No Shave November is a growing tradition among many teenage boys and young men. This “holiday” is very simple: men grow their facial hair without shaving throughout the whole month of November, simply because they can.

Junior Chelsea Albright is also participating. But not for reasons some may think.

Albright is a swimmer and in order to challenge herself to swim faster, she has decided not to shave until the Dec. 11 Frisco swim meet on account that she is out of swim currently due to injuries including tendonitis. Her strategy just so happens to take place during November.

“I don’t shave for swimming,” Albright said. “[As a swimmer], you have all the excess drag that you swim with during practice and then when you shave right before a big meet, it’s a huge mental edge.”

Though it may seem gross to some, Albright maintains her reasoning and determination for this task.

“It’s not really that disgusting,” Albright said. “I don’t look like a man or a beast, but there’s other reason I’m doing this [than for swimming]. Why would I do it for any other reason than for something I love?”

As a result, her peers and her family can’t help but be supportive and look at it in a humorous way.

“My coach thinks it’s absolutely awesome,” Albright said. “He loves that I’m doing it, and he laughs about it. My family is [also] saving a lot of money on razors.”

Albright is what many call a trooper and will soon compete with her teammates again in December, but  also shows that determination and strategy can make anyone strive to do better at what they love to do.

“Some may call what I do disgusting,” Albright said. “I call it dedication.”