shiny.nu

Cosmetology: my calling in life

I started the cosmetology program on January 4th. In that time, I've made such a progression that even my instructor (who's been teaching the class for a while, and has been in the industry for decades) is amazed at my skill. The week that I started, it was announced that there would be an updo competition the following Monday. The teacher encouraged us new students to participate as well, for practice. I ended up placing among the top six winners for the competition (this is the 'do I did). The teacher isn't allowed to tell the winners what their exact places were, but she strongly urged me to join this organization called SkillsUSA so that, if I so wished, she could enter me in further competitions.

I've already made three networking contacts, two of them being former teachers from high school. The third works in a nail salon, and said that if I get business cards made up, she'll put them in her salon. If I get chosen for the next SkillsUSA competition, that will be in March. My former fashion teacher wants to enlist me to help out with not only the next fashion show they put together, but also with the school's musical. My other former teacher needs someone to help with styling for portfolio photos, and it could eventually turn into a paid gimmick. A friend of mine is getting married in November and I've been promised the job as her makeup artist and stylist, and I have friends practically lined up wanting to be my guinea pigs to practice on.

It's a shame that I didn't get to start doing this a couple years ago when I first became interested in beauty school. I was discouraged, and was told that "beauty school is for high school drop-outs." Well, the school that I'm going to requires a high school diploma or equivalent to join the program, so the statement used to discourage me wasn't entirely accurate. Plus, there's a lot more to learning about hair, skin, and nails than you might think... it's definitely not a course for those who completely lack intelligence (though I will admit, the girls in my class are pretty ditzy). The course includes basic anatomy and physiology principles, specific techniques, theory, and some of the stuff we practice is fairly difficult.

But anyway, I'm really glad I decided to take cosmetology. It's a big part of everything that's going right with my life, and I really think it's my calling. This is what I was "meant" to do.