FAFSA Concern

In the back of my mind, there is the worry that my FAFSA won't come through favorably. 

We're several weeks into classes and many of us have still not received our financial aid results.  We've already received our kits and have started cutting and dying the mannequins.  I have no idea what I'm going to do if nothing is offered.  I already know I'm not eligible for the Pell Grant because I have a 4yr degree.  I had $12,000 in loans from university that went into default for a week, but then I was able to pay off the entire amount due to special circumstances that will not happen again.  I don't know if that will be held against me, too.  Probably.  In this way, the other girls are lucky.  They haven't received government aid and have no negative loan history.  Some were upset that they didn't receive the entire amount and that their parents would have to cosign on a parent plus loan to cover everything.  They don't know, that's just how it is.  That's how it works.  Now I can only cross my fingers for myself and pray that I won't have to drop out and owe $2000 for the kit plus whatever hours they're going to charge me for. 

May they have mercy on my soul.

Carpal Tunnel

A couple of weeks ago, a sales rep. for salon shears visited our school.  He had hundreds of shears laying out for us to hold in our hands and free colorful fitting rings for our student shears.  Holding the shears doesn't feel as awkward as I thought it would.  The hardest thing is probably grabbing only the hair I want with the comb.  [[My ring finger has the beginnings of a dent, toward the pinky finger.  From now on, I'll look for this mark as a means of detecting other hair stylists.]] 

 Out of all of the shears, I love the Sensei NXT most.  They're ergonomic with a high offset swivel thumb, which will hopefully make various cutting positions easier on the wrists.  Carpal tunnel is most common in people who work with computers and second most common in people who work in a salon (according to one of the instructors).  After hearing that, I did some research of my own.  It's also three times more common in women than in men.  A few other things that can work against you are text messaging, drawing/writing, and video gaming.  As a female cosmetology student by day/graphic artist by night/nerd and illustrator during free time... my chances are looking pretty good. 

I'll spend the money on the shears now to save my wrists later.


Photo: Sensei NXT from RooSalon

Cutting

We've begun cutting mannequin hair this week and I have to admit, the act shuts my brain off (in a pleasant way).  By the time I'm finished with the cut, I discover that my mouth is full of saliva.  I become so focused that thinking and swallowing spit take a backseat to the task at hand.  We've done 5 cuts so far and each time, I have finished a good 15 minutes or more after everyone else.  At first this bothered the crap out of me, but when I watched the instructor walk around to inspect the mannequins, I realized she spent a lot of time fixing mistakes.  When she comes over to fluff the hair on my mannequin, I hold my breath every time.  So far, she has not made any corrections.  She said I should not work at a low-end corporate salon because of my pace and assured me that wasn't a bad thing.  I'll make precision my goal and pray that speed comes with time.

Introversion

The training is fun and interesting, but I am on the road to alienating myself from my classmates.  A group of people all with a strong sense of self-entitlement, high self-esteem without merit, low economic status, minimal education, history of violence, poor decision making, and access to sharp objects creates an environment not entirely different from a prison yard. 

I am especially looking forward to getting to theory in chemistry and biology because I secretly hope a lot of people will drop out.  The more, the better.  More drop-outs just means less people I have to protect myself from.  I have not developed any opinions about any of the instructors.  They are as reserved and withdrawn as myself.  I can only assume this barrier is a method to protect themselves against their own students.

My normally positive attitude is being tested.  My primary goal to reserve judgment has been abandoned.  The anxiety associated with lack of trust is shifting my quiet and reserved nature into overdrive, making it even harder to make friends.  I need to find that one person that I can make eye contact with when crazy happens.  Not that I hate anyone.  I really like bunnies, but I'm not going to put my fingers anywhere near those teeth.  That would just be stupid. 

I doubt that my introversion will negatively affect relationship-building with clients in the future.  Engaging the client should be as easy as asking questions about and listening to the client the entire time while offering no personal information.  After all, everyone's favorite subject is them self.  I have no negative feelings about this arrangement.  Like a shampoo, this type of interaction is just part of the salon service.  This method has served me well when it comes to creating superficial friendships, but it's not going to be enough.  We spend almost 40 hrs/wk together.  It's only a matter of time before my classmates pick up on this and realize that our individual relationships have been shallow this entire time.

Culture Shock

The culture here is much different from university.  It's about what I had expected.  100% white females age 18-23 who barely scraped through high school and a token gay guy in a different class.  I had hoped that both the gay and black population would be much higher.  At 25, I am the oldest student in Basics and the only person to have attended any college.   Most either have kids or had kids before they were removed by the state.  The rest can't wait to get married and have kids.  About half smoke.  I am used to working entirely with females (all 6 staff members at the screen printing company are women age 21-26 and one who is late 40's), but beauty school attracts a different type of female.

Various forms of theft have proven to be a major issue here.  Students steal from each other on a regular basis.   My purse never leaves my body.  I'd leave it in the car, but there have been vehicle break-ins in the past in which purses were stolen.

Probably the worst part is that domestic abuse is normal to many of these girls, in a way that animal death is normal to most people raised on farms.  There is a level of comfort when it comes to being verbally or physically abused that is alarming to me.  They laugh through stories about being beaten or their husbands taking on other women because they need to lose 60 lbs before their husband will claim them as their wife again even though they live together with their children.  First, that whole situation is just terrible in every way.  Second, I'm not sure a 5'5" tall 160lb girl needs to lose 60 lbs.  She is a beautiful girl.

Hello

My name is Lizzie.  I graduated December 2009 with a BA in Textiles and Apparel (fashion design).  I scored a sweet freelance job straight out of college designing childrenswear.  After completing an entire season for girl/boy/layette, I was sent $1000 in post-dated hot checks as payment over a month after our contracted payment dates.  I refused to continue work until payment was rendered and was promptly threatened with lawsuits.  Things have settled down now (and no, I was never paid for my work), and the thought of taking on another fashion job...is just too much.  My sense of trust just isn't what it used to be.  Luckily, it wasn't my only job at the time.  I am also a graphic designer and embroiderer for a screen printing company.  It pays well for the area, but I don't have enough hours during slow times of the year. 

After doing some research, I began cosmetology school on November 16, 2010.  It's a 2100 hour program that takes 60 weeks to complete.  The total cost, including our kits, is $18,000.  The first 7wk session is called Basics.  There are approximately 20 of us and we are together from 8:30am - 5pm,  Tue - Fri.  Once we are in the clinic, we'll also have to attend on Saturdays.  I work my graphic art job in the evenings and on weekends.  I see cosmetology as a possibly lucrative way to continue my creative relationship with fashion, fibers, and illustration.  I don't expect to get rich, but even $300/wk with no benefits is a respectable living in my area.