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)
0 comments:
Post a Comment