State Board Exam Part One - Practical - 8/4/14

Cosmetology School Journey ~ State Board Exam Part One - Practical - 8/4/14 ~

I'm still stunned that it happened. There are always going to be key dates in the history of this journey. Such as these

8/2/2000 - Started Virginia Farrell School
7/22/2013 - Started Regency
6/12/2014 - Graduated Regency

I have two more dates to add. The first being yesterday, 8/4/14. I first want to say that I am thankful that my school, Regency had us do mock State Board tests. I am glad I did mine all 4 times I could. The reality is that those prepared me for the doing. It was always the packing that made me nervous and well scared. But I got that bag packed somehow. So I woke up yesterday morning and I had a 50 minute drive to get there. I left in what I thought was plenty of extra time. I envisioned myself sitting in a parking lot somewhere drinking some coffee waiting to go in. So I drove. And then the first road I wanted to turn to head south was backed up so I kept going west. The next road was closed and both west and south were blocked so I had to turn back north and then head west. And then when I finally turned south it was a road that's supposed to be fast but there's just too many lights so I turned back east to get to a better road. I was trying to get down to the freeway so I could at least get on it. I finally got on and then a few miles later got onto the other freeway to go west again. Then I see an electronic sign saying 17 minutes to get near where I need to be. I didn't have 17 minutes and the freeway was a parking lot so I got off onto Woodward and headed down to 8 Mile and then went west again. Then I made my turn onto Greenfield so I could turn onto Northland Dr. Um No. Northland is closed there so I found myself on 9 Mile heading west trying to find a way back south. I turned south and found myself back on 8 Mile and obviously on the other side of the building and I was at this time probably late and now a bit lost. So I turned back east on 8 Mile and then saw it. A turn lane to get onto Northland Dr and right there was the building. So I parked and headed up to the third floor and right there in front of the elevator sat a group of people with bags that were obviously there for the test. And they said that no one had been checked in yet and that they were told to wait till the people came to get them. So with my heart racing already with the thought that I had already forfeited the test and the money I suddenly had to calm down and breathe before the thing that was supposed to make me nervous began. I had made it. I was going to take the test. It seemed like about 10 minutes before they came for us so I did get to calm down. After 14 years it was going to happen. I had been imagining all along this darker room without windows. I guess my image was like that of a dressing room backstage somewhere. Instead it was a bright white themed room with windows of an office building with blinds. Honestly it was like Virginia Farrell was. They asked to examine our manikin head and hand. And then the tester who did the talking says she will answer questions as long as its not something you should already know in which case she would say do as you have been instructed. So it was time for pre setup and setup for the manicure. I was going along pretty well with my manicure and then I did something dumb. I hadn't started polishing yet and I threw my bag of cotton in the trash. My orangewood sticks didn't have any on them yet. So this meant that I would have to do the best polish job of my life without being able to clean up any polish that got on the skin. I don't know how but with my hands shaking more than they ever have before I put thos 4 coats of base, polish, polish, top coat on with only a tiny bit getting on one finger. And I could do nothing about it. And time was running low. So I raised my hand to signal I was done.

Next was the facial. I don't recall any issues with it. I think I was the first one done. Mrs E taught us well.

Next up was the 3 Part Chemical. You section the manikin in 4 quarters and use 3 of 4 to demonstrate. Here I had my second big scare. I didn't put any gloves in the bag for this. I thought I did. But it hit me that when I packed my bag for the perm wave I put an extra set of gloves in there "just in case". Like maybe one would have a hole or something. So I opened my duffle and got that pair out of the perm bag and zipped em up and used that hand sanitizer. And I had gloves. :)
The first section is Virgin Lightener / Bleach. This is done in the middle of the hair strands only, not the roots or the ends. The second section is Hair Color retouch of just the roots. The third section is a relaxer retouch which is basically the same procedure except you have to put gel or pretend protective gel on the rest of the hair strand because overlapping relaxer onto hair that's already been relaxed is bad. Even if you don't cause the hair to break off its gonna be extremely damaged. When she asked for questions right before this part I asked if we were doing half of each section or the whole sections. She said at least half. I was able to do the whole section for each with time to spare. Again I'm not as slow as I think I am. But doing those 13 heads worth on that last day of class helped.

Next up was shampooing. Gosh that stuff is hard to wash out of hair. I don't know if we're supposed to or not but we were taught that State Board wants the sinks cleaned after you use them. I took my manikin back to the station and then grabbed my disinfectant spray and some paper towels and I went back and cleaned my sink. I don't think anyone else did. But I didn't care. Either I was doing what I was supposed to or I was getting extra credit. I mean even if there aren't points for it maybe it would send the message that I care about sanitation.

