If you ask your barber what he does in his free time, it’s most likely not designing fighter jets.
First-year aerospace engineer student Andy Claro attends Long Beach State and has been cutting hair for almost three years.
He always loved planes, watching videos of them and watching local military jets fly over him. Even as a kid, he played with transformers and toy jets. He carried that love for jets for years and decided college was his opportunity to pursue it further.
“I thought, why not major in aerospace to get a good feel on it more,” Claro said.
He utilizes his creativity, precision and eye for detail in different ways in his studies and when he is styling hair. His appreciation for hair-cutting comes from his instinctual ability to know when the cut is done and when it needs touching up.
“I don’t cut just to cut, I cut to make my work look good and make myself proud of the work I did. Detail matters a lot,” Claro said. “It’s one of the reasons why I do enjoy it because, at the end of the cut, you can either leave it alone and say you’re done or you can do detail work and pick out little imperfections to perfect the blend.”
Claro began cutting hair at 16-years-old when his barber offered to teach him as a way of making some extra money. It was an honor for Claro because his barber’s teacher was an extremely talented barber who has given haircuts to celebrities and won trophies and awards for his craft. Now, he had two talented barbers that took him under their wing.
Claro’s first client was his father, and although he didn’t fall in love with it instantly, Claro saw the potential and it motivated him to continue. It wasn’t until he cut his little brother’s hair that he saw massive improvement and truly fell in love with cutting hair.
“It ended up being the best work I’ve done at that time,” Claro said.
With his chopped hair scattered on the floor, friend Eduardo Parades sat in the metal chairs outside of Liberal Arts 3 with a red cloth draped over his chest.
“It’s like his side hustle,” Parades said as Claro buzzed around his neck. “This is his second time doing this [on campus].”
Latin pop played faintly while Claro occupied a small circular table with tools, lotions and brushes.
Claro’s other friend Juan Lopez admired each cut Claro made and waited patiently to get his haircut after Parades.
“One day, we asked him to cut our hair on campus, and he was down to do it, so he did, and this was the second time cutting my hair with him,” Lopez said. “All I can say is that he is talented and should continue cutting hair.”
Since working in a shop requires a license, Claro decided to stick to giving friends and family haircuts on campus and at his house if they’re located in Downey.
“I do haircuts on campus, so it’s easier in general for me and the client,” Claro said. “I know some people live far and won’t be willing to drive 30 minutes to me when they can go to a local barbershop.”
Claro thought his passion for jets would lead him to the Air Force but was disappointed when his parents deterred him from joining out of fear of the risks.
As of now, Claro will continue to give cuts to his friends and is focused on getting as close to fighter jets as he can.
“In the future, I want to design future fighter jets, being around fighter jets is where I wanna be,” Claro said. “Working with jets, designing them, and watching them in action hypes me up. I know a lot of people that major in similar fields, but they do it for the pay.”