the horrible day

Once again a tragedy reminds me how fragile life is and what is really important. I can't seem to find the right words to say today. All I know is my heart is so full, hurting for Chandale's family, friends and my fellow students at Paul Mitchell who are grieving her loss tonight. PMTS Woodbridge simply won't be the same without her. Today has been a heartbreaking reminder if how fragile this life is and what/who in it is actually important and valuable. ((sigh))

Our Tragedy

1780s & 1790s hair

I went on a 1780s & 1790s hair binge today - so fun!

circa 1785

circa 1792

circa 1795

now on Facebook!

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!

important reminders

Today I was suddenly reminded of the big picture of life and how blessed I truly am.

The petty things I'd been struggling with and so wrapped up in this morning lost all their importance when a young man blacked out, had a seizure and drove his car into the concrete pillar in front of my school this afternoon. His foot was still on the gas when the car was stopped. Luckily no one was hurt (he had cuts and bruises and may have hit the windshield) but if he had been a mere 12" to the left that car would have missed the pillar and come straight through our glass front building, through the front desk, the waiting area and beyond. I was actually walking toward the front door on my way out for break when it happened.

God was very, very good to us yesterday. Very good indeed.

a Creative One

It's December already, how scary! Yesterday at was my last day as an "adaptive", next week I move up the the "creative" class and a new schedule - marking my halfway point through school. Wow that went by fast! Yay for Theory class in the mornings & salon time in the afternoons now! (Except for Saturdays if course, those stay the same with salon time all day...)

studying

Studying for tomorrow's test. Glyceryl monothioglycolate or ammonium thioglycolate anyone? Oy! At least I have fresh flowers to feed my soul while my brain fries...

the layered approach

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!