You can see all the talent that these students have.
Lucia Sanchez never got her own quinceañera.
When she was a student at St. Thomas More High School, the COVID-19 pandemic wiped away her planned celebration. A quinceañera is a religious and social event popular in Hispanic culture that marks a young woman's transition from childhood to womanhood.
“It wasn’t like I could have it on television,” Sanchez said with a laugh.
On July 30, Sanchez, now a student in the Cosmetology program at Milwaukee Area Technical College, finally played a big part in one.
She was one of 19 Cosmetology students who presented their final projects at a runway show called “The Edge: A Beauty Showcase” at the Downtown Milwaukee Campus.
Students in the program’s Advanced Style class selected fantasy themes such as Alice in Wonderland, Back to the Future, Cinderella and Bridgerton/Hunger Games to highlight fashion, beauty, makeup, nail and hairstyles.
Students, friends, family, instructors and MATC President Dr. Anthony Cruz saw electric lights pulsating through the hair of a model who wore a hot pink jumpsuit and shiny silver high-heeled boots and carried a laser gun.
They saw Cinderella balance a towering hairdo while wearing a navy blue sheath dress and sporting matching blue eyeshadow and lipstick. They watched a garden fairy with pink hair stride across the stage in a pink minidress festooned with flowers and feathery white wings on her back.
“You can see all the talent that these students have,” said Traci Dorn, a Cosmetology program educational assistant and local cosmetologist who emceed the event. “This show is such a big project for them. I think many of them will do cartwheels off the stage once it’s over.”
Sanchez, along with classmates Emily Hernandez and Joally Corro, created a quinceañera project. Sanchez’s sister, Sofie, who will be a junior at St. Thomas More in the fall, wore her own quinceañera dress, an elaborate lace and tulle creation with a billowing hoop skirt. The dusty rose garment shimmered with streaks of gold thread and dainty flower petals. A brilliant, bright tiara showcased Sofie’s flowing raven hair.
Sanchez did her sister’s makeup, while Hernandez styled her hair and Corro treated and painted her long, ornate nails.
“All of us are Hispanic and we wanted to do a project that honored our culture and heritage,” Lucia Sanchez said. “Sofie, Emily and Joally all had quinceañeras, so they knew what kind of dress to wear, what kind of hair and makeup to have and what kind of music to play.”
The three women started the Cosmetology program last August. They attended daylong classes on hair services, nail services and customer service. They also learned career essentials such as effective speaking and listening skills, how to work well with others and time management. (Soft skills like these are emphasized in the college’s programs.)
The graduates will finish their classwork in the next few weeks and then be eligible to take the state board licensing examination. All three plan to take the test.
“I didn’t know much about cosmetology before I came here,” said Hernandez, who graduated from St. Anthony High School in Milwaukee. “MATC made me really good at it. I loved the program, and I will love doing this for a living.”
“I have been doing nails for about three years,” said Corro, who also attended St. Anthony’s. “MATC made me better.”
“MATC was affordable and close to home,” said Sanchez, who plans to join the U.S. Coast Guard this fall. “I love the friends I made here. I made the right decision to come here.”
As a junior at St. Thomas More, Sofie Sanchez can attend prom next spring. She said she wouldn’t hesitate to ask her sister and her fellow MATC graduates to polish her look if she goes. “I would love for them to help me,” she said with a bright smile. “Look how good they made me look. They did a great job.”
Learn more about MATC’s Cosmetology program
About MATC: As Wisconsin’s largest technical college and one of the most diverse two-year institutions in the Midwest, Milwaukee Area Technical College is a key driver of southeastern Wisconsin’s economy and has provided innovative education in the region since 1912. More than 30,000 students per year attend the college’s four campuses and community-based sites or learn online. MATC offers affordable and accessible education and training opportunities that empower and transform lives in the community. The college offers more than 180 academic programs — many that prepare students for jobs immediately upon completion and others that provide transfer options leading to bachelor’s degrees with more than 40 four-year colleges and universities. Overwhelmingly, MATC graduates build careers and businesses in southeastern Wisconsin. The college is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.