12. NO TEACHERS

For the past 2 nights we have not had a teacher. One is out after having surgery, another has pneumonia, and another lost a family member. That left Mr. Sanchez to run the salon floor with the senior students and unable to give us classroom instruction. The only good part is that our exam is postponed. I haven't been feeling too well for the past few days and studying wasn't high on my list.

On Tuesday night Ms. Pauly had us sit with the senior class for an inservice on haircare for African-American hair. This is so foreign to me, as I never realized the challenge that African-Americans have with their hair and scalp. The school has a large African-American population as well as numerous customers who come to the school's salon for their hair care, so learning these processes is important. However, realistically, though a client can only request the same student up to 3 times, I cannot see an African-American client wanting their hair done by a caucasion. I know that I sure as heck wouldn't if I were in their place. But this remains to be seen.

Wednesday evening was much more interesting, as I was selected to work as an assistant to a senior student named Jeanie. Jeanie is an interesting looking woman, probably around 31-32, who is originally from South America. Her facial structure looks almost masculine, but when up close, it actually looks as though she might have had reconstructive surgery due to an accident. She has this magnificent mane of thick, curly hair.

Right off the bat, Jeanie had me assist her. She taught me how to look up a client in the computer system, find the formula used on their hair on their prior visit (if there was one), and mix the color with the developer while measuring out everything using a digital scale. Luckily we had a teenaged girl, who was thrilled to have 2 people work on her hair.

The project was for natural looking highlights to the hair plus a haircut and new style that required cutting off about 4" of hair. She taught me how to part the hair, how much hair to take for each foil, and actually let me do a few. Again, for someone as precise as a surgeon when I do things, I felt like a spaz.

While the color was depositing (we used color, not bleach), I picked her brain. She was a wealth of information as she is only 1 month away from graduating.

When the highlights were ready, she had me take out the foils while wetting the client's hair and then had me wash and condition the hair. After she did the haircut, while explaining every step of the way, she had me blow-dry the hair.

It was great. Of course it's new and usually everything new seems exciting, but it felt like when I was painting for a living. Using my hands for something other than paperwork, creating a new look and getting a hug in return from a very happy teenager was pretty cool. Plus, her mom gave Jeanie a tip and me a few bucks as well. I insisted that Jeanie take it, but she wouldn't hear of it and thanked me for all my help.

We don't know what's going to be tonight. I really don't want to sit for 4 hours watching instuction videos, but I have to show up to collect the hours. I can't wait to get through all the bookwork and put it all into practice!