Catch-Up Post!

Sorry for the short hiatus. Weddings and throwing-up were involved, but now I am ready to recap :) So, I learned so many cool things! Last friday, we had a really fun day. We learned about braiding, and for the first time ever I did a french braid! It came in handy, too! At the wedding the next day, I did braids for the little girls that danced for Angela and her new hubby. They were so cute, and their hair looked fantastic! We also learned the basics of extensions, which are much more fun than I thought. I can just glue this random colored hair into my hair, and I instantly have highlights. I put a couple in my hair, and they were fun for awhile. They got itchy, through, and I thought I looked kinda white-trash. Anyway, it's still cool to know what those can do to hair.

On Tuesday (our monday), we did 90 degree haircuts, which are hard on my wrists, and we started on a 180 degree haircut, which would have bee

n really fun, except the part where I had food poisoning from the day before and puked in the bathroom. Good times. Went home early. Good times. Finished the haircut ye

sterday, as well as worked on my very first

human head! Ashly, one of the other students, volunteered to have us switch off cutting her hair, and it looked really cute. Today, we d

id Cleo's hair! Cleo is a mom, originally from Honduras. She had really curly ethnic hair, which we thought would be really challenging. It was, but we also learned about using tension and styling that type of hair, and it was really fun to play

with!

I'm absolutely loving school, and I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds :)

Love,

Kipper!

Aced!

Gosh, I love waking up for class. I actually think to myself at 6:45 every morning, "I'm so excited to start class today." Cutting hair is really fun, especially when you do it correctly. I am also very thankful for Micah. He volunteers himself as a guinea pig every time I learn a new technique I can use on him. Yesterday, it didn't go as smoothly as I would have wished. I kind of buzzed off a part at his crown, and it looks pretty bald. Of course, as I do, I burst into tears when I realized what I had done, and he was so level-headed and patient with me until I calmed down. He promised that he didn't mind, and that he was happy that I got to learn on him, and that he usually wears a hat anyway. Seriously.

Yeah. He's a keeper.

Anyway, I didn't do damage today. In fact, I really excelled today, which is always something that feels good. Yesterday, we had started a 180 degree cut, and the random IBS mannequin I was halfway done with yesterday had gone missing this morning. Instead of wasting more time looking and whining about it, I took Kibbles, sprayed her down, and began cutting. The other girls were already halfway done with their cuts, so I felt extra motivated to get quicker at cutting. Not only did I finish before most of the other students, but Maggie said that I had done an excellent job and used Kibbles as an example to the class. I felt awesome :)

I finished today with a test over Shampoo, Conditioner and the Scalp. Um yeah, 100% baby. Aced.

I've been making lots of friends, although I never was any good with names. The girls are all really nice, and are always happy to help if you need it. Some of them are also moving up to Portland after they acquire their hair license, so I might even get to keep some hair friends after I move!

Love,

Kelsey

Clipper Cuts

Today, we learned the clipper cut. I thought I was totally ahead of the game, since I've done Micah, James, and my dad's hair before. Little did I know that I was doing it completely wrong. What a surprise... Sorry guys! I'm glad there weren't tooo many bald, shaved-off spots (sorry dad). At least I got some new practice today, the right way. There were these fantastically classy (read: corny and ridiculous) 80's videos we watched to get all the right techniques down. Who knew that I was supposed to use the clipper comb for the clipper cuts... Also, here's a picture of the mannequin the Barber students get, if you didn't think mine were creepy enough --->

Anyway, I was almost crying about halfway through my practical because I had given this poor old, dyed, surrendered mannequin a fricking mullet. I didn't realize that I hadn't learned how to do the nape yet, and later would fix the haircut. I guess the thing I need to learn this week is to be patient with myself, because it usually looks weird until you are finished with the cut. I'm also training myself to speak positively to myself instead of critically: "we get enough of that through others in this profession," said Maggie. Anyway, my first GOOD, CORRECT clipper cut was born, and I was much happier with myself. You can't really tell, but I promise there is no "party in the back" mullet.

I'm really liking the girls that are in my class with me. There's this girl named Stephanie that happens to be an assistant coach for the South Eugene High School dance team. It's fun to talk to her about dance, especially when everyone is so focused and stressed about their mannequin.

I'm having so much fun. It is really challenging, but in a very good way, because I am pushing myself harder than I ever have in any classroom. I want to be good at this, so pushing myself comes naturally. I'm not afraid to ask questions or give myself a break to relax. I know I'm improving, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds.

Love,

Kelsey

Day Three: Much better!

Ahhh... today was much better. Today, I didn't do much but sit in a chair and get my scalp massaged and treated with conditioners and oils. It felt AMAZING. My hair has never felt this soft. Plus, it gave me a chance to relax (because I wasn't the one doing the work) and talk to Maggie (our instructor) about cutting hair, and my insecurities about the job I did yesterday. I felt much better after she told me that we practice cutting hair at least once every week, to ensure that all students get a grasp of the techniques, and to gain speed. The more we practice, the more comfortable we are, and the faster we become.

