By Kate E. Salute
While Braccia gets up and is in a high school desk by 7:30 a.m., Eversley is up and learning computer graphics at the Barry Tech BOCES school in Westbury at the same time. Then, around 10:30 a.m., each gets on a bus. At some point, they'll pass each other on the road en route to another half day of classes; Braccia to learn cosmetology at Barry Tech and Eversley to complete her regular required high school classes such as history and English. Just finding the time to eat in between or prior to the start of their days is a balancing act between traffic, the bell, what's on the cafeteria menu and if the teacher allows food in the classroom or not.
Braccia and Eversley, both juniors, admit to their hectic schedules taking some time to master - each has a laundry list of activities that also demand their time other than BOCES and high school - but they have both managed to do it almost all.
"I had to quit the school play and the band," Eversley said, "I just didn't have enough time. It gets to be stressful, but I'm used to it now and I look forward to it each day, it's fun."
Between her job at CVS, being a member of the Color Guard and winning a regional and state Skills USA competition which catapulted Eversley into the national competition in Kansas at the end of the month, one could see where an activity might be dropped in favor of a few hours of sleep.
As a computer graphics student at Barry Tech, Eversley has been learning how to use a number of design programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Quark. An assignments to make a pin representing the Long Island area for Skills USA won Eversley second place in the regional competition. Then, teamed up with another Barry Tech student, Eversley and her partner put together a promotional bulletin board that earned them a trip to Syracuse for the state Skills USA competition, which they won, and a trip to Dorothy's home state.
"I've never been to Kansas before, it should be different," says Eversley with a smile on her face.
But Eversley isn't the only Malverne student this year whose got Skills under her belt. Braccia too won a Skills USA regional competition for her talent with extemporaneous speaking, which she describes as "speaking for three to five minutes without any real preparation on the subject matter." Although extemporaneous speaking has nothing to do with her concentration at BOCES of cosmetology, one of her teachers saw her potential and convinced her to try. She won a regional contest and went to states.
Braccia demonstrates her skill by explaining what Skills USA is: "It's a program that allows students to learn leadership qualities and workplace skills that they can pass on to others," she says. "It teaches us how to have honor and dignity in our work and lives."
In addition to studying to be not just a cosmetologist, but an entrepreneur-she vows to own her own salon one day- Braccia spends her time as a member of the girls lacrosse team and the marching band, was a crew member for this years production of Aida and is a member of the poetry book club called Emotions in Motion.
Braccia said, "my parents are always telling me to slow down, and sometimes I feel like there's not enough time for a social life, but I make the time. BOCES has taught me that I can go above and beyond- I can own my own salon or a chain if I want to, I can go anywhere and do anything and that's a great feeling."
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