Permanent Wave - I bet those who know this journey by now would think this would be a cake walk for me. I can laugh about this now. But I was far from it. My manikin almost went for a plunge out a three story window. Ok first I was trying to drape the manikin. I went to unpack my two towels and one of them fell. Onto my garbage bag which was now no longer hanging from the counter but on the floor leaning against the cabinet with the tape on the door. What do I do? Its now considered a dirty towel isn't it? But I have to towel, cape, towel to protect the client. In my mind it was "Oh well it is what it is" I picked the towel up and set it on the counter. Sanitized my hands. Then put it on the manikin. Protecting the client from a chemical is better than the dirt. Maybe? It fell on the bag but not quite in it. Ok so lets get to doing the thing I know I know how to do. The manikin's hair was not evenly cut. I went to wrap that first rod and couldn't keep the hair from falling out of the paper. Lets just say I probably made at least 3 attempts at each of the 5 rods. And I probably had fish hooks / bent ends. And that first rod had me on the edge of melt down. But I wrapped them somehow. And I took whatever score they were going to give me. I raised my hand and demonstrated squirting the solution on and the test curl.

Haircut - You must cut at least an inch off of all the hair. You must do a 90 degree uniform round layered cut. In other words any strand you grab if you hold it out from its spot it must be the same length as any other strand held out from its spot. So you cut the hair in a stop sign like pattern. After the morning I had had so far there was no way this haircut was gonna scare me. I had this. I was two procedures away from being done. So I got the razor out and the shears and all those extra combs just in case and I started cutting. I want to thank everyone who has let me do this haircut on them so far. Some of you may not even know I did it but I had a lot more practise on it than most in my class. I don't like using the word chop but that's what i did. I chopped away. We had 40 minutes to get it done and when the 20 minute chime came I was in checking mode. I brought a manikin with at least 8 inches of hair. So I didn't have to worry about cutting her too short. Every piece was going to be at least an inch. I did not cut myself. I did not drop a comb. I was probably the first one done because you can hear it when someone grabs the broom and dust pan and I was the first to make the noise. I'm not going to say my haircut was perfect. But I know I cut it all. Including those strands that I had to wrap on perm rods.

Thermal Curls - Each bag for each procedure has to be labeled Pre Sanitized ______ in this case Pre Sanitized Blow Dry & Thermal Curl. I know I wrote out that label. But they come over for each task and check those bags and this one was missing the label. There goes a point. Then I noticed a few minutes later the label on the floor. It must have peeled off when I pulled the haircut bag out. Blow dry just the top middle section and demonstrate 3 curls using a marcel iron. First curl was on base but stuck out so that was gonna be a Figure 6. Second curl was walso sticking out but was half off base. Third curl, well I had the third curl going just fine until I noticed that other hair was getting grabbed by the handle of the iron and I lost control a bit so I stopped trying to curl that one before the hair was burned. So I sectioned out a new curl instead of trying redo that one because you're not supposed to recurl hair right away like that. And this time I made a decent curl and I think I got the Figure 8 in there. And that was that. I raised my hand and let the chips fall.

I had three garbage bags. One marked trash, another marked soiled implements, and another marked soiled linens. About halfway through the test I noticed that I was putting implements into the linens bags and vice versa. I don't know if I'm even supposed to have seperate bags for those two for sure but it had me worried if they knew I was mixing them. I mean maybe towels are considered implements too and perhaps some schools don't even teach three bags. When I did mock board I only used two bags. Implements and trash. So it had me concerned but it was what it was.

Then comes the most scary part of it. I've heard so many stories of how someone didn't put their trash bag in the right spot or touched bags together or somehow not packing up to go home the right way and possibly failing because of it. Some sort of sanitation reason. But my classmates were telling me that they had put all three of their bags back into their Regency duffle bag and didn't fail so that's what I was doing. I put my Implements and linens bags into the duffle bag. And then came the decision. Do I put my trash bag in there? This is critical. They said they did but is it right? Ok I decided to go for it. I tried to squish it in there but the other two bags had too much air. So I took it out and zipped up the duffle and walked out with a duffle bag and a trash bag in hand. But I was Done. I had done the test.

Those who have taken this test and are still yet to take this test may think I'm crazy but I had a blast. I seriously thought that towel on the trash bag doomed me but I was having fun. I had been taught how to do this stuff and had practised it. I was just doing it in a different room in a different place. I had one thought though. "I would love to do this again but it would be nice if I don't have to come back because I failed this one"

My plan was to leave there and drive up to Port Huron and sit by the bridge and then check the website to see the results. I made a stop at McDonalds to get something to drink and use the restroom. When I washed my hands it was as if that half a bottle of hand sanitzer was being washed out of my skin.

As I pulled in at the bridge the ship "American Courage" was passing under. So it was time to check and the website said PASS.

I passed. I ........ really passed?

On 8/9/14 I go for round two. This time I sit in front of a computer and answer 100 multiple choice Theory questions. I scheduled this one for 1 pm. It was the earliest available date and time. But I took it because that gives me a heck of a lot more time to get there. And that will be the date. The date when I can say Licensed. Just gotta do it.  :)

Thank you for reading
I Love You All <3
~ No Tangles ~