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missroseroseJust got back from the massage school. My initial impression is pretty positive - it's a small private institution, but their space is well-kept and it feels like the people who run it take real pride in it. I especially liked the student clinic, where they offer inexpensive appointments so students can get experience; it's quiet and soothing without being either too spa-like (as my guide explained to me, a lot of their clients are men who get weirded out if the atmosphere's 'too girly') or too clinical. Plus, they have actual rooms rather than curtained-off cubicles, "so you can talk to your client if you're comfortable doing so." The classroom spaces were functional but well-kept, and as it happens, their curriculum has large portions devoted both to Thai massage and the fundamentals of running your own business, both of which I'm very interested in learning.
The slightly odd (not bad, just odd) part was in my interactions with my guide, who's also the school director: she seemed to react extremely well to me, despite our relatively brief interview. Admittedly, this isn't unusual, but it felt a little beyond the "well groomed + good looking = social positive" effect. She explained that I fit perfectly into the profile of people they want, i.e. smart and driven folks with past work experience who're excited to get into this field because they want to help people, not kids out of high school who're going because their mom told them they had to do something. (I'm somewhat entertained, as I think that's the first time anyone's described me as 'driven', but maybe it's not untrue; I feel like I'm ready to learn something new, and I do think I'll enjoy learning and practicing this trade.) She also recognized me from CorePower; she goes to the Uptown studio too, so I guess that was another social bonus. (Score another point for my power-yoga addiction?) In any case, she was super-warm and welcoming and enthusiastic about my attending their school; when I told her tuition was the biggest hangup and offered her my resume for their work-study program, she seemed completely thrilled and said the person in charge had just been asking about hiring someone new, so she'd get my resume over to them, and proceeded to basically offer me an extra pay-in-advance discount and partial scholarship on the spot. o.O Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! And I'll do my best to be worthy of such instant faith in my abilities. But I hadn't realized that being an enthusiastic yoga attendee could net me perks with someone I'd probably not interacted with more than smiling at in passing. I feel a little bit like I stumbled into a sorority membership by accident. ("You know a Delta Gamma would never sleep with a man who wears a thong!")
Anyway, she said she'll talk to the other folks in charge and have a decision on the work-study and a financial breakdown headed my way in the next couple of days, so I'm crossing my fingers that this wasn't a statistical anomaly. The school feels like a good fit, and as it happens, their next full-time set of classes fits right in between my Thanksgiving trip to see my mum and my planned summer trip to Sweden. Hey Petra, would you mind if I practiced on you?
The slightly odd (not bad, just odd) part was in my interactions with my guide, who's also the school director: she seemed to react extremely well to me, despite our relatively brief interview. Admittedly, this isn't unusual, but it felt a little beyond the "well groomed + good looking = social positive" effect. She explained that I fit perfectly into the profile of people they want, i.e. smart and driven folks with past work experience who're excited to get into this field because they want to help people, not kids out of high school who're going because their mom told them they had to do something. (I'm somewhat entertained, as I think that's the first time anyone's described me as 'driven', but maybe it's not untrue; I feel like I'm ready to learn something new, and I do think I'll enjoy learning and practicing this trade.) She also recognized me from CorePower; she goes to the Uptown studio too, so I guess that was another social bonus. (Score another point for my power-yoga addiction?) In any case, she was super-warm and welcoming and enthusiastic about my attending their school; when I told her tuition was the biggest hangup and offered her my resume for their work-study program, she seemed completely thrilled and said the person in charge had just been asking about hiring someone new, so she'd get my resume over to them, and proceeded to basically offer me an extra pay-in-advance discount and partial scholarship on the spot. o.O Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining! And I'll do my best to be worthy of such instant faith in my abilities. But I hadn't realized that being an enthusiastic yoga attendee could net me perks with someone I'd probably not interacted with more than smiling at in passing. I feel a little bit like I stumbled into a sorority membership by accident. ("You know a Delta Gamma would never sleep with a man who wears a thong!")
Anyway, she said she'll talk to the other folks in charge and have a decision on the work-study and a financial breakdown headed my way in the next couple of days, so I'm crossing my fingers that this wasn't a statistical anomaly. The school feels like a good fit, and as it happens, their next full-time set of classes fits right in between my Thanksgiving trip to see my mum and my planned summer trip to Sweden. Hey Petra, would you mind if I practiced on you?
