Nails 101: A Student Blog

Weeks 14 and 15: Second Mock State Board Exam

by Orma Swearinger | November 22, 2016 | Bookmark +

Week 14

This was the week of our Halloween Nail Competition. My instructor’s rules were that we could do any type of nail art and use whatever we wanted, but it could not be in 3-D. She felt that it would be an even playing field for those who had not been in the program long enough to know how to do 3-D nail art. If we did 3-D nail art, we had to encapsulate it. We could only work on the nails during school hours. If any work was done out of her presence, that work would be disqualified. Each person had to do five nails. I had two days to get this project done. Given that I’m artistically challenged, I tried to think of something that would stretch me, but not be too difficult to pull off. I looked at videos on YouTube to gain inspiration and saw so many things that I wanted to try, but I only had two days of class time to complete my project. My classmates did some beautiful work. I didn’t get too deeply into this Halloween thing, but I did complete the assignment. And for someone who doesn’t do well artistically, I was happy that I didn’t let that stop me from completing the assignment. I actually had fun doing it. I didn’t win first, second, or third place, and I didn’t expect to, but I fulfilled my assignment. The borders of my comfort zone, as it relates to art, were stretched. I was my only competition and I am pleased with the work I did.

Week 15

This week I completed my second Mock State Board Exam. You all may recall just how nervous I was due to certain problems that I encountered during that exam. My grade from that exam was in the low 80s. I’m used to scoring high marks, but that was indeed a good learning experience. I made my mind up to correct all of the mistakes I made so that I wouldn’t repeat any of them. I’ll take you down memory lane of my first Mock State Board Exam and compare it to my second one.

In the manicure part of the exam, the red nail polish that I used the first time was a problem. This time, I used the polish that came in my OPI Kit. My polish application was much better this time. Another problem I had the last time was that I used an inexpensive nail polish remover and was unable to adequately clean up the mess I had made on the mannequin hand. This time, I used 100% acetone, but I didn’t have much cleaning to do. I only had one little small spot on the sidewall of one nail to clean up, but it came off so easily. On the nail tip application, I erroneously used a half-well nail tip the last time instead of a full-well. This time, I used the full-well. The last time I did the sculptured nail, I didn’t get finished and my nail looked horrible. This time, I took my time and sculpted a good looking nail. I finished with enough time to put away everything I had used and get prepared for the last section of the exam. I was not nervous this time at all. My goal was to do much better and I did. One of my mottos is to make every experience a learning experience. That’s exactly what I did. I scored a 92% this time and was so pleased. I felt more comfortable taking this exam than the last one. Time spent preparing and practicing made a world of difference. I have one more mock board exam to take. My plans are to do even better. I’ll let you know how that one goes.

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