[Photo Credit: http://www.zwani.com/graphics/pimp/%5D
There’s something that’s really concerning me regarding BS. Here we are, six weeks into the program entering Phase II. As I’ve mentioned before, we were rushed through our first six weeks and while we’ve retained some information for sure, I feel more facts should be permanently implanted into our psyche than what’s actually been stored. It’s been bugging me. The rush, that is. I thought it was maybe the result of all the other necessary info that’s sure to follow in the coming weeks. Yea…um….not so much. I’ve thought long and hard and come to the sole unsettling conclusion: they’re pimping us!
A harsh statement one might claim? Perhaps. And it’s not one I make freely. Personally, I feel it sucks and it’s wrong. While perfectly within their right to do so, it’s not to the benefit of the student but the school. A school that is just as much a business as it is an institution of learning. In a nutshell, I paid a huge amount of money to make them more in the long run…
Here’s how I see it:
- BS is the premiere beauty school of choice for cosmetologists and this factor allows them to attract a large number of prospective esthetic students as well.
- BS offers exclusive elective courses and opportunities not available at other beauty schools in an effort to maximize their appeal to prospective students.
- BS is a huge corporation that leads the way in beauty school publications and is the standard curriculum on which many state board exams are based.
See where I’m going with all of this? Yea, not done…
- If interested in BS, your first contact with them will be so extremely impressive with ALL the focus and friendliness surrounding a huge buzzword: EDUCATION. BS talks up EDUCATION like nobody’s business. It’s the focus and star of every conversation you’ll have starting with the admissions staff to the Open House presentation to the website to every single piece of literature you can possibly obtain from them. Now, considering you’re paying for an awesome education, what’s not to love about that, right?
NO ONE tells you that you’ll be rushed through the first six weeks so fast your head will spin. NO ONE tells you that immediately upon completing Phase I, you’ll be held to client requirements two days each week where you’ll “work” in the student spa all day leaving only three days each week for classroom time AKA learning new information. Make that 3 days of classroom time for the first 3 weeks of Phase II before it’s amp’d up to 2 1/2 days in the spa leaving 2 1/2 days for class work. NO ONE tells you that after you cram 6 chapters into your first 6 weeks, you’re left with only 8 freakin’ chapters for the remainder of your 16 week educational journey. Hmmm… how does that make sense?
Now, some might argue this “requirement” is to “prepare us for the real world” and client experience is crucial to be successful. While I understand that, I counter that argument with the simple fact that I didn’t shell out all this dough to work at a beauty school, I did it for an education so I’m thoroughly PREPARED for that experience, which will come soon enough following graduation. My program is only 5 months long for goodness sake, which initially led me to believe it was going to be chock full of information with some work in the student spa but not the majority of my time here.
In my six weeks thus far, I feel fully confident performing Back Treatments, Signature Facials and Petite Facials – that’s it! So why not FULLY prepare us using our time wisely BEFORE we start working on clients? Is that too much to ask? Does it not make sense? I have an advantage over the others in my class when it comes to product knowledge but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn more about it. Most of my classmates struggle in this area because not enough time has really been spent carefully covering this information before “throwing them to the wolves”, so to speak.
beautyschooldropn 