The cosmetology department welcomed the South Columbus Stallions on March 7 and the West Columbus Vikings on March 21 to the world of hair, nails and skincare at Southeastern Community College. Eli Murillo, lead cosmetology instructor, directed the tour through the salon, nail and esthetics classrooms, and the students got hands-on experience with eyebrows under the direction of senior cosmetology student Zemii Cisneros Nunez. 

“As soon as we walked onto the salon floor, numerous students’ faces lit up,” Murillo said. “They took pictures in front of our selfie wall. When we got to the nail room and esthetics room, students really started asking questions.”  

Murillo said there was plenty of laughter and smiling in the eyebrow workshop room, and she felt like the students were heavily engaged in the eyebrow activity. The workshop provided the necessary materials for the students to use, students answered questions about the latest eyebrow trends, and they repeated Nunez’s tutorial on each other.  

“I just went through the basics with filling in the brow and using brow gel,” Nunez said. “They looked like they really enjoyed it.” 

Nunez said she wished she had the same opportunity as today’s high school students with visiting the cosmetology department at SCC. As a 2016 high school graduate, Nunez said that she would have pursued cosmetology straight out of high school instead of waiting several years to enter the program. She said that visiting SCC in high school would have jumpstarted her career even faster. 

“I really enjoyed showing them what cosmetology is about and the many things they can do,” Nunez said. “I’m glad they have an idea about how cosmetology works, and it may have helped clear any doubts about their future career.” 

Nunez said she observed excitement and interest from the hands-on eyebrow workshop. She said it was better for them to see it in action instead of hearing about it. The students asked her questions about the cosmetology program on how long it takes to complete and what the classroom environment is like.  

“As their Career Coach, the highlight for me was when Mrs. Eli Murillo asked the group to talk with their partner about something they learned from the day,” Allison Gibson said. “I overheard a student tell her partner that she learned what she wanted to do in life.” 

Gibson explained that the student was struggling between nursing and hair, and the tour and workshop experience helped her choose cosmetology.   

“It’s inspiring to see our high school students engage with real-world experiences like this, exploring their passions and talents beyond the classroom,” Gibson said. “Who knows, we might just have some future beauty gurus in the making.”