jolt the world with no ponytail-holder to harness it back.
It is truly unusual, captivating its audience in a way only comparable to Martin Luther King Jr. Her hair’s closest competitor is sophomore Zeke Daniels-Shpall, who sports a large brown ‘afro,’ which has not been cut in more than two years. However, as remarkable as her hair may be, it doesn’t receive nearly as much praise as it deserves.

I first became especially intrigued by Sharon’s hair, when I noticed my friend sophomore, Lisha Lee, conducting a puppet show with Sharon’s ponytail. It was hilarious to see the character Sharon’s hair could so impressively portray. It’s unfathomable how I was drawn to her frizzy curls, but I must admit I became obsessed.

“They tried to put it in the x-ray at the airport,” chuckled senior, Nick Fodor, “But it wouldn’t fit. She had to check it through odd-sized baggage. She doesn’t need to carry a backpack because all her stuff can fit in her afro.”

The greatest aspect of Sharon’s hair is the fact that it sticks up in a variety of engaging styles. It’s a beast to put into a ponytail, but when left to waft freely in the wind, it delights its audience with a motley array of zigzagged curls. During the Portland trip I enjoyed creating a unicorn horn on top of Sharon’s forehead. Other varieties, some invented by Lisha Lee, were devil horns, statue of liberty spikes, or the ever famous “three point star”.

Fodor joked, “When Lisha made the devil spikes at the Portland Airport; she was almost arrested for possessing long range offensive weapons.”

Sharon cooperatively allowed us to do what we wanted with her hair, as long as we didn’t get it in her eyes.

“I’m just so used to it now,” Sharon commented, “All of my friends play with my hair. It doesn’t bug me anymore.”

Her father doesn’t have much hair and what’s there doesn’t look too frizzy; her mom’s hair is slightly wavy, but seems to stay within a half inch radius of her head. Sharon says, “I think I got it from my uncle. He used to have an afro, but he cut his hair really short so you can’t tell now.”

So, according to Sharon, her uncle is the hero that passed this amazing gene on to our dear friend. He is my savior for allowing me and the rest of the world to enjoy his gift.