Monday, October 29, 2012

Days 16-20, 21-40

That many days? Yes. That happened.

I didn't forget about this blog. I thought about it almost every day. I just didn't have the time.

Days 16-20 were the end of Mod 1 (there are 12, 4 weeks each). I finished with a 99.02 in the class and earned a spot on the presidents list.

Then came Mod 2...
On the second day, my 4 month old had a cardiology appointment. A lot of you know about the hole in his heart, and you've seen his pictures on my old page. Long story short, these doctors admitted him to the children's hospital for being in the 1 percentile for his weight. He was there for 4 days and the experience was terrible. And nothing was wrong with him. The doctor admitted to me that his stay was not necessary. So imagine how upset I was to miss all this class time for something that "was not necessary". The verdict was: he's just really long and lean. Lets change his formula.

It was upsetting that I missed the first week of class. But then I realized the worst: I failed the mod.

This is how it works at my school, and many other schools have a similar structure: There are 100 hours each mod. You have to be physically in class for 75 of them or you automatically fail. In addition to being there for 75 in class, you have to have at least 90 hours done in that mod (consisting of class hours and makeup hours if you had hours to make up) or you fail. After missing those days, that 25 hours, I knew it was over. Even though I talked to the program director, my instructor, and had documentation those are the rules.

When I returned to class, I looked up my hours on the computer. It was unbelievable.
I missed 24.5 hours.
Not 25.
24.5

I still had a chance. But that meant I couldn't miss one more day. I couldn't be late one single time. All I had was that 30 minute window saving my ass. I was happy, but I knew I had to get serious. I had to make up all 24.5 hours in order to pass. Plus I had 7 from mod 1 to make up. 31.5 hours.

I mentioned before that only 2 hours can be made up daily after class. We can also get makeup hours by participating in events. And that's what I did. I did two fashion shows. I stayed after for seminars. I worked the booth for our school at a convention for TEN hours one day and six hours the next. I did all of this on top of tests, two class projects, and our manikin projects.

I had to bust my ass stressing over how I was going to pass. I cried and cried and talked to my ceiling many nights, pleading and bargaining. I fell behind in my school work, because even though I only missed a few days, it was more than easy to fall behind and stay behind up until the very last day. My test grades went from 98s and 100s in mod 1 to low As and Bs. That doesn't seem like a big deal, but with my personal goals it was a disappointment to me.

By day 40, I had made up 29.5 hours--more than I needed to pass. I finished the class with a 93.

I'm telling you this not to explain why I was gone.
I started this blog for anyone who may ever wonder what cosmetology school is really like. Well, this is what it's like. Life throws you all kinds of shit. Flat tires, sick kids, nonexistent baby sitters. And it does not give you a pass when it comes to school. My child has a HOLE in his HEART. And my absences STILL were not excused. Nothing is going to be handed to you. Everything is going to be exhausting. It's not going to be easy and it's not going to be fair. You have to put your ALL into what you're doing or you will fail. You have to be a machine. You have to take the emotion out of it and say "This is what I'm here to do. This is how I'm going to do it. Failure is not an option. Success is imminent."

So if you're going to start school, go in prepared for obstacles. And be prepared to tell those obstacles to move the hell out of your way.

1 comment:

  1. Keep on trucking, girl! You're strong and you will get past this! I'm glad you were able to make up your hours. Just remember that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. ♥

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