Monday, January 19, 2015

Nail School: Taking the Leap

Nail School: Taking the Leap by @chalkboardnails
Friday marked the end of my second official week of nail school. I know I was curious about the process of becoming licensed before I started out, so I wanted to start up a series about what I'm experiencing and learning at my school. I hope this helps make the process a little less mysterious for some of you!

Today I want to talk a little bit about the process of deciding to go and some questions you may have about attending. Please feel free to leave any questions you may have in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them!

Before we start
Know that not all nail schools will do things exactly like mine does, but the general process should be similar. Note the requirements in your particular state; in Arizona, getting your license requires a 600 hour program, though other states may require less.

Another thing to know: not all beauty schools offer nail-only programs. Many of them instead focus on cosmetology, which will include some nail education, but also covers hair, skin, makeup, and more. Cosmetology programs take longer to complete and cost more. For me, a nail-only school was the way to go.

Getting funded, and how you can too
Last year when I attended Cosmoprof, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Jan Arnold, the Style Director at CND. We got to talking about how I wanted to go to nail school to become licensed. She suggested I check out the CND & Tippi Hedren scholarship through Beauty Changes Lives, which covers 100% of the tuition costs for nail school (up to $5,000).

Jan and the rest of the team at CND are very passionate about supporting and advocating for professional techs, and I took her suggestion very seriously. I applied for the next round of scholarships, and ended up being selected as one of the ten recipients by the panel of independent judges. I plan to do a whole post about BCL and the application process very soon, but in the meantime, you can read more about the scholarship on their website.

There are other scholarship and financial aid programs out there too, so do your research! Most nail-only programs have an average cost of $3,000-$5,000, which can be made even more manageable with assistance.

Nail School: Taking the Leap by @chalkboardnails

Making the decision
Once I learned that I had been selected as a scholarship recipient, I was faced with a decision: do I attend school part time and continue at my job, or do I quit to focus on nails? It was truly a difficult decision, but I ended up making the choice to go full time. At my school, full time means 9:00am-5:00pm, Tuesday through Friday. Part timers come in the evenings plus all day on Saturdays.

For me, it came down to wanting to focus on the experience and get as much out of it as I could. I wanted to fully embrace the opportunity, and thankfully had the capability to do so.

Starting a new chapter
Making the choice to quit my job and go to nail school full time was pretty intimidating. But I felt like it was time to take the chance! It's something I'm really passionate about, and this is the next stepping stone in my journey. I don't know what I want to do after I graduate, but I look forward to finding out what it is.

If this is something you've wanted to do as well, I encourage you to pursue it. Don't listen to the voice that says you can't or you shouldn't. You can and you should.

Stay tuned for my recap of weeks one and two tomorrow!
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19 comments

  1. This is really cool! Congrats on the scholarship, I read that in one of the Nail magazines I subscribe to :) Best of luck and thanks for letting us know how it goes!

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  2. Best of luck in this new chapter of your life! Can't wait to see read all your weekly updates on your progress in nail school too.

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  3. Congratulations! I've considering looking into nail school, too; and can't wait to follow you through your journey!

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  4. Woo!! I love reading something new about you like this!! Makes me feel like just watched a movie preview. What comes next?!! XD

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  5. Good luck with the school Sarah, I'm sure you'll have a great career afterwards :)

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  6. Thank you for posting this! I love it for a variety of reasons! :) I can't wait to hear more :)

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  7. Can't wait to read about your journey!

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  8. Sharon Parayos MerrittJanuary 20, 2015 at 10:39 AM

    Very interesting! Thank you....

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  9. Congratulations! I will live vicariously through you!

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  10. Thank you for writing this! I am on the fence about going and getting licensed, I can't wait to read about your experience!

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  11. Good luck, Sarah! I'm sure you'll succeed on the final exam, "Actually polishing your nails"!!! (Ha, ha!) You're not the first nail artist I've heard of who decided to go and get a formal education after already becoming an expert in nail art. I hear there's SO much more to it than merely polishing nails!

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  12. I'm so happy for you and jelly at the same time... you go girl. Thanks for sharing your experience as you go through it. I want to go to a nail only program. Do you have any suggestions? I live in California. Does the program that you attend have schools elsewhere?

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  13. How exciting! Enjoy the ride girl, can't wait to read more about it :).

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  14. Thank you for sharing your new life experience, and your thoughts and doubts. I'm sure you'll inspire many of us to not be afraid to follow our dreams. You'll do great things!

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  15. I have been on the fence with starting a career in nails. I am very interested in hearing about your experiences as you go along the way, and especially the application process for the scholarships. Thanks for sharing!

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  16. Виктория АртамоноваJanuary 22, 2015 at 1:14 AM

    Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great!

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  17. Congratulations on not only nail school, but also a scholarship! I am excited for you and to hear about your experience.

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