Calina He, Maddie Kosc

To read a cover story about the cosmetology program at the J. Everett Light Career Center (JEL), click here.

What are your plans for your future career?

I’m going to graduate from here (JEL) hopefully before March and then I’m going to start working at Great Clips, which is where I work now but I don’t cut hair yet. Hopefully, in the far future, I can have a manager position but I don’t know if I’ll go into a normal salon yet because Great Clips is just haircuts.

How did CHS prepare or help you find your path?

CHS’s academics don’t really help in this career and they’re not necessary for this path. No clubs helped me either.

Is there anything that you wish CHS offered that would help you with your options?

Maybe, but I think they did good enough for what they could because they can’t really help with this specific career, and I was able to graduate early. Maybe if CHS had made it more well-known how you can graduate early and focus on a career instead of preparing for college.

How did you get into this program?

The sophomore convocation talked about JEL but only for like three seconds. They mentioned cosmetology, and at the time, I wanted to do makeup, not hair, so I looked into that. It said makeup on the listing so I still came to the open house here and signed up for it, and I ended up liking hair better.

Do you wish they talked about JEL more to the students?

Yeah, I do wish they talked about it more because it’s a really good option for people who don’t want to go to college.

What other classes does JEL have?
There’s like a dental assistant program, an EMT and medical programs, and there are a bunch of car programs for fixing cars and there’s like a cooking program too.

How long do you plan to be in this cosmetology class?

Cosmetology is the longest class, it’s two years and it’s four hours every day. I’m coming eight hours every day, so I’m going to finish twice as fast. 

When did you start the cosmetology class?
I started it at the beginning of my junior year.

What was your schedule like in your junior year?

I would go to CHS for blocks one and two and I would come to JEL for blocks three and four every day.

How do you feel about the JEL program here?

I like it a lot more than CHS which is why I graduated early to come here because I feel like this, not CHS, is the important thing to my future. 

Gallery • 4 Photos

Amy Zhuang, recent CHS graduate and current J. Everett Light Center cosmetology student, curls a mannequin's hair.