This week has been quite hectic and exhausting. It began Sunday night when my husband had a bunch of his friends over for the Superbowl, and I lost count of how many glasses of wine I consumed. Needless to say, Monday was unbearable! I had planned to study all day for my chemistry exam that evening. I tried everything to wake myself up out of the self-induced stupor, coffee, fluids, cold shower, even going for a walk, but nothing helped.
I basically stumbled into class, and was happy to see that my fellow classmate, Cassy, was in the same dire position as I was. I ended up getting 100% because the test really wasn't that hard (although I'd like to take credit for my conscientious studying). Then I lucked out, as Mr. Sanchez gave us the option of having class time or sitting in on an inservice given by a master colorist. Of course I jumped at the latter as did Cassy, and we sat stupefied until we were allowed to go home. I am getting too old to drink and am seriously going to limit my consumption from now on.
We are learning how to perm hair and all the chemicals that are involved with the process. The pH scale is now my new friend, and I spent Tuesday night dreaming of neutralizing hair. The one thing that scares me is doing damage to someone else's hair. Mr. Sanchez has shared some horror stories with us about inexperienced hairstylists and the havoc they have caused on unsuspecting clients. I pray not to become a statistic.
Again I am amazed at the science behind all these processes, and how much knowledge is needed of the chemical interactions before one can/should proceed with any application. I still think of my husband's hairstylist with befuddlement.
Another teacher has joined the school. I had mentioned before that they are short handed. Ms. Green is a seasoned stylist, with over 30 years in the industry. She started the class by handing out a "quiz" which was a set of instructions that required you to do numerous things such as calling things out when you came to a certain instruction, standing up at another, etc. Somewhere in my gut I knew this was a trick. It turned out that the first instruction was to read all instructions carefully. The second instruction was to write your name on the paper. After this you weren't supposed to do anything. You didn't find this out until the last instruction which told you to go back and look at instructions #1 and 2: after this, if you had read all the way down following instruction #1, you never would have proceeded beyond instruction #2. I felt foolish, but it did open my eyes to not jump first but to take the time to read things through.
The funny thing about this is that Mr. Sanchez was out of the room when she gave us this "quiz." So when he came back into the classroom, she asked if he'd like to participate, and while we continued learning about perm solutions, we watched as he shouted things out, stood up, etc. all the while trying not to laugh. Ms. Green was truly impressed with the knowledge we had gained about the chemical solutions, and sincerely stated that she thought we were a really bright bunch of students, and asked who had already taught us so much. I pointed to Mr. Sanchez and stated "that guy there who just flunked your quiz." Everyone got a good laugh-it was cute.
So Ms. Green is a tough cookie, and you can't slide with mediocre work. She is a perfectionist, and her motto is "time is money," so she teaches in a fashion that requires you to work efficiently. I think I'm going to like her.
I am going out of town and will miss 2 days of school which I am not happy about. I come home on Wednesday and plan to go straight to school from the airport as I have an exam on Wednesday AND Thursday on perms, relaxers, and curl reformation, as well as the history of these processes.
I am hating work more so than usual, probably because I am enjoying cosmetology so much in comparison. I am seriously considering finding a job in a salon for the experience and stopping the nursing which I absolutely despise except for the money. I am sick of traveling to see patients, sick of coming into the office and not having a desk or computer to work on since the owners have a computer system that doesn't allow more than 2 users on at once, and they are on the computer most of the day (a good deal doing personal stuff as well as looking at semi-nude photos of Brooklyn Decker). The office is the size of a large bedroom, and we are on top of each other all day. One of the owners' wives calls constantly bitching and complaining, while the others' texts him all day. It's like watching two teenagers. I am pounded for ideas for marketing though this is not part of my job. When they go out for lunch (they have yet to ask if I'd like for them to pick something up for me), I then have to listen to the office manager who bitches about her health non-stop but does nothing about it. Once they pass the state survey I think I will give notice.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
15. THIS STUFF MAKES SENSE
Mr. Sanchez was kind enough to postpone our test on the chapter most of us liked least until this past Thursday. I got a 92% plus the workbook which gave me another 100%.
