Levittown - Aleah Hohf was never a "girly girl." Attending high school in New Oxford, Pa., about 30 miles southwest of Harrisburg, Hohf was an athlete, and usually just wore her hair pulled back in a ponytail.It was an unexpected turn that led her to her current profession _ one that she loves. Hohf, 24, is a cosmetology instructor at Empire Beauty School in nearby Hanover."I never worried much about hair or make up or any of that," she said.She struggled trying to find what she wanted to do with her life, going to two different colleges in the course of three years, and having just as many majors in that time.She started out in art education. Then she majored in pre-law, and wrapped up her college career as an English major. After college, she spent some time selling motorcycles.It's not that she didn't like any of those potential professions. She loved parts of them all, and loved other subjects in school, too, like chemistry. But something was missing.Her older brother, Matt, was the one who gave her the idea of going to beauty school.It didn't seem to fit, but then again, it did."He knew that I needed something to do with my life," she said. "It combines a lot of what I like."Art, fashion, chemistry. Even education. It all came together for Hohf when she became an instructor."A lot of people think 'Beauty School Dropout,' but it's not like that," she said with a laugh.Her students have textbooks along with their Marcel curling irons, and, if they attend fulltime, 11 months of training before they graduate. The school covers hair, makeup and nails, as well as advanced subjects like color theory, preparing chemicals, and even the art of chit chat.Yes, the conversations you have in a barber's chair are even covered in class. You have to be a people person, but know just how much talking is too much or too little, depending on the affability of the one in the chair, she said.When she's not teaching in the classroom, Hohf roams the school's on-site salon. It has 12 stations where students snip, perm and style the hair of customers, who can come in for a haircut, done at a discount. Many prefer to have their hair done at the school, she said, because you have contentious students with an instructor looking their shoulders.Cutting someone's hair early on in your career can be scary for some. Hohf remembers her first hair cut."It was my mom," she said. "I guess she liked it. I still cut her hair."She's not the kind of person who gets nervous, though. She dives right in to a challenge."Hair's a renewable resource," she said. "It grows back."For most people, anyway.She enjoys her job, and plans on sticking to it and spending her days teaching to the sounds of snipping scissors, buzzing clippers and whooshing hair dryers. PhillyBurbs