When the temperature begins to fall, like the appropriately named season in which November occurs, some people turn to multiple ways of keeping warm, other than simply sweatshirts and jackets.

One way to keep warm: facial hair.

For junior Tyler Keal, the cool relief of November brings him the perfect time to stop shaving. That’s why he decided to participate in No Shave November, a month-long event in which people give up shaving.

Keal decided to participate because a lot of his friends were.

But he also had other reasons up his sleeve.

“I’m lazy, and I don’t like to shave anyway, and it was an excuse to not shave that seemed legitimate,” he said.

This is Keal’s second year of participation, but he won’t be able to finish out No Shave November this year because of a wedding he will be attending. So, he’s going to shave for that, but afterward plans to continue not shaving for Don’t Shave December.

“I’ve heard other people use the phrase ‘Don’t Shave December’ before … so I don’t know if it’s as (legitimate) as No Shave November, but I’m going to pretend like it is since I can’t go through November,” Keal said.

But it’s not just men who participate in No Shave November. Women have a way of getting involved, too.

Last year, sophomore Milan Piva and three other Baker women decided to see who could go the longest without shaving their legs.

“We started it out as (No Shave) November, and then it just kind of kept going on after that because none of us wanted to lose,” she said.

They managed to go three months, clear throughout Interterm, without shaving.

“(The competition) just kept going,” Piva said. “It just was November, and then it was December, and then, next thing we knew, it was clear into January.”

Even though the competition was fun, Piva said she would not be participating again this year.

But No Shave November isn’t all about competitions or a way to get out of shaving for one month. According to The Washington Post, No Shave November began in 2003 as a way for people, especially men, to raise awareness about prostate cancer.

Sophomore Eric Hendricks said he wanted to raise that same awareness by participating this year, and this awareness is one he will make an annual tradition.

“I definitely plan on probably doing it every year from now on out, because … it’s a good thing … to raise awareness for different common men killers,” he said. “It’s also nice not to have to shave for a month, I’ll admit that.”

Hendricks would really like to see everyone get involved with No Shave November in some way.

“I encourage anybody to participate in any way they can … and try to spread the word about what it actually means and what it’s for,” he said. “Anybody that’s willing to participate, I think it’s a great thing to do. And hopefully one day it will be as big as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.”