My husband found this great website for people who are in the business of hairstyling or who are interested in the art:( http://www.style-hair-magazine.com/). I spent part of my morning looking at some of the instructions, and lo and behold, all the stuff in the chapter that we just tested on is there. Then I watched an episode of Shear Genius the other day and there too they discussed quite a bit of what this chapter offered. I guess I better go back and really learn the stuff if it's going to be such an integral part of my work!
We are now studying chemistry which we will have yet another exam on on Monday. Our neighborhood held a yard sale today, so since I had to sit outside from 8:00 AM until noon, I ended up reading the entire chapter and making flash cards to study from while I waited for customers.
I learned how to do a 90 degree haircut and a 45 degree haircut this week, and now I understand what the stylist has been doing when she cuts my hair. Mr. Sanchez was really impressed by my 90 degree cut saying he couldn't believe how great it turned out.
What we had to do was to take our African -American female mannequin and shampoo, blow-dry and flat-iron her hair until it was nice and straight. Then we had to give her (it) a 90 degree cut on dry hair. Mine came out beautiful, if I do say so myself. I am SO tempted to try and cut my own hair now-I just don't know if I have the guts!
While watching the above mentioned episode of Shear Genius, it occurred to me what this industry lacks. I realize that the contestants are chosen based on their talents as well as egos, and who will provide the most entertainment for the show by being controversial. Most are in their late 20's to 30's. What I realized is that they do not know how to listen. They, and from my personal experience, most stylists, are so wrapped up in their own head about how they know what would look best on a client, that they really do not listen to what the client is expressing or trying to express. I think coming into this field from a medical background may give me an edge over most, as listening is a huge part of trying to find out what is really going on with a patient.
This is something that probably can't be taught. It either comes with maturity, or not. Some people (like my ex) never get it and never will. Any hairstylist who has lost a client should follow up and find out what they did that caused the client to go elsewhere. I would bet that the proportion of complaints of not listening or "not getting it" in terms of what they asked for, would be quite great.
So I've begun to implement my plan for April. Starting March 1st I will not be seeing patients on Mondays and Fridays, but will use this time to catch up on inventory of my bags for my upcoming shows. Then in April I will start to go to school on Monday mornings and Friday mornings. I'll need to work some extra weekends to make some money, but I hope my shows will do well and that I'll get some follow up internet orders as well. It all remains to be seen!
My husband found this great website for people who are in the business of hairstyling or who are interested in the art:( http://www.style-hair-magazine.com/). I spent part of my morning looking at some of the instructions, and lo and behold, all the stuff in the chapter that we just tested on is there. Then I watched an episode of Shear Genius the other day and there too they discussed quite a bit of what this chapter offered. I guess I better go back and really learn the stuff if it's going to be such an integral part of my work!
We are now studying chemistry which we will have yet another exam on on Monday. Our neighborhood held a yard sale today, so since I had to sit outside from 8:00 AM until noon, I ended up reading the entire chapter and making flash cards to study from while I waited for customers.
I learned how to do a 90 degree haircut and a 45 degree haircut this week, and now I understand what the stylist has been doing when she cuts my hair. Mr. Sanchez was really impressed by my 90 degree cut saying he couldn't believe how great it turned out.
What we had to do was to take our African -American female mannequin and shampoo, blow-dry and flat-iron her hair until it was nice and straight. Then we had to give her (it) a 90 degree cut on dry hair. Mine came out beautiful, if I do say so myself. I am SO tempted to try and cut my own hair now-I just don't know if I have the guts!
While watching the above mentioned episode of Shear Genius, it occurred to me what this industry lacks. I realize that the contestants are chosen based on their talents as well as egos, and who will provide the most entertainment for the show by being controversial. Most are in their late 20's to 30's. What I realized is that they do not know how to listen. They, and from my personal experience, most stylists, are so wrapped up in their own head about how they know what would look best on a client, that they really do not listen to what the client is expressing or trying to express. I think coming into this field from a medical background may give me an edge over most, as listening is a huge part of trying to find out what is really going on with a patient.
