Three
generations, from
left, grandmother
Becki Queen of
Cherokee, daughter
Roberta Woodard
and, seated, granddaughter
Sesalee Woodard,
both of Bryson
City, take cosmetology
together at Southwestern
Community College.
“Each of
them has her own
individual strengths
but it’s
surprising to
see how much they
are alike, too,”
said SCC instructor
Connie Gregory. |
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Although Connie Gregory has
been teaching long enough
to now have children of her
former students in her cosmetology
classroom at Southwestern
Community College, she encountered
a surprising situation this
semester. In her class she
has a grandmother, daughter
and granddaughter all taking
cosmetology at the same time.
“It’s truly
amazing,” said Gregory.
“Each of them has
her own individual strengths
but it’s surprising
to see how much they are
alike, too.”
Grandmother Becki Queen
of Cherokee started two
semesters earlier than her
daughter Roberta Woodard
and granddaughter Sesalee
Woodard, both of Bryson
City.
“It’s wonderful
to have three generations
because they are all motivated
for different reasons,”
said Randy McCall, cosmetology
instructor. “If Roberta
and Sesalee follow Becki’s
example, they will be wonderful
students on the clinic floor.
If I had a room full of
students like Becki, I couldn’t
complain.”
“You pass a lot of
traits along in your DNA
and I must have given them
my love of fixing hair,”
Queen said of her daughter
and granddaughter.
The three women practice
hair styling on each other
and each has her own specialty.
For Queen, it’s pulling
hair into an updo for special
occasions like weddings
and proms. Roberta Woodard’s
specialty is color while
her daughter’s specialty
is cutting.
Queen loves the “drastic”
cuts and seeing people’s
reactions to how it changes
their image. She likes how
it changed hers. Since being
in the class she has cut
about six inches from her
own hair.
The three generations agree
they “are having a
wonderful time taking class
together.”
“My kids have always
been the most important
thing in my life,”
said Queen. “We’re
a pretty close family and
we can always depend on
each other.”
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“Yes, they are very
close,” agreed Gregory.
“When I see them together
I say, ‘There’s
trouble, trouble, and more
trouble!’”
“That’s kinda
funny,” said the granddaughter,
“’cause Nans’
former job-she was a security
guard at Harrah’s
Cherokee Casino- was to
see that there was no trouble!”
Queen said that although
she has held a variety of
positions, she always wanted
to become a licensed beautician.
“It was that dream
in the back of my head-
the one thing I always wanted
to do,” she said.
Her daughter, who has tried
a different career, understands
where she is coming from
and so does her 17-year-old
granddaughter, whose previous
work career consisted of
waiting tables.
Gregory said she’s
discovered a competitive
streak between Roberta and
Sasalee Woodard. “I
can use that in the classroom,
especially on tests,”
she said. “I’ll
tell Sasalee that she needs
to score at least 20 points
higher to beat her mom and
that motivates her. Hey,
as an instructor, you use
whatever angle that works!”
Queen, who is two semesters
ahead of the other two,
helps them out if they need
it. “But I don’t
see either Roberta or Sesalee
having too much trouble
because working with hair
just comes naturally to
them both,” Queen
said.
Gregory said anytime she
needs either Woodard straightened
out, she goes right to Queen.
“In fact, Becki can
straighten out the whole
class,” Gregory joked.
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