It's official - I passed my cosmetology state board exams!! I'm now qualified to be a licensed professional!
Thanks all for your love, encouragement, help and support on my journey - especially the staff of PMTS Woodbridge and most especially the fabulous Miss Dawn - I could not have reached this achievement without you guys! Hugs!
Today is going to require a lot of tea... My practical boards are tomorrow. Yikes! The only way to keep the nerves at bay is to practice. Umm... I wonder how many times I can run through the test today?
I have the best sister in the world, it's true. Not only has she spent her day being my state board test proctor (so I can practice), she is washing my cholesterol coated doll heads (truly horrific smelly stuff used to mock hair color for the test) . If that isn't love I don't know what is!
Thanks all for the prayers and good wishes this morning! Glad that is done - now to wait for the results and prep for the practical boards, which I take on Monday! In the meantime I'm going to enjoy my post-test treat of mason jar flowers from Whole Foods...
Studying for the written portion of my state boards - test is at 2pm tomorrow eek!! Prayer would be much appreciated!
Tonight I received my diploma from PMTS Woodbridge and officially became "alumni". It still doesn't feel real that I really accomplished this huge goal.
The moment was made all the more sweet because of the presence of my fellow graduates, my friends. How appropriate to celebrate our accomplishment together!!
One of the very best parts if my PMTS adventure was being part of Phase Two! It was such a joy and privilege to work & learn next to these awesome ladies and gentlemen - I miss you all so much!
Its hard to believe I have ended my official time as a student at Paul Mitchell The School - what a challenging, inspiring, and wonderful adventure it was!
Education and Fun at CosmoProf's Fashion-Focus 2014! My first professional trade show, there was so much to see and watch - it was a bit overwhelming but SO cool!
I was especially inspired by the Paul Mitchell Team - so many great tips and tricks! #pmshows
It's a fascinating thing, the responses one gets when revealing to family, friends, acquaintances that you are going to cosmetology school. For the most part everyone has been super encouraging and supportive but I have certainly had my share of negative responses (and from the most surprising people too) and people telling me what is wrong about my choice of career. Oy.
Which is why I loved this article, written by "Dirty Jobs" host Mike Rowe (which I have to say is a favorite show of mine). And if I ever had any thought differently before school, I know it know; a hair stylist totally qualifies as a dirty job. You work with dirty hair, strange scalp conditions, smelly chemicals, clothes staining lighteners & dyes and you are constantly covered in fine layers of hair. A salon is one of the dirtiest places you will ever walk into and, like a commercial kitchen, if it's not constantly filthy its because a team of people have been working hard all day to keep it clean. That fine hair you haven't breathed into your lungs already that is. It's also a very physical job, with long hours on your feet, sore backs from leaning over sinks, aching muscles from blow drying (I'm building incredible upper body strength!) and sore wrists from the acrobatics of hair cutting. Definitely a dirty job.
Anyway after reading this article today I suddenly I felt really good about some of my life choices...:>
Why "Work Smart, Not Hard" is the Worst Advice in the World - Popular Mechanics
You can now follow me on Facebook! I will continue to update this blog of course, but "like" The Jennylafleur Page for the most up-to-date news, inspiration & photos of my hair & beauty adventures!
Many apologies for the delay in updating this blog! It has taken me longer than I thought it would to get my feet under me and to get used to this new life of being a cosmetology student. Hopefully this long lapse won't happen again but I make no promises...
When they said it was an accelerated program they really meant it! The fast pace, my personal drive to LEARN ALL THE THINGS and the horrible Metro-DC traffic have left me with little time for a social life and even less time for blogging and my beloved hobby of sewing and costuming. I comfort myself with the mantras "I can do anything for a year" & "Work now so I can play later". Sewing and playing dress-up with be there for me when school is done so for now I'm determined to focus on the task at hand and make the most of my investment at PMTS.
The time is really flying by and in the past 9 weeks I have progressed through the "Core" and "Protégé" phases. As of today I am officially an "Adaptive", meaning that I now spend half my time on the Salon-Clinic floor and half my time in the classroom. Overall I'm really loving school and am so glad I choose this Paul Mitchell School. My classes are interesting, many of my fellow classmates are great people and the more I learn, the more I'm confident that I'm meant to be a cosmetologist. Of course there are things that I don't like about school and things I struggle with but such is life. Overall it's been a good experience so far.
The curriculum's approach has been interesting and honestly not quite what I expected. While there is an emphasis on making the information accessible to many different learning styles there is no escaping that some of the teaching methods used are not the way I personally learn best. That was a little disappointing if fair. The curriculum's basic approach is one of a system of layered information. Basically every subject is on a rotation and as you go on you get more each rotation through. As a "Core Baby" I was basically exposed to all the basic elements of cosmetology, but only getting a basic foundation and taste of each. During the next phase, "Protégé, I learned a bit more about each subject (albeit very condensed since Protégée is only 2.5 weeks long). As an "Adaptive", which I will be for the next few months, I'll learn more as we cycle through and in the last phase "Creative", even more.
I'm the kind of student that likes to reach a certain level of comfort and mastery in one thing before moving on to the next so that has been a struggle. I have often felt a bit lost at sea without a life vest and it's been very uncomfortable at times. Still I've learned some valuable lessons and made some self discoveries through it. Being stretched and tested is never fun but it's a necessary part of life. Without it you can't grow and I certainly don't want to be stagnant - that is not a good way to live at all! So I have started down the path to let go of some of my ODC/perfectionist tendencies, swallow my pride, grow in my faith and be content to accept life as it comes. Oh yeah and I'm learning about cutting, coloring and all that jazz too. I can't say life as a Future Professional is dull, that is for sure!
It's official so I can share my big news!
I will be attending The Paul Mitchell School in Woodbridge VA to become a licensed cosmetologist!
It's something I've thought about doing for YEARS but my fears and doubts always held me back. As I've been doing a lot of deep soul searching over the past few months, I finally found the faith and the courage I needed to follow this path. It's time to stop standing on the sidelines cheering on friends as they take risks and follow their dreams; it's time I followed their example. Things have fallen into place every step along the way so far and I feel an incredible peace and surety that this is what I'm supposed to do.
I start school on June 18th. It's an intense 11 month program, Tuesday-Saturday, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have for blogging but I'll try not to fall off the face of the earth and share some of what I'm learning along the way.
Wheee - have I mentioned I'm SO excited?!!!
