I'm not the neatest person in the world and I never have been. I'm not a complete slob or anything but I'm certainly no Suzy Homemaker. So when it came time to prepare for school I found myself with a daunting task. I wanted to make sure that once my day was monopolized by school, the apartment wouldn't get completely out of control.
I began by rearranging my work room and making sure that I had enough desk space to work at if I had to do any work at home. I also wanted to make certain that I made the most of the floorspace so that chores like sweeping and vacuuming were simple. I sorted through all of my cosmetics and hair products and did away with any that were old, bent, or ugly.
My next step was to go through all of my clothing and get rid of anything that I didn't wear for one reason or another. For some people this isn't imperative, but I've noticed that the clothes I don't wear just end up cycled back into the laundry and rewashed which is a colossal waste of time.
This post is really just to encourage people to be prepared to have a large chunk of time missing from their day. If you don't prepare and you can't depend on anyone else to do chores for you, everything can get away from you very quickly. When that happens to me, I know that I get incredibly overwhelmed and then nothing gets done because I don't know where to begin.
All in all, not a very special update, but it is what I'm spending the remainder of my time doing this week. At least until I head up to NJ to visit my family.
(Next: NJ and Lilith)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
On Financial Aid & Scholarships
The fact that empire is one of the few schools that accept financial aid is one of the major items that the school has in its favor. None of this would be possible for me if not for that fact. It takes some know how to figure out if you can really afford to attend school, and what concessions you have to make to do so.
At Empire, applying for financial aid was extremely basic. I went home, I filled out the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) at www.fafsa.ed.gov and the school did the rest. About a week later I was called back to the school to look over my EFC (Expected Family Contribution) and my Financial Aid Package.
When the school packages you, they approve you for the maximum amount of government aid, including loans, that you are eligible for. When they do this, it does mean that you are likely to get a disbursement after you start school. This is when the school cuts you a check for any money you have left in your student account after your tuition is paid. Because Empire is an accelerated program, you receive one dispersement at the freshman level and one dispersement at the senior level.
In my case, my EFC was 0 and my disbursements will be in the thousands a piece. Unfortunately, that overage is from the loans and will have to be paid back. In the mean time, it is a great way to meet my bills and living expenses while attending school and possibly repay some of my loan interest ahead of time. I'd go into the nuts and bolts of how this works but I'd rather not bore you. Most of this is very thoroughly covered on the fafsa website.
In my case, about $9,000 of my expenses are fully covered by government grants. This is nice and all, but I was looking for ways to add to the free money that I wouldn’t have to pay back. I think we can all agree that, that's the idea way to go to school; cheaply. To this end I looked into third party grants and scholarships. To my surprise there was quite a number of them available.
The one I happened to locate first was known as the ACE Grant. This is a grant that the AACS (American Association of Cosmetology Schools) provides to accredited schools for students enrolling who demonstrate financial need. This is also a grant that is available to Empire students. However, when I inquired about it at the school, I found that very little was known about it. At this point I took it upon myself to research and locate the paperwork required to apply for the grant (which can be found here). What I found out was that in order to obtain this grant the application required the following:
1. Speak with a working professional and have them interview you.
2. Fill out the application form in full
3. Demonstrate financial need
4. Bring these to your career planning adviser.
What I didn't manage to find out was that an essay was required and that when they said “newly enrolled” they meant that in the sense that the student applying for the grant had to do so on the day that they signed their enrollment paperwork or they were ineligible. Because the staff at Empire were not particularly familiar with this grant, despite it being in their handbook, I missed out. On the plus side I only missed out on $250. Money is money, but in the scheme of tuition, it's piss in the ocean.
For a different school or different location the amount of money provided could be different as well. The AACS provides money to various schools to fund the ACE grant depending on several statistics about the school. The school then distributes that money based on need between 5 students. Just make sure that you ask about it before you enroll if you're interested.