This is something that probably can't be taught. It either comes with maturity, or not. Some people (like my ex) never get it and never will. Any hairstylist who has lost a client should follow up and find out what they did that caused the client to go elsewhere. I would bet that the proportion of complaints of not listening or "not getting it" in terms of what they asked for, would be quite great.
So I've begun to implement my plan for April. Starting March 1st I will not be seeing patients on Mondays and Fridays, but will use this time to catch up on inventory of my bags for my upcoming shows. Then in April I will start to go to school on Monday mornings and Friday mornings. I'll need to work some extra weekends to make some money, but I hope my shows will do well and that I'll get some follow up internet orders as well. It all remains to be seen!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
14. EXPEDITING THE PROGRAM
So this is the plan.
I spoke with the director of the cosmetology program yesterday, and told her that I wanted to finish the program much sooner than the 18 months that it takes for the evening students to complete. Since the daytime students are so far ahead in the material that they have already covered, it would be a diservice to me to try and catch up on my own without proper hands on instruction on the various techniques that they have already done and that the evening class is yet to do. I have to agree with this.
So the deal so far is this: around mid-April we are due to finish our classroom work and will be ready to start working in the salon. At that time, I will start coming on Monday mornings as well as the evening, and also on Friday mornings (there's no evening class on Fridays). This will give me another 12 hours each week, plus we are allowed to clock in 15 minutes earlier than our scheduled time, which I do every day, giving me an additional 1 hour per week presently, and another 1/2 hour for the 2 extra days that I will attend. After doing the math, it is feasible that I can complete the course in a year, rather than 18 months. I will still work in the office 3 days a week, and can see patients on weekends to supplement my income. I still have my shows that I have scheduled to do, so starting March 1st I will not be working on Mondays and Fridays and will use this time to sew inventory for my upcoming shows, and then when April rolls around, Mondays and Fridays will be used for extra class time. That's the plan.
Tonight we had another exam on the material that we studied with Ms. Ellie on design and form, etc. I was really surprised that I got 100% as well as the additional 10% for the workbook. The chapter I dislike the most is on pincurls and all kinds of weird styling that looks like a throwback from the 1940's. It just seems like a ridiculous amount of work for such a short lived style. Plus the chapter is over 50 pages long, and we were to have a test on it tomorrow, but Mr. Sanchez was kind enough to postpone it until Thursday.
We are now starting on the chemistry involved in hairstyling. Judging by the material, I feel like I'm back in college. I happen to love chemistry-it makes sense to me and I absolutely find it fascinating to learn how things work on a molecular level. This I don't mind studying and devoting a good deal of time to.
It seems Latisha has disappeared from the program. For someone making a second go-round, she has been absent for 3 exams and has missed over a week of class. The rest of us seem to be very dedicated. One other student and I (it turns out she is a bit closer in age to me than I thought-she has no kids so there are no worry lines, no frown lines, and not as many smile lines :)) show up every day at the same time with the same enthusiasm. As exhausted as I am from work, I still look forward to class.
I worked on Sunday, as I have a patient that lives fairly close by. Whenever stuff like the following happens, I just envision never having to do this again: I had an appointment to come to this patient's home at 10:00 AM to fill all his pill boxes with his medications. This guy is a nut for bridge. It turns out that when I arrived, he had just gotten a call to fill in as a player, and was running around his house like his butt was on fire, trying to get dressed and worrying that his caregiver hadn't shown up as of yet to drive him to the bridge hall. I told him to finish getting dressed, and that I would start on his pills. I finished "pouring" his medications into the little daytime boxes, which still had the lids up, when he announced that he had forgotten to take his morning meds and turned the pill box over to dispense the meds, not looking to see that all the containers were open. So now there are dozens of pills scattered all over the table and floor, I am standing there dumbfounded, and he decides to call his caregiver to tell her that I will be taking him to bridge and she didn't have to rush to get to his house. I ended up taking him to his bridge game (what could I do? The guy was out of control!) and then had to come back at 6:00 PM when he came home from playing 6 1/2 hours of bridge to clean up the medications and put them back in their proper places in the pill boxes.
