Junior Keoni Mallari’s school day starts at 4:30 a.m. He gets ready and gets dropped off at his bus stop, which then takes him to Five Star Elite Barbering College. He spends three hours each morning learning what it takes to become a barber.
Mallari is one of three Kingwood Park students who has made sacrifices to take the new Barbering I course. Along with a $500 fee they must pay, students also must sacrifice two electives. Mallari still needs a language credit, meaning that he must take a summer course to graduate. Even with all this, Mallari said the struggles are worth the experience, as his newfound passion gives him a career to pursue.
“Barbering is what I feel gave me a chance at having a future,” Mallari said. “I don’t want to give this up like I did with other things.”
Junior Chris Garcia also gave up a lot just to join. Garcia quit his favorite sport football to pursue his dream of being a barber. He enjoyed getting haircuts and still remembers the happiness he got from them as a kid, so he decided he wanted to recreate that feeling for other people.
“I’ve always wanted to become a barber,” Garcia said. “You get to connect with your workers, you get to have fun and everything. You’re doing what you like to do.”
The boys credit much of their early progress to their teacher Elizabeth Moranchel, also known as Mrs. E. They said she enjoys teaching just as much as the students enjoy learning, making it an overall great atmosphere in the class.
The second-year teacher has helped students with no experience grow into well-trained barbers who are able to pursue their Class A barber license.
“I like our teacher, she’s awesome,” Garcia said. “I remember my first day, I thought I did pretty good until she came over there and showed me a couple tips. You think you know until you have an actual instructor showing what to do.”
Senior Emmanuel Lopez, who is the oldest of the three, said he’s wanted to cut hair since he was 14. He loves connecting with other people in the course and learning from them.
The students cut hair outside of school and use social media to promote their personal haircuts. Lopez and Mallari each own a barbering account where they showcase their work in order to bring in new customers. This has been a recent trend within the barbering industry, as a good amount of people have used socials to promote their business.
“When you start, you have no clients,” Lopez said. “The hardest part is getting people to trust you.”
The students have been able to give their clients more professional haircuts due to the advanced kit that comes with the class. The students’ $500 fee includes all the equipment a student needs to become a barber.
The students are encouraged to use their kits outside of class. Students need 1,000 hours of experience in order to obtain their Class A barber licenses, so some will go to a barber shop located in Atascocita in order to put in some extra work and get licensed as soon as possible. The location is called Barber Shop, and it’s located next to Five Star Elite Fades. All the profits made go toward the shop and the owners, including the tips.
In the end, the students just love being able to pursue their passion t0 become future barbers. Money and classes aside, they love the feeling and atmosphere that the career provides, and hope they can one day recreate that feeling in their own barber shop.
“The best part is connecting with the client and making people feel good about themselves,” Garcia said. “It gives us confidence in the future, and it feels good when you make someone else feel good.”
