There comes a time in your life when you always end up being the oldest of the pack – and that pack has been made up of 23 to 44 year olds. Then there are the legends way beyond our dreams. Since I was able to walk I was competitive. What with my mother being a dance teacher, I was well used to going from competition to competition all my life. So from dancing to hairdressing, I brought that competitive streak with me.
Every year for the Hairdressing Championships, the excitement builds and builds. The model search begins and I have to decide can I put myself through it again. Because believe me when you’re walking out on to that floor your legs feel like jelly. With only 15 minutes on the clock, you have to use that adrenalin, push through the nerves, ignore the loud pounding of your heart and just try to get through that time.
I’m an emotional person, I cry for Bosco but by golly if you don’t cry before you go on that floor you shouldn’t bother because you’re obviously made of stone. You line up with your model, your tools close at hand as every second counts. Clock goes and you have every single move timed.
All around you hear timers going off from the other competitors. But the only sound in my head is my model Kerry O’Connor talking to me calming me down and counting down the time to me. I actually think I gave out to myself the whole way through – “Cop on now girl, lets get this done”.
As you notice that each section is being ticked off that mental list you made, you start to feel a bit less nervous and the power boost switch goes on because you’re better off to be over time to check everything is the way it’s expected of us.
Then its 5…4….3…2…1…. and all you can hear is “DROP YOUR TOOLS”. The joy that you’ve actually finished your style on time is the best feeling. That will forever be our ultimate fear, that you don’t finish on time, that when you pull your clips out and your hair falls down that you look back and there’s clips left in the hair (you learn by your mistakes!)
You know you can rest easy and then its left up to the judges. The process takes 20-30 minutes where the models have to sit in their pose for the duration. They are then told they can leave the floor. And then the waiting begins.
But this time the wait was so worth it, to our delight the judges did like our style! The hours of practice did pay off and we took to the stage like we were given a second chance in life. The ultimate dream came through. To represent my country and to hold our country’s flag and take to that stage was a dream come through, with my team mate John Coss, my trainer Mike Hoffman, and manageress Maeve O Healy Harte by my side.
A massive thank you to Cliona Sweeney and Julie Clement for the make up also!
Roll on next year for the OMC World Championships. And without a doubt, I will compete.