Most of the other available scholarships can be located through the AACS website at http://www.beautyschools.org/index.cfm
The bulk of them are for students who are presently attending school and are halfway through their studies.
You can bet I'll be applying for them.
Next: (On Rearranging Your Life)
At Empire, applying for financial aid was extremely basic. I went home, I filled out the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) at www.fafsa.ed.gov and the school did the rest. About a week later I was called back to the school to look over my EFC (Expected Family Contribution) and my Financial Aid Package.
When the school packages you, they approve you for the maximum amount of government aid, including loans, that you are eligible for. When they do this, it does mean that you are likely to get a disbursement after you start school. This is when the school cuts you a check for any money you have left in your student account after your tuition is paid. Because Empire is an accelerated program, you receive one dispersement at the freshman level and one dispersement at the senior level.
In my case, my EFC was 0 and my disbursements will be in the thousands a piece. Unfortunately, that overage is from the loans and will have to be paid back. In the mean time, it is a great way to meet my bills and living expenses while attending school and possibly repay some of my loan interest ahead of time. I'd go into the nuts and bolts of how this works but I'd rather not bore you. Most of this is very thoroughly covered on the fafsa website.
In my case, about $9,000 of my expenses are fully covered by government grants. This is nice and all, but I was looking for ways to add to the free money that I wouldn’t have to pay back. I think we can all agree that, that's the idea way to go to school; cheaply. To this end I looked into third party grants and scholarships. To my surprise there was quite a number of them available.
The one I happened to locate first was known as the ACE Grant. This is a grant that the AACS (American Association of Cosmetology Schools) provides to accredited schools for students enrolling who demonstrate financial need. This is also a grant that is available to Empire students. However, when I inquired about it at the school, I found that very little was known about it. At this point I took it upon myself to research and locate the paperwork required to apply for the grant (which can be found here). What I found out was that in order to obtain this grant the application required the following:
1. Speak with a working professional and have them interview you.
2. Fill out the application form in full
3. Demonstrate financial need
4. Bring these to your career planning adviser.
What I didn't manage to find out was that an essay was required and that when they said “newly enrolled” they meant that in the sense that the student applying for the grant had to do so on the day that they signed their enrollment paperwork or they were ineligible. Because the staff at Empire were not particularly familiar with this grant, despite it being in their handbook, I missed out. On the plus side I only missed out on $250. Money is money, but in the scheme of tuition, it's piss in the ocean.
For a different school or different location the amount of money provided could be different as well. The AACS provides money to various schools to fund the ACE grant depending on several statistics about the school. The school then distributes that money based on need between 5 students. Just make sure that you ask about it before you enroll if you're interested.
Most of the other available scholarships can be located through the AACS website at http://www.beautyschools.org/index.cfm
The bulk of them are for students who are presently attending school and are halfway through their studies.
You can bet I'll be applying for them.
Next: (On Rearranging Your Life)
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Orientation Day!
It's Orientation Day!
This is basically the first day that we are really acknowledged as students, so I was excited. I was looking forward to listening to what they had to say and hopefully receiving my student kit. I figured that would be a lot like an early Christmas for me.
I got all dressed up in the school dress code of white and black and set off for the school, looking a lot like this.
When I got there they set up our clock-in codes. At Empire they seem to be very, very serious about your hours. This is understandable considering the number regulations governing their ability to receive financial aid. It was really stressed to us that our hours are our hours, that is that. If you forget to punch in, you're just going to miss that time and have to make it up later.
To clock in, this school uses a hand-scanner. When you're added to the system, the scanner measures your hand. The only issue with this system is that, should you alter your nail length or wear too much jewelry on your hands, it won't recognize you. Pretty cool system even still.
Unfortunately, I was informed that I'm not really allowed to take many photographs. It seems that this is for student privacy reasons. I'll still be taking pictures of my own items to share with you as time goes on, but I won't be able to share much in the way of in class photos or photos of this orientation.
