Goodbye College, Hello Beauty School!

So I officially dropped out of big girl college. Where would I turn next...Beauty School! Stacey's Hands of Champions Beauty School (real name, I'm not making that up) had been quietly calling my name. I heard the whisper loud and clear and I knew this would be a great option for me. I am a notorious lover of big hair and a longtime lover of the hot rollers, so I knew it could be a good fit. After calling the school for some info and scouting the parking lot situation, I was ready for my official tour of the school. I am embarrassed to admit this, but I was a little bit intimidated by the thought of the tour. It's a beauty college, so the girls already enrolled would be no stranger to catty gossip and I would be touring the school like a piece of fresh meat on display. Nobody enjoys being sized up and judged, but it went much better than I had anticipated. I went, I walked through and it seemed like everyone was nice enough. I officially signed up and I would start classes within the week. I was super pumped to get going. You have to attend for 2000 hours total, and you can get it done in a year and a half if you really make the effort. That is an easily achievable goal and a small commitment. I knew from day one that I would finish the program. You start out in orientation with a few other girls and the occasional guy. Contrary to what might think not all the male students are gay. I was lucky enough to attend school with two who were and one who was straight as a arrow. His first few weeks of school must have been a nightmare while he was establishing his heterosexuality. But back to orientation. You are given your "doll head" and it's time to learn! In a few monthes time I was high-lighting, cutting, curling and perm rolling with the best of them. I even mastered the crazy, dangerous looking Marcel curling irons. Trust me when I say this was not easy. When you pass your orientation tests, you are unleashed on "The Floor". At this point you get to test your skills on real live, brave people, at your own little beauty station. You quickly get your regulars and they are called L.O.L's (little old ladies). Your darling L.O.L.'s come once a week to get a shampoo set. The older generation of women who wear "grandma hair", or "Q-tip hair" as I like to call it, only get their hair washed and styled once a week. This was brand new information to me at the time. You really have to know your stuff to make a LOL's hairdo last for a week. I was ready and I got some fantastic regulars. If you aren't socially retarded, you really forge lasting bonds with your regulars.. I did one ladies hair all through beauty school and I was asked by her family to style her hair after she died, for her funeral (and I totally did it, at the mortuary and everything. My best friend came with me for moral support). That's love folks.

Every afternoon you had to attend a group class called "Theory". This for me was a hour long daily affirmation that I was a GENIUS. I'm not saying I'm way smarter than most people, I'm simply saying that in a group class, that is half filled with the cast of MTV's Teen Mom, you will feel like Einstein on a daily basis if you graduated from high school. It was awesome! The owner of the school often taught this class and she must have appreciated my participation in her class, because she really started to like me. After I graduated she let me work in her salon and charged me almost nothing in booth rent. This made it so much easier to really take the time to build a clientele.

I was happy and learning more than I expected to. The education was great, but the social game was just what the doctor ordered. I met tons of new friends and the girl who is my best friend to this very day. I was, for the first time in a long time, surrounded by girls who had the same interests as me, and most of us loved to get our drink on and dance all weekend. This was the party girl mecca! There was never a shortage of drama, conversation and top notch gossip. I was in heaven! Oprah would call this time in my life "an Aha moment". I was so happy to find a little niche for myself. My identity was getting clearer and I felt like I was on the right path at the right time. I did really well in school and finished roughly a year and a half later. I came out of it with a lot of knowledge, a lot of skill, a better understanding of other women and a much stronger belief in my own ability. Finally, a hoop worth jumping through.