She spent quite a while trying to come up with one word overviewing a dramatic shift in her state of being.
“I was almost falling asleep, I was so tired,” began Kaitlyn Smith, recalling the bell curve to one of the greatest nights of her life. “My parents were in the hotel room and asked, ‘Katie, what number are you?’ I said 1317. They handed me the phone, and there it was.”
A week of being exhausted, reeling from stress and travel bugs, playing to a crowd she didn’t know but spent a lot of time trying to figure out. It was a lot. But when No. 1317 was listed as a finalist among the Skills USA ‘Job Demo’ category, Smith’s entire mood and being changed.
The Skills USA nationals were held in Atlanta from June 19-23, a week of hurry up and wait as Smith recalled. The actual routine Smith performed for the judges on day one took seven minutes. For the other 1,433 minutes on Monday, it was fretting over another seven minutes on Tuesday.
From there, it was fretting over the judges opinion of those two seven-minute showcases to validate 10 months of preparation.
“I called (Lisa) Firestone right away and was like ‘oh my gosh, I made it’,” recounted Smith, who’s No. 1317 entrant assignment was chosen as one of the 10 national finalists as part of the week-long Skills USA national competition. Smith, who was chosen as the top competitor in Indiana earlier this year for her Job Demo of a hair updo, was representing the Pathways Programs cosmetology department at Fairfield High School. Smith, herself an incoming senior at Goshen High School, was beside herself with elation.
“It was a joyful experience. All the hard work had paid off,” Smith said. “The Job Demo, it’s all personality, how you connect with people. I guess the best way to describe that moment of being in the top 10 was ‘euphoric’.”
Firestone, who is one of two instructors in the cosmetology Pathways Program at Fairfield, could tell that April in Indianapolis and June in Atlanta were much different environments in which to perform.
“When you go into the rooms with the judges, you don’t know what to expect,” noted Firestone. “We were watching the judges, trying to figure them out a little, see how they work, see what goes on. The wait between rounds seemed like it was forever. That callback for the finals seemed like it was never going to come.”
Smith noted that round two was much more nerveracking than round one, specifically because she was competing against much stiffer competition. Firestone verified Smith’s demeanor in round two was much tighter, not as relaxed, as round one.
On the final night, as Smith was laboring through insomnia and exhaustion during an endless parade of award roll calls, it was into the second hour that the Job Demo group awards were finally revealed. Perking up like a soccer mom with a Starbucks in tow, Smith came back down with a crash when Indiana wasn’t listed among the top three finalists. But the drama wasn’t over.
“We waded through so many awards, and finally were in the final third,” Firestone said. “We were holding hands, hoping to see our name called.”
“Indiana wasn’t on there, and I said, ‘C’mon, man!’,” added Smith. “We went into the hall, and I called my parents. I was ready to go.”
Firestone coaxed Smith to stay a little longer for an ice cream social, where Smith would learn that she placed sixth nationally in the category. It was the first time in nearly a decade that a Fairfield cosmetology student had made the top 10 at nationals.
“You talk about honors, that’s fantastic,” Firestone said.
“I got the participation certificate and it said sixth, and I thought it was out of 10,” quipped Smith. “It was out of 110. I was beyond happy at that point. It made the whole experience worth it.”
Smith returned home to Elkhart County not only with a really spiffy awards kit to display, but an air of confidence. And a few new phone numbers finding her phone.
“This has opened doors for me, and there are doors I haven’t even opened yet,” Smith said. “I’ve had people ask me to do their hair. Can I give them some advice. I even had someone ask me to work a wedding. I really don’t think any of that happens if I didn’t do well at the Skills USA competition.”
Firestone closed by adding, “This is a big deal for these kids in the programs. It might not look like a lot on the outside, but the confidence these kids get from achieving on scales like the state and national levels, it does wonders for them in the real world. And not just with work. Most of these girls are friends outside of here. It’s amazing to see what they can achieve when they put their minds to it. For Katie, we get her for another year. And she’s already talking about wanting to mentor the incoming juniors.”