Travel Plans!

Is Ciarra Pryor on a mission from God to one day do makeup in Paris? No one knows the grand cosmic plan, but Ciarra is certainly on a fast track to somewhere.

Danger. Ciarra Pryor’s old neighborhood on the south side of Chicago was full of it. Life in the city was getting progressively harder and she felt like she needed to do something. She didn’t even feel safe taking her five-year-old boy to the park anymore.

As Ciarra sat on the bus one day thinking about her situation, suddenly she stopped and steadied herself. She prayed silently to God asking for guidance. She didn’t expect to get it, but when the bus stopped and the man standing in front of her moved, directly in front of her face was a cosmetology school ad and it read: What are your doing with your future?

Something inside Ciarra clicked.

“That’s when I knew cosmetology was my future,” Ciarra says. “This is it!”

Maybe it was a sign from above or maybe it wasn’t, whichever, Ciarra is too streetwise to jump headlong into anything too fast. First she needed to do her research. She knew not all cosmetology schools are equal, she wanted to find the BEST one for her. Ciarra visited so many schools that when she starts listing them all off, she rambles for so long that it seems she’ll never stop.

“But none of those were the right fit for her at all,” she tells us.

In the end, all her research was worth it. She visited La’ James International College’s campus in Des Moines, Iowa and fell in love. And when she discovered LJIC was $10,000 less than the Chicago school that posted the bus sign, that’s when she was sold.

Ciarra graduated from the cosmetology program this week! She says she’ll stay in Iowa because of all the professional contacts she’s made while attending LJIC. She plans to work at a salon for a couple years doing hair and makeup, gaining experience and building a portfolio. When the time is right, she plans on becoming a platform artist.

“Platform artists are stylists who travel and do crazy haircuts and colors on stage,” she informs us. “In platform artistry you can really express yourself in hair and makeup. They travel everywhere and get paid very well. They’re the top people in the industry. I want to be one of those people.”

Ciarra’s main goal is to one day be doing makeup in Paris at a professional level. She feels like the education she’s earned at LJIC has put her on the way to her goal.

Ciarra Pryor may have come from the south side of Chicago, but danger isn’t what she feels lurking around her anymore. Whether that moment on the bus was a message from above, or just some sort of happy coincidence, Ciarra took it to heart… And hers is a heart that is now filled with hope.

What are you doing with your future? Call a LJIC Career Planner at 888.880.2108 and change your life today!www.LJIC.edu