I also wish that the easy stuff, like sanitation procedure and blowdrying techniques, were covered by Maggie. These were explain

ed by an intern instructor, who apparently was not very correct in her assessment of these easy, yet important features of our early hairstyling education. Its a hard call to make when you want to understand the correct procedure, but don't want to undermine the struggling instructor by asking Maggie behind the intern's back. Maybe I'll read more through the IBS handbook, and those things will be covered.

I am still leaping out of bed every morning to go to class, so that's a very good sign. We recieved the last thing necessary for our kits: the shears! They are shiny, and heavy, and super sharp. So that was exciting: I feel like a real, bona fide Hairstylist. I also visited good ol' walmart and bought my very own Hairstylist Accessory Tote (AKA Scrapbooking organization tote) to take things back and forth to class, and keep things organized. It's hot pink, and I love it :)

Tomorrow, we have our first exam. I'm sure it wont be too difficult, but I'm definately going to study tonight to make sure I'm prepared.

Hopefully, more funny stuff tomorrow. But for now, at least I'm excited and enjoying myself!

Love,

Kipper

Whew... this is hard work!

Okie dokie, this is not at easy as I thought it would be! I never realized how much effort is put into each snip of a haircut.

We started today by talking about lice, and how to do a quick headcheck on each customer without being conspicuous. By the end of that lecture, we were ALL itching. Those nasty buggers are... well, nasty.

After that, we jumped right up and stuck our mannequin heads on the tripods, ready to finish the haircut we began yesterday. What I didn't realize was that I was holding my fingers wrong. I did an entire haircut, not realizing that i was actually cutting completely unevenly. By the time my instructor came to check up on me, Kibbles looked like Tina Turner. It was not good. My instructor, Maggie, assured me that it wasn't a big deal, and that we will just do it again and showed me how to hold my hands correctly so that each cut would match the last. I eventually fixed Kibbles, and she looks pretty good for my first official finished cut. Still, I was so stressed, even the webbing between my fingers were cramping up! I was a little depressed about today, but I have to remember that this is only my second day of learning, and I will have plenty of time to perfect how to hold my fingers and my shears. I just thought it would be as easy as my hairstylist, Amanda, makes it look :)

Tomorrow, I'm the guinea pig for the day. Maggie is showing the class how to shampoo, condition, massage and give chemical treatments (like peppermint and other yummy-smelling essential oils) to customers using my head. Oh, poor me...I suppose I will just have to sleep in and let them do the beautifying...

I went home and needed a boost of confidence, so Micah let me give him a haircut. It's shorter than he's used to, but I think it looks really good. Of course, I always think he looks good!

Pray for my strength through this week; we have a test on Friday, and I'm studying hard.

Love,

Kipper

Day One: Kipper!

Okie dokie, I have officially completed my first day of cosmetology school. So. Effing. Rad.

It started early, with a lot of "hoo haa"-ing about signing in and clientele and sanitation. Then we had christmas: AKA the Opening of the Kits. I got a million billion new, shiny toys that I don't even understand yet. I also got two mannequin heads, Kibbles and Bits. I named them this, because of my second gift today: an actual nickname! Apparently, there is some tradition for new cosmetology students to be given nicknames by their superiors (not unlike Flava of Love) and mine was Kipper :) like, Kipper the dog. Anyway, I was very excited about Kibbles and Bits, and even got to give Kibbles my very own haircut. You can see her, displayed very creepily on a tripod, above. James refuses to call them Kibbles or Bits. For some reason he attached to the names Splenda and Brenda. IDK.

Overall, it was probably the best "first day" I've ever had. My "class" of freshman is six people, and they are all rad, nice and funny girls. I am so excited to start again tomorrow!!

Love

Kipper

Get crazy, get loud....

Soo... Today is the last day of summer. Normally, I would be pretty bummed and try and fit as many (expensive) experiences into the last 24 hours of freedom. Today is different. Everything will be different. I'm starting cosmetology training tomorrow, and a hairstylist I shall be. I've been pretty nervous; not because of the training, but because of what people think about me taking some time out of my college career to do this. It's not the normal thing to do, and it's definitely not even the normal thing people do when they take time off. But I've always kind of been the kind of person that does things differently, so I suppose it kind of fits.

Also, instead of filling my last day with malls, downtown adventures, and radical 80's road-trip montages, I will be driving home and probably doing some dishes. Because that's what real people do.

So, I set sail to this ship, and wave 'Au revoir' to last year and 'Hola" to a whole new adventure. I'll write here about all the cool things I learn, people I meet, and the stupid (read:hilarious) trouble I will inevitably get myself into.

Love you all,

Kels