After a short wait, the new students were led into a classroom where we were greeted by most of the school staff with applause and given folders containing loads of important information.
During orientation everything in this packet was gone over thoroughly. An added emphasis on professionalism was provided by the new director of education at the school. She looks like someone who holds themselves to high standards and expects the same of others. She is very thin and somewhat severe looking but definitely nice enough. I understand that she has already started to make a number of positive changes within the school.
All in all I felt extremely welcome, non-intimidated and, for the first time, a bit less nervous about this whole endeavor.
But I still didn't get my student kit. :(
(Next: On Financial Aid and Scholarships)
This is basically the first day that we are really acknowledged as students, so I was excited. I was looking forward to listening to what they had to say and hopefully receiving my student kit. I figured that would be a lot like an early Christmas for me.
I got all dressed up in the school dress code of white and black and set off for the school, looking a lot like this.
When I got there they set up our clock-in codes. At Empire they seem to be very, very serious about your hours. This is understandable considering the number regulations governing their ability to receive financial aid. It was really stressed to us that our hours are our hours, that is that. If you forget to punch in, you're just going to miss that time and have to make it up later.
To clock in, this school uses a hand-scanner. When you're added to the system, the scanner measures your hand. The only issue with this system is that, should you alter your nail length or wear too much jewelry on your hands, it won't recognize you. Pretty cool system even still.
Unfortunately, I was informed that I'm not really allowed to take many photographs. It seems that this is for student privacy reasons. I'll still be taking pictures of my own items to share with you as time goes on, but I won't be able to share much in the way of in class photos or photos of this orientation.
After a short wait, the new students were led into a classroom where we were greeted by most of the school staff with applause and given folders containing loads of important information.
During orientation everything in this packet was gone over thoroughly. An added emphasis on professionalism was provided by the new director of education at the school. She looks like someone who holds themselves to high standards and expects the same of others. She is very thin and somewhat severe looking but definitely nice enough. I understand that she has already started to make a number of positive changes within the school.
All in all I felt extremely welcome, non-intimidated and, for the first time, a bit less nervous about this whole endeavor.
But I still didn't get my student kit. :(
(Next: On Financial Aid and Scholarships)
Monday, July 26, 2010
On Enrollment
It all happened very quickly. I contacted the school for information and set up an appointment for the very next morning. Before I knew it, I was enrolled; but that's only the cliff-notes version.
If you've read my previous entries, you know I was quite ready for a change of some sort. So, when I went into the school to take a tour, unless something was horrendously awry, I knew I would be enrolling. This is not always the case. If I'd jumped right into something every time I needed a change, I probably would have joined the Tom Savini school for Make-up FX or the Industrial Design Program at the Art Institute of Philadelphia a long time ago (but that's another story).
All the same, when I arrived at the school I was impressed. Although the school was located in a plaza that I found very unlikely, the outside of the building was appealing and professional looking. You can't see the whole sign and appreciate the building, but I thought that it was still decent looking in this photo.
The interior was extremely professional and very nice. I appreciated that despite being a larger school chain, with a long history, nothing about the facility was dated in the slightest. Everyone there was very welcoming and professional without that cold or stodgy feeling. For me this is very important, because I don't know about you, but when I walk into a salon that I feel is putting on airs, I don't think “oh, this place must be high class,” I think, “oh these people aren't going to listen to a word I say.” I didn't get that feeling here. The tour only served to reveal more of the nice, modern, high-tech, facility and I realized that this wouldn't come cheap.
It doesn't. The school tuition is around $19,000 and that number was, and still is, scary to me. However, when compared to what I could be paying at another school, it isn't much to pay for a chance at a stable career. This did raise a lot of questions. How much money would I receive in grants and just how much debt would I be in after everything I was done?
Until you are enrolled in the school, they can't tell you what your financial package looks like, and to enroll it costs $100. I've never understood this. To me it stands to reason that if you don't have enough money to pay for the school, then you likely do not have $100.00 to pay for enrollment before knowing if you'll be able to attend for certain. I can't really complain, though, as the school was willing to work with me considering I presently have no income.
