Lets meet our instructors, as I waited for the rock music to start playing in my head, this lady came in and tells us all that she, had not washed her hair in two weeks. You know the sound a record makes when you scratch the needle off the record? Well thats what I had heard as well. She started rambling about how important it was to not wash your hair for three weeks. As I thought about those words her voice became muffled and faint as I thought about what she had said. Im thinking, "My god! Someone get this lady a bottle of shampoo stat! I cant learn how to care for and cut hair by a lady that does not even wash her own. Snapping back to reality, we had to introduce ourselves to the class. Remembering the last comments I had heard, I made it very clear that I washed my hair every night. Fast forwarding to day one, we were handed these sheets that told us about manicures and how to do them. We were whisked away to our basics room and was let off our chains to make it happen. Me being the only guy in the classroom, everyone was reluctant for me to touch their hands, well, cause quite honestly not many men do this sort of thing and I would be a little put off by the thought of having it happen to me. Making my way down the checklist of things to do, I make it through the day, only to return tomorrow for the same sort of thing, only of the Pedicure flavor on day 2. Day three, Updos, I finally get to touch some hair and show the world how much Im going to rock at this. After a quick demo by the worlds greatest instructors (note the sarcasm dripping off of that last statement) we were handed brand new Mannequin heads. They again handed out the sheet that tells you how to do an updo. I say to myself, "this is the moment I've been waiting for, all my anticipation came down to this moment of stardom." I look at the sheet, and instantly grabbed my bobby pins and started going to work. Hair was flipping out of control and bobby pins were flying all over the room. I kept this pace for just under three hours, and my frustration was weighing heavily on my mind. I had to take a break and walk away for a minute, or more like 15 minutes to walk around. I came back for round 2, and it miraculously was done for me. The superstar instructor was standing there waiting and asked me if I had done the completed work. I told her "not no, but hell no I didn't do that, who are you kidding?" She thanked me for being honest, and set me up to do something else for a bit. Lunchtime... I strolled out to my truck that I had driven from job site to job site and looked at the tools I had come to know all to well. And I thought, who am I kidding here? I'm an Electrician, not a hairstylist and had plans to quit cosmetology school that afternoon. Sitting there eating my McDonalds, I came to the conclusion that nobody likes a quitter, myself included. So I muscled up and made it through the day. I came home defeated that Friday night, and talked it over with my girl friend who has been a stylist for 11 years. And she asked me a series of questions that I could not answer. She asked about what I learned about a foundation, curler sets, and thermal styling techniques they taught us. So I told her what I did know, about them giving me a head with some hair on it and a sheet that described what we needed to do. Needless to say, she was not very happy with the ISB faculty. That Sunday she took me into her salon and showed me what I needed to know about a good foundation. After she showed me a few things I went on by myself, strange as it was, I could see the progress I was making as I made my way through the curls and placement. I could see a light at the end of the tunnel, I can do this! It seemed my new found super powers flung me through the next 7 weeks in no time flat. Looking around my class, I could see some jealousy rising as I was doing so well, and I haven't been playing with my hair since I was little. These girls were finally feeling the heat. Eight weeks though basics seemed like no time at all, and as I went down to the floor I felt a little under educated to be doing my final cut. I had a wonderful classmate of mine volunteer to get her hair cut, and I said I would be happy to do it. The morning came, and I set up my station to be ready. Within minutes of having my area prepared I heard my name being called over the intercom, "Matt, your client is here." I sprang from my seat and quickly greeted my client. After a brief consultation, I grabbed my instructor and explained what we were going to be doing. We got the green light, so I prepared her for a shampoo. Working the shampoo into a rich lather, massaging her head, I could see her enjoyment, as well as hear a few audible cues. Conditioning in the same manner, I could tell my instructors wanted their hair shampooed as well. A good rinse and we are off to my chair. I made short work of sectioning off her hair, and began a zero degree cut. She had super thick hair, and it provided a range of challenges for my first real cut. After I had the instructor look at the cut, she gave me the okay, and I started to blow dry her hair. 20 minutes later she was dry and round brushed out. Her hair looking healthy and beautiful, I got my final grade.
Sorry this is so long but I had to get you caught up to where I was a couple weeks ago. I'll fill in the rest tomorrow when I have more time.
Thanks for stopping by
Matt