There are times, like I tell my husband when he annoys the crap out of me, that I wish I had a bat that I could pull out of my purse like a switch blade, and hit him over the head with. This was one of those times. No "thank you", no "sorry I made a mess"-nothing. This is when I think about school with a smile.
I spoke with the director of the cosmetology program yesterday, and told her that I wanted to finish the program much sooner than the 18 months that it takes for the evening students to complete. Since the daytime students are so far ahead in the material that they have already covered, it would be a diservice to me to try and catch up on my own without proper hands on instruction on the various techniques that they have already done and that the evening class is yet to do. I have to agree with this.
So the deal so far is this: around mid-April we are due to finish our classroom work and will be ready to start working in the salon. At that time, I will start coming on Monday mornings as well as the evening, and also on Friday mornings (there's no evening class on Fridays). This will give me another 12 hours each week, plus we are allowed to clock in 15 minutes earlier than our scheduled time, which I do every day, giving me an additional 1 hour per week presently, and another 1/2 hour for the 2 extra days that I will attend. After doing the math, it is feasible that I can complete the course in a year, rather than 18 months. I will still work in the office 3 days a week, and can see patients on weekends to supplement my income. I still have my shows that I have scheduled to do, so starting March 1st I will not be working on Mondays and Fridays and will use this time to sew inventory for my upcoming shows, and then when April rolls around, Mondays and Fridays will be used for extra class time. That's the plan.
Tonight we had another exam on the material that we studied with Ms. Ellie on design and form, etc. I was really surprised that I got 100% as well as the additional 10% for the workbook. The chapter I dislike the most is on pincurls and all kinds of weird styling that looks like a throwback from the 1940's. It just seems like a ridiculous amount of work for such a short lived style. Plus the chapter is over 50 pages long, and we were to have a test on it tomorrow, but Mr. Sanchez was kind enough to postpone it until Thursday.
We are now starting on the chemistry involved in hairstyling. Judging by the material, I feel like I'm back in college. I happen to love chemistry-it makes sense to me and I absolutely find it fascinating to learn how things work on a molecular level. This I don't mind studying and devoting a good deal of time to.
It seems Latisha has disappeared from the program. For someone making a second go-round, she has been absent for 3 exams and has missed over a week of class. The rest of us seem to be very dedicated. One other student and I (it turns out she is a bit closer in age to me than I thought-she has no kids so there are no worry lines, no frown lines, and not as many smile lines :)) show up every day at the same time with the same enthusiasm. As exhausted as I am from work, I still look forward to class.
I worked on Sunday, as I have a patient that lives fairly close by. Whenever stuff like the following happens, I just envision never having to do this again: I had an appointment to come to this patient's home at 10:00 AM to fill all his pill boxes with his medications. This guy is a nut for bridge. It turns out that when I arrived, he had just gotten a call to fill in as a player, and was running around his house like his butt was on fire, trying to get dressed and worrying that his caregiver hadn't shown up as of yet to drive him to the bridge hall. I told him to finish getting dressed, and that I would start on his pills. I finished "pouring" his medications into the little daytime boxes, which still had the lids up, when he announced that he had forgotten to take his morning meds and turned the pill box over to dispense the meds, not looking to see that all the containers were open. So now there are dozens of pills scattered all over the table and floor, I am standing there dumbfounded, and he decides to call his caregiver to tell her that I will be taking him to bridge and she didn't have to rush to get to his house. I ended up taking him to his bridge game (what could I do? The guy was out of control!) and then had to come back at 6:00 PM when he came home from playing 6 1/2 hours of bridge to clean up the medications and put them back in their proper places in the pill boxes.
There are times, like I tell my husband when he annoys the crap out of me, that I wish I had a bat that I could pull out of my purse like a switch blade, and hit him over the head with. This was one of those times. No "thank you", no "sorry I made a mess"-nothing. This is when I think about school with a smile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)