NIAGARA COLLEGE
NC Hairstyling student wins gold at Skills Ontario competition

Niagara College Hairstyling student Camryn Cormier proved her skills are a cut above the rest, taking home the gold medal in the Hairstyling competition at the 2019 Skills Ontario Competition, held earlier this month at the Toronto Congress Centre.

The Skills Ontario Competition offers a unique opportunity for secondary and post-secondary students across the province to demonstrate the skills they've learned in the classroom. Winners are awarded with Gold, Silver or Bronze medals, and winners are given the opportunity to compete at the Skills Canada National Competition. From there, competitors could be headed to a WorldSkills Competition.

Cormier took home top honours by crafting three unique hairstyles - a women's cut-and-style, an elegant evening up-do, and a men's modern cut with a twist. Cormier delivered on all three, with her evening up-do's clean, well-balanced execution netting her the prize.

"It feels awesome to be recognized for something that I love to do so much," said Cormier. "I have always been passionate about hair!"

Program coordinator Joe Abbruscato, who also serves as a Canadian Master Judge and chair of both Skills Ontario and Skills Canada, attributed Cormier's win to her hard-working attitude and dedication to her craft, along with steady coaching from program faculty.

"Camryn has been putting a lot time into training and being mentally ready," he said. "We are very fortunate here at NC to have great teachers and trainers. She worked very closely with Julia Falvo-Walters who is also a former Skills Competition champion and an avid competitor. Her mentorship and guidance helped Camryn achieve this goal."

Niagara College has won gold in the competition the last three years, and has been on the podium in nine of the last 10 years, demonstrating the power of the college's unique approach to hands-on experiential learning. "Our approach to education is simple: Be greedy with learning and try to pick every teacher's brains and skills - you'll get out of it what's put in," said Abbruscato.

Cormier agrees. "Julia (Falvo-Walters) and Joe (Abbruscato) are my rock. They helped so much, gave me great advice going into it and helped me tweak certain things for each look which I also think helped contribute to my win. Every hairstyling teacher at Niagara College has helped me one way or another."

Cormier will go on to represent Team Ontario at the Skills Canada National Competition May 28-29 in Halifax. Following graduation in 2020, Cormier, whose hometown is Kitchener, Ontario, hopes to return there to do an apprenticeship with her former hairdresser, who inspired her to apply for NC's Hairstyling program.