There's a decent amount of paperwork involved in enrollment, but nothing too tedious. Generally, they file it over their computer system. I didn't have this luxury. When I returned from the tour and settled in to enroll, the main network at the school went down and we had to do things the old-fashioned way. That wouldn't have been a bad thing, but I was informed that usually, when papers are submitted, they get kicked back and items on them need to be fixed. I suppose that it could be because there are certain things that are supposed online, like initialing next to a signature, that need to be physically represented on paper. Still, I found it odd.
Wow, catching up on these posts can be rather tricky, I can't wait until I'm back up to only writing about what happened to me on a given day and not weeks ago. The more fresh the material the better it is for the readers. If you want more information or have specific questions, simply comment and I'll do my best to answer it for you!
Thank you!
Jami-Lee
(Next: Orientation Day)
If you've read my previous entries, you know I was quite ready for a change of some sort. So, when I went into the school to take a tour, unless something was horrendously awry, I knew I would be enrolling. This is not always the case. If I'd jumped right into something every time I needed a change, I probably would have joined the Tom Savini school for Make-up FX or the Industrial Design Program at the Art Institute of Philadelphia a long time ago (but that's another story).
All the same, when I arrived at the school I was impressed. Although the school was located in a plaza that I found very unlikely, the outside of the building was appealing and professional looking. You can't see the whole sign and appreciate the building, but I thought that it was still decent looking in this photo.
The interior was extremely professional and very nice. I appreciated that despite being a larger school chain, with a long history, nothing about the facility was dated in the slightest. Everyone there was very welcoming and professional without that cold or stodgy feeling. For me this is very important, because I don't know about you, but when I walk into a salon that I feel is putting on airs, I don't think “oh, this place must be high class,” I think, “oh these people aren't going to listen to a word I say.” I didn't get that feeling here. The tour only served to reveal more of the nice, modern, high-tech, facility and I realized that this wouldn't come cheap.
It doesn't. The school tuition is around $19,000 and that number was, and still is, scary to me. However, when compared to what I could be paying at another school, it isn't much to pay for a chance at a stable career. This did raise a lot of questions. How much money would I receive in grants and just how much debt would I be in after everything I was done?
Until you are enrolled in the school, they can't tell you what your financial package looks like, and to enroll it costs $100. I've never understood this. To me it stands to reason that if you don't have enough money to pay for the school, then you likely do not have $100.00 to pay for enrollment before knowing if you'll be able to attend for certain. I can't really complain, though, as the school was willing to work with me considering I presently have no income.
There's a decent amount of paperwork involved in enrollment, but nothing too tedious. Generally, they file it over their computer system. I didn't have this luxury. When I returned from the tour and settled in to enroll, the main network at the school went down and we had to do things the old-fashioned way. That wouldn't have been a bad thing, but I was informed that usually, when papers are submitted, they get kicked back and items on them need to be fixed. I suppose that it could be because there are certain things that are supposed online, like initialing next to a signature, that need to be physically represented on paper. Still, I found it odd.
Wow, catching up on these posts can be rather tricky, I can't wait until I'm back up to only writing about what happened to me on a given day and not weeks ago. The more fresh the material the better it is for the readers. If you want more information or have specific questions, simply comment and I'll do my best to answer it for you!
Thank you!
Jami-Lee
(Next: Orientation Day)
Friday, July 23, 2010
In Which Ideas Take Shape
Around the time decided not to re-enroll in college, my life was shifting and changing. With the downturn of the economy I found myself without work. This prompted me to move from New Jersey to Virginia, where I settled in the Richmond area. It was much easier to manage my bills, due to a lower cost of living, but I found myself stagnant and directionless.
