Picture an average cosmetology classroom, a group of females in their 20s, multicolored heads and manicured nails. What might catch your attention is a Filipino male studying the techniques of hair-cutting.

Noel Castrillo, 33, was born in the Philippines and moved to the United States when he was 9.

Castrillo joined the cosmetology program a year ago as a backup to his first aspiration to become an actor, and he focuses on working with new hairstyles and techniques.

“It’s creativity and I think I am a creative person,” Castrillo said. “The person is your medium and you create a look based on your medium, your canvas.”

Castrillo said the courses that he has been taking not only educate him on the technical side of hair-cutting but it brings out another quality in him.

“I am finding the artistic part in me and that’s the most interesting part, but there’s the technical part which is the most difficult,” Castrillo said.

Castrillo is one of the only two male students in the class and from a male’s perspective, he feels he has learned a lot.

“Everything is so difficult for me; by being a man everything is so new to me,” Castrillo said. “I think I have come a long way from when I started.”

Lacking the background information most women have about cosmetology has been another obstacle for Castrillo to overcome.

“I have learned so much and I started from nothing,” Castrillo said.

To Castrillo, this is only the beginning and he knows that if he wants to be good at what he does, he will need to practice so he can gain more experience.

“You need to go out there and get more education in cosmetology,” Castrillo said.

Castrillo is working as an assistant at Bob Roy’s Salon in Manhattan Beach and this is giving him the extra training that he needs.

Along with learning hair techniques and procedures, Castrillo has learned lessons about the society around him.

“One thing I realize is that it costs a lot of money to be a woman,” Castrillo said. “It makes me appreciate being a man; I think there is more pressure in being a woman.”

Castrillo still has dreams of being an actor. He hopes to maybe follow in the footsteps of Danny Devito, who was a hairstylist and now an actor and director.

“I took most of my classes in acting and I don’t want to give up,” Castrillo said. “Right now, I am just going to focus on hair-cutting.”