2002 Essay Contest Entry Archive

2002 Essay Contest Entry Archive
"Why I Became a Groomer" or
"Why I Want to Become A Groomer"

"Well, we don’t need any cashiers, but we do need a bather." With those few words, my life changed forever. It had never occurred to me to work in a grooming shop. I just wanted to play with animals, and what better way than a cashier at a pet store? Well, I soon learned my inaccuracy; the next day, my first, I learned the basics and loved every moment of it. I didn’t mind being soaked from head to toe, with wrinkly fingers and feet. This wasn’t work; it was a dream job!

Let me go back in time now. For a long time, I didn’t think I could ever hold a job. I have something called Borderline Personality Disorder. It’s similar to Manic Depression, emotions flying wild, chronic depression, horrible outbursts. I had been in and out of hospitals since I was 11. After going on a special medicine, I started feeling better. When I wanted something, I went out and got it. So, when I decided I needed a job 2 days on my 16th birthday, I went out and gave it my all and got it. I promised myself I wouldn’t ruin it.

I became very good at bathing, but started feeling like something was missing. Bathing just wasn’t enough for me anymore. The groomers started letting me do little things. Scissoring feet, sanitary patches, and later clean feet and faces on poodles. This caught my interest again, and I started getting the itch to groom. The problem was, I didn’t have the money. The company could send me to grooming school, but I’d have to sign a 4-year contract with them. I didn’t want to make a commitment like that. What else could I do? I lost hope and continued life as a bather.

One day Jan, one of the groomers started telling me about the grooming school that she was just finishing. It sounded perfect. It was close, everyone there was a NCMG, and Jan was a great groomer. The problem was still money. I told her so, and then, she told me about Vocational Rehabilitation. It is a state run organization that pays for schooling for people with physical or mental handicaps. And the school took it.

After meeting with one of their people, I became eligible. I contacted the school, and got an application. When I got accepted, I was ecstatic. I was finally going to grooming school! Again, there was a problem. My mother has a condition called RSD, and I felt I couldn’t leave her, when she needed so much help at home. It was a 2 hour drive one way from my house to the school, but I had a friend who lived 5 minutes from it. In order to go, I’d have to move in with her. I didn’t make the final decision until about 2 weeks until the classes started. I knew I had to go. This was what I wanted for my life, and I was going to go out and get it. My first day I felt very out of place, I was 16 in a class full of adults. I was determined to prove to the world that I could be a great groomer, regardless of age. I pushed myself to the limit, and made it. After 6 months as a bather and 4 months in grooming school, I was finally a groomer.

Shortly after grooming school, about a month and a half, I went for my Sporting certification with the NDGAA. I was so nervous I actually started to cry. But it the end, it all worked out. At 17, I am now a Certified Sporting Groomer, and happier then I have ever been before. I can’t imagine life without grooming now, and I have no regrets. Although I am young, I know that grooming is going to be my lifelong career. There’s nothing better than seeing the joy in an owner’s eye when their dog is transformed from a shaggy mutt to a beautiful creation. There is nothing in the world that could beat the rewards that grooming gives you. It’s a perfect job. My dream is to be on Groom Team USA, and like I did with getting my job, and going to grooming school, I want it. So I’m going to go out and get it!