Connie Rose......(formerly future) Esthetician / (Future) Tattoo Artist

I'm a little slow in posting this, but ............. I GOT MY LICENSE!

I finally got up the nerve to schedule my written exam for January 5th. I scheduled it for one week out, and then I studied my ass off! I kicked everyone out of the house. I re-read nearly the entire textbook, paying special attention to the items listed in the Content Outlines on the Pearson Vue website. I even made flash cards of all the vocabulary at the end of each chapter. Still, I was nervous.

I had asked previous students about what was on the exam. No one would tell me anything. Everyone was so vague and just said it was easy and not to worry about it. I still worried. When I got to the exam I discovered why everyone was so vague though. The first thing you do when you arrive is read and sign their rules, which include great warnings about revealing any of the questions on the exam to anyone else. So you're not going to get me to share any of the questions either!!

I can tell you, however, that the percentages listed on the Pearson Vue Content Outlines are wrong. Don't rely on a low percentage of one category and choose not to study for that part. I nearly did this, and was SO glad that I decided to go ahead and study just as hard for those smaller percentage items. Study everything.

So, you go into the Pearson Vue office, give your name, read the rules, etc. You are not allowed to take anything into the exam room with you. I mean NOTHING. Luckily, they keep the place warm, or we'd all freeze to death from being stripped down. They take your picture, which is kinda encouraging and makes you feel like "yeah, I'm going to pass, or else why bother with the picture?" And then you take the exam.

I was nervous. After the exam, it seemed like such a long few minutes while I waited to hear the results.

PASS! I really like that they give you the results right there and then.

Several days later, I received my license in the mail. Horrid picture, but at least I have it. Now, to find a job.

Today, I'm working on my resume'.

Well, I passed the Practical Exam. I still have to take the Written Exam. Then I'll be licensed.

I am thrilled that I passed, but honestly I was so frazzled and made so many mistakes that I was surprised (but so so grateful) when I opened my envelope and saw "Results: Pass."

To start with, I was late. Nearly 20 minutes late! My instructions clearly said that I must arrive 30 minutes prior to test time. My test time was 8:00a.m. So I was supposed to arrive at 7:30a.m. I got up out of bed at 5:15a.m. so that I would have plenty of time to get ready and leave early. But then I had to get online and print a map and check my directions. I had breakfast, made some coffee, and then walked the dog. Unfortunately, on this morning, she took her time getting her business done. I came back, loaded up the car with my kit, the dummy, some lunch, some notes to study (cuz I planned on arriving early), and before I knew it....it was after 7:00am. CRAP! It usually takes at least 30 minutes to get to Aurora from my house. And this day turned out to be no exception. At about 7:20, I called them on the cell phone. I was on hold for over 5 minutes before I finally reached someone. She was very nice, but she gave me the bad news that I really had to be there 30 minutes before the test, and she couldn't get a message to them to let them know I was on my way.

I almost gave up and head back home. The woman on the phone had said that they might let me in if I was just a few minutes late. Judging from my progress and the time, I realized that I was going to be at least 15 minutes late. I doubted they would excuse that. I had heard so many stories about how hard-assed they were. But I went anyway. I practically ran into the room. I know I was out of breath. They were so nice. They had no problem letting me sit for the exam. There was even a woman that arrived after I did, and they let her take the test too.

The next step was a little instruction time before we started the actual test.

And, by the way, there were 4 of us taking this test and we were all crammed onto one table. I had been practicing with much more space allotment and this really threw me off. I was balancing things on my lap and layering things on top of each other on my little corner of the table, and several times we had to turn our dummies sideways to work on her.

Okay, so we get a little instruction on how this is going to go. One of the things they told us was that they did not want us to tape our trash bag to the table. It had to go under the table. Great. And we were to put our "Soiled Items" container under the table too. Well, I had made a small "Soiled Items" container for each scenario and put them with the items needed for that part. Luckily I had one larger bag, labelled "soiled items" that I hadn't intended on using, but was so glad that I had brought it. Both of these went on the floor at my feet.

Then they checked our First Aid Kits. I was so afraid that I would forget to set out the first aid kit that I had folded up a red tissue paper and placed it in the ziploc baggie holding the first aid kit so that it would stand out and catch my eye when I opened my box. The testor/proctor started to pull it out and then asked what it was. I quickly came up with a story about it being a drop cloth for spills. She bought it. I'm sure she thought I was weird, but hey, that's okay.

Now we get down to the actual exam. Our first scenario is Tweezing. Cool. I can handle that. The timer starts and I begin to expertly tweeze my hairless dummy. The proctor comes around and picks up everything on my area of the table and takes a close look at it. I'm feeling good. I know I have everything labelled correctly and all the right equipment. And then she picks up my trash bag. She turns it over, upside down, and sideways. Then she asks where it is labelled "Trash". Everything has to be labelled. Oh my gosh! So while we are in the middle of a timed test, I had to come up with a bag labelled "Trash" and still complete the task. Long story short - I came up with one and still managed to complete the tweezing in time.

Next was waxing. She told us to wax the chin. Now I'm starting to feel a little less confident. What the heck am I going to do wrong now? I remembered to test the wax on my wrist. I waxed the chin in the correct direction. Whew. I had it.

The following tests were the Manipulation and Facial Cleanse. The woman analyzed everything we brought out. She even picked up my "Soiled Items" container and had a close look. The thing I didn't expect was that she came around and felt our dummy's face at the end of each test. She was checking for leftover oils or lotions, I'm sure. I was very glad that I had placed a few extra dry cotton rounds in each kit section so that I could wipe off any extra product.

Then we did the Masque. Good, I thought. I knew this one had loads of extra time built into it and I could chill out and try to calm down. But, of course, this was not meant to be. As I'm taking some deep, calming breaths, the proctor came around to check all our stuff again. When she got to mine she asked where my toner was. What?! Toner? I knew this scenario did not include toner, but I was not about to argue with the woman who held my license in her hands. I quickly said that I could get it and dove into my box and pulled out my "emergency items" bag. Thank goodness I had a baggie of toner soaked cotton rounds. So much for chilling out.

The final scenario was the Makeup, my worst subject of all. By now I am so frazzled and so convinced that I am going to fail that I kept dropping stuff. If you drop something, you have to pick it up, sanitize it, and then continue on. This takes away valuable minutes, and this particular test is very tight on time. So I'm dropping, sanitizing, and rush-rush-rushing through the makeup. I wish I had a picture of the final result. That was the ugliest makeup job I have ever done. So awful! And when we finished, what did she do? She came around and picked up each dummy and had a nice close look. I knew for certain that I had failed.

So, we are finally done. She tells us we can go get a drink or use the restroom, but don't leave. She will give us our results after she records them. That was the longest 10 minutes, I have to say. The entire time I kept repeating in my head, "please please please pass me."

We are handed our envelopes and are instructed to not open them until we are out of the building and in our cars. Unbearable! We all rushed right out of there.

Unfortunately, I went out the wrong door and found myself on the wrong side of the building. I had to go back in, which probably made everyone think I was going back to complain or something. But I rushed through the building, got in the truck, and took a deep breath while I opened the envelope. There it was...."Results: Pass". I had to keep checking to be sure I had read that right. Then I text messaged everyone I knew.

Then I checked it again to be sure that's what it said. A half hour later, I checked again. And then again. And again.

Yep. I passed.

Now I'm studying for the written exam.