There is a period of denial that comes with a loss of direction; a time when you're simply angry at everything that caused your situation. Unfortunately, being angry does not always increase your resolve to improve your situation. In my case, this became a downward spiral into rut that I stayed in for the better part of a year. It wasn't until the last couple months that an idea began to take shape.
Due to my history styling wigs for costuming, many of my friends began asking me to do things with their hair. This started as basic help with hair dye and then moved into progressively more complex endeavors. As I did this I started to feel a lot of satisfaction with my work. I also discovered that I had a knack for it that I was unaware of. It dawned on me that this was likely one of my few creative interests that could be easily turned into a non-freelance career. It could also still set me up to eventually run my own business. So at the beginning of July I poked around on the internet and dug up a bunch of school information. In Richmond, the selection is limited as far as cosmetology schools go. There are a few, but most of them don't accept financial aid and for me, that was the deciding factor. I contacted Empire for more information and before you know it I was on a bit of a crazy ride from being unemployed and directionless, to attending a trade school with a career in mind.
This was a scary decision to make. I already have some debt in my name. I certainly wasn't looking forward to adding anymore. How would I know that this would fit me and that I would do well at it? Above all, how would I have any idea what the experience would even be like? One of those questions are answered by raw confidence in ones abilities; others would require more information.
That is where I ran into a roadblock. There was no real student experience available online. There were testimonials, but those only explain so much. I also saw a some lukewarm to unflattering reviews about the school here and there. Most of them involved the school dropping the person for some reason. The squeaky wheel is what is heard most and most of the time a satisfied customer says very little. I took it all with a grain of salt.
All of this sparked an idea.
If I was so scared to jump in with both feet, I figured there were many others out there that were just as scared to take a step forward. That fear can keep people from improving their station in life and taking a chance. I started this blog with the hope that I would be able to give insight into the life of someone who has taken a step forward. I aim to show a picture of what my life is like as a result of this decision both at school and at home.
I hope you'll come along with me on this journey.
(Next up: On Enrollment)
There is a period of denial that comes with a loss of direction; a time when you're simply angry at everything that caused your situation. Unfortunately, being angry does not always increase your resolve to improve your situation. In my case, this became a downward spiral into rut that I stayed in for the better part of a year. It wasn't until the last couple months that an idea began to take shape.
Due to my history styling wigs for costuming, many of my friends began asking me to do things with their hair. This started as basic help with hair dye and then moved into progressively more complex endeavors. As I did this I started to feel a lot of satisfaction with my work. I also discovered that I had a knack for it that I was unaware of. It dawned on me that this was likely one of my few creative interests that could be easily turned into a non-freelance career. It could also still set me up to eventually run my own business. So at the beginning of July I poked around on the internet and dug up a bunch of school information. In Richmond, the selection is limited as far as cosmetology schools go. There are a few, but most of them don't accept financial aid and for me, that was the deciding factor. I contacted Empire for more information and before you know it I was on a bit of a crazy ride from being unemployed and directionless, to attending a trade school with a career in mind.
This was a scary decision to make. I already have some debt in my name. I certainly wasn't looking forward to adding anymore. How would I know that this would fit me and that I would do well at it? Above all, how would I have any idea what the experience would even be like? One of those questions are answered by raw confidence in ones abilities; others would require more information.
That is where I ran into a roadblock. There was no real student experience available online. There were testimonials, but those only explain so much. I also saw a some lukewarm to unflattering reviews about the school here and there. Most of them involved the school dropping the person for some reason. The squeaky wheel is what is heard most and most of the time a satisfied customer says very little. I took it all with a grain of salt.
All of this sparked an idea.
If I was so scared to jump in with both feet, I figured there were many others out there that were just as scared to take a step forward. That fear can keep people from improving their station in life and taking a chance. I started this blog with the hope that I would be able to give insight into the life of someone who has taken a step forward. I aim to show a picture of what my life is like as a result of this decision both at school and at home.
I hope you'll come along with me on this journey.
