by Melissa Wilson
I’m Melissa Wilson, I started at The Hair Design Center in November 2017. I decided to come to the HDC because I was sick of constantly working in places where I wasn’t appreciated. The work I did was never good enough. I kept trying to find myself but was looking in all the wrong spots.
It took me 11 years to finally go back to school. Not because I didn’t want to but because life happened.
I have always loved creating hair styles since I was in junior high. I was the girl you came and got your braids done by. I knew then that, that’s what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to make people feel beautiful and teach and to be creative. When I got into high school, my dreams of being a hairstylist were frowned upon. My father and step mother didn’t approve (and my step mother is a hairstylist). They disapproved so much that my father wouldn’t help me with a student loan so I couldn’t attend school for hair design.
I felt lost, but I thought, there is something out there for me and I just have to look for it. I have worked in so many grocery stores and call centers and I quit every single one of them because I hated who I was when I worked there. I dreaded going, I would get so stressed out I was physically sick. After my first child I tried to go back, but while on assistance, it was either get money from the government so me and my daughter could eat, or it was getting cut off so I could do what I loved. Well I chose my daughter of course. Soon after that I met my now husband who wasn’t a fan of me being a hairstylist, but supports me every day. After I got pregnant with my son I got so depressed because I felt like I let myself down. I had let everyone get into my head, telling me that I shouldn’t be a hairstylist, when I didn’t need their permission. So once my son turned 5, I was off to school!
I chose HDC because I had friends who went and heard great things. I am happy every day that I go into those doors. I meet new people every day and hear tons of stories and when they leave hugging me or telling me “I love it”, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Having a smaller class in November was great because I had more one on one time with instructors if I needed it. I will miss HDC when I go, but they taught me so much and I’m so thankful for the experience and the friends I made.
It’s never too late to go back to school and that’s something I am teaching my kids. Pursue your dreams, no matter what they may be or what people may say. Be the best you, you can be.
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