Studying Hairdressing at UCOL has allowed Mandy Bertram to express her creativity.
While attending Ponatahi Christian School, Mandy got to try out Hairdressing at one of UCOL’s ‘taster days’, which allow secondary school students to get a feel for UCOL’s programmes.
“I’ve always been interested in arts and creativity, and hairdressing allows me to be creative. I also like interacting with people, which is an important part of hairdressing,” says Mandy.
In 2018, Mandy completed
UCOL’s NZ Certificate in Hairdressing (Salon Support), which gave her essential industry skills such as colouring hair, shampooing, working a reception, and introductory cutting. Learning about colouring hair, and the science involved with it was a highlight for Mandy.
“Colouring hair is very cool. It’s nice to see the end result of your work, and how happy it makes the client.”
“Before you touch a client, you need to know about the products we use. People have different skin, people have different hair, and people react differently to products. You’ve got to understand the biology and the chemistry before you use a product on someone.”
Mandy says the campus salon is a great environment to learn in, and she enjoys meeting so many clients from the community.
“The
campus salon is as authentic as you can get. We have people coming in from the community, we deal with cash, we deal with a lot of the things you would in a regular salon.”
“I’m really excited. I really want to get into a salon and see what it’s like in the ‘real world’. It will be a cool experience which will expand my knowledge and back up everything I’m learning here at UCOL.”