(Next up: On Enrollment)
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
A Rocky Education
It had never occurred to me to think of myself as a college dropout.
I had been viewing my entire educational situation with a disdain caused by feeling completely reamed by the system. This wasn't entirely untrue. My only saving grace was that I hadn't paid a cent of my own money, but I had wasted a lot of my time.
When I graduated high school in 2002 I felt like my interests and skill sets were too broad to simply go to school for no reason. A liberal arts degree is basically a degree in “well-rounded-ness,” and I didn't see how dropping a bunch of money on that would help me to achieve my goals. Of course, at the time I didn't have much of an idea what my end goals really were, and was haughty enough to feel like there wasn't much that school had to offer me besides of a piece of paper. When you consider that back in high school I had a hard time being a good little hamster and running on the wheel like I should, I was hard pressed to put myself in debt to subject myself to this situation again.
To clarify, I once asked one of my teachers what the point of homework was and was told that it was there to help those students that didn't necessarily test well. This seemed wholly unfair to me. Here I was getting all A's on my tests but doing poorly in classes because of homework. I've always been a bit stubborn, particularly when I find something unfair, so being informed that homework was something of a grade crutch didn't do anything for my dedication.
It took me years after graduation to come up with a hair-brained scheme and decide that I needed an education to make it work. This in mind I decided to go to college as an Entepreneurship major. Although this was only supposed to be a two year associates program, I found myself half way through my second year with no graduation in sight. The school had accepted me into a major and then only offered the general requirements and no core classes. If they had been unable to run these classes due to enrollment in the major for only a semester or two, I may not have been angry. However, if over the course of four semesters at a two year school none of the required classes are offered, it is reasonable to assume that the student should have either not been accepted into that particular major, or been notified that she would be unable to complete her degree within that major. Because this was a two-year institution, the federal government decided that I should not have required financial aid for more than a two year period. All things considered, I did not re-enroll for the 2009-2010 school year.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Humble Beginnings
I'd like to welcome you to the beginning of what I hope will be an interesting journey. You see, at the beginning of this month I began the enrollment process for Empire Beauty School. This decision was, without a doubt, one of the more important steps I've taken in my adult life. It is my aim to share my school experience in hopes that it will encourage others to take that important step as well. However, to really understand why this is and where I'm coming from, you need to understand a little bit about who I am and what led me to do this.
First off, I have always enjoyed writing, but then again, I've enjoyed many, many creative hobbies that could be considered non-lucrative leeches of time and money. It doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed these hobbies, but it does mean that I've had an incredibly tough time narrowing down what I've wanted to do with my life. That said, if you're reading this blog in the first place, it is likely because you've noticed that I've decided on cosmetology.
This was not an easy decision for me at all! At first, I thought I wanted to be an FX makeup artist, a director, a costume designer, or a concept artist. The problem is, every one of those careers are very niche and very difficult to break into unless you get lucky. Living on the east coast and being none too interested in moving to California only makes it even more difficult. I've also never been entirely convinced that I'd be happy working for anyone but myself. I suppose that might sound a little overambitious and haughty, but I wanted creative control of whatever I chose to do.First off, I have always enjoyed writing, but then again, I've enjoyed many, many creative hobbies that could be considered non-lucrative leeches of time and money. It doesn't mean I haven't enjoyed these hobbies, but it does mean that I've had an incredibly tough time narrowing down what I've wanted to do with my life. That said, if you're reading this blog in the first place, it is likely because you've noticed that I've decided on cosmetology.
Eventually, I worked out a plan that seemed to combine the best elements of all of those "non-lucrative" hobbies and wrap them up into a nice big package just for me. It was a big dream, but the idea wasn't very practical in terms of starting out. The capital for this miracle business probably would have been astronomical. Despite that, at the time, I figured it would be alright. I figured that I would go to college, work on my business plan, and when I presented the plan to investors and banks, they'd think it was wonderful and all would be right with the world. Obviously that's not how the story goes.
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