I did it finally! I am so excited! It felt like it was going to take forever to finish. Then the last day arrived and it seemed like I just started! WOO HOO!
I am so pleased I chose to do this. I feel like I am doing what I was meant to do. I love it. I get to be creative and make people happy while doing it.
Nail school lasted 4½ months, which seems like a short time. Of course during my time at school I missed a couple of days, with sick kids and holidays including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s. I had about 40 hours to make up in about two weeks. So I stayed a couple of days for 12 hours to complete my regular six hours plus the extra hours and I did a few Saturdays. It wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. (It was actually fun, but don’t tell anyone!) I passed my class with an A and received a 98% on my final exam. I still have to study to pass my boards, but I am happy to get a break from my studies. Of course, with the extra time I sat and worked on my nails in my overtime at school. This was a backfill I did on myself.
I have met some great people. From teachers to classmates to clients, I feel I have been blessed by the people put in my path. I have made some really good relationships that I will continue to have even after I leave school. I hope I was able to leave a footprint in some of the lives of people I met along the way. I always tried to encourage and motivate people along the way.
In my last blog I had a couple of bad remarks from people. At first I was upset, then hurt, then mad — Then I realized it doesn’t matter. I don’t care if everyone likes my work. I care if the clients I serve are happy. That is what matters. I had tons of love and support and my blog too —from people I know and from strangers as well. In my newfound profession I will always strive to keep my clients happy. I will always be willing to try new things and step out of my box in order to keep them happy and coming to me! I will always be willing to learn new and exciting techniques as well as follow different trends. So I will take the advice of my classmates and let my haters be my motivators!
I got to do some fun nails with color and design as well as my first set of stilettos. I have included pictures of some of my most recent work and pictures of my graduation. My graduation was wonderful and my class gave me a yummy going away lunch.
I want to say a special thank you to my teacher Ms. Ortega, who taught me so much and allowed me so much freedom to express myself creatively and artistically. She was awesome.
I will miss my friends in school, but I will stay in touch. We had a lot of laughs and built great friendships!
To everyone who read or followed my blog — thank you!
Thank you to NAILS Magazine for giving me the opportunity to write this blog and show my work, which I know was viewed by many. It has been a great experience.
I hope to do great things in this industry and I hope to meet more awesome people along the way.
— Nikki
Print | posted on Thursday, January 24, 2013 1:27 PM