There is no place like home

Today I graduated from the Disney College Program. It’s a bittersweet feeling to think about. I have had the absolute time of my life here and I do not want to leave. Four months ago I was afraid of what was to come, it was a scary feeling moving to a new place and starting new things. I was a little hesitant about it but I am more than happy that I stuck with it. This place has changed me for the better. I am more confident, more talkative and just overall happier. My family has noticed a difference, Sara noticed a difference and even my roommates and friends notice I am not the same as I was. I knew this opportunity would be good for me and I knew that it would help me in some ways but I guess I wasn't expecting as big of a change. I've met so many amazing people and I have had so many amazing experiences. I am excited to go home to Wisconsin but at the same time I am also leaving home. It is this really confusing feeling and I am not exactly sure how to word it. Disney is truly a home for me now and I know somehow I will be back. 

I’ll end this short post with a quote I found that I think describes my new situation perfectly. “You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.” -Unknown

A Little Work and a lot of Play

          Once again I am sorry that this hasn't been a weekly thing. I have been having the time of my life though. I am done with training for work and I love it. The other day before the parade started we had a lot of time to kill, so a couple other cast members and I started blowing bubbles. The kids loved it and we invited them to blow some too. And every once in a while as a group of adults walked by, they made comments like “you get paid for this?” “You have the best job in the world” “Do they make you blow bubbles during your job interview?” and it reminded me how incredibly lucky I am. I do have the best job. I get paid to blow bubbles and to make kids happy. I get paid to work in my favorite place. I have had some rough days at work but who doesn't? It’s just moments like that that remind me how blessed I am to be able to be doing what I am doing. I just started Pin Trading and its now one of my favorite parts of my job. The company lends cast members, if they want, a lanyard filled with pins and if guests collect pins they can come up to us and ask to trade. It adds some excitement to my day and it opens up the chance for conversations with guests. Another part I love is every night after the last parade, we have about twenty to thirty minutes to go back on stage and say bye to guests, return strollers and make sure all the tape from the parades are off the cement. This is my favorite time of night because there are only a few guests left in the park, they are all happy to still be there, and we get to roam freely around Main Street. 

             Last week I had a little piece of home come visit me. It was nice to have some familiar faces around. It’s not that I've been homesick because I’m not, I love it here and if I could, I’d stay here, but every once in a while I find myself missing everyone from back home. I think that’s pretty normal. But anyways on March 2nd, my three year old best friend, Adel, and her family came to visit for the week. I had an amazing time and I think they did as well. We spent a majority of our time in Magic Kingdom meeting characters which was a lot of fun for me. I loved watching Adel’s reactions to them and it was neat to see the characters react to her as well. I never had the opportunity to see Disney World as a child and it was really neat to be able to get to experience it from a different point of view. I am really happy they were able to come and visit me. I am thankful they are a part of my life and that I was able to share this with them.

            I couldn't be more grateful for this opportunity. I have to remind myself of this sometimes, especially on nights when I don’t want to go to work or my days not going how I want it to and my thoughts start to turn negative. When Wishes starts and the fireworks are booming over the castle and I am surrounded by the smiling faces of children and their parents and the music is playing in the background, that’s when I remember how blessed I am. As a kid, I remember begging my parents to take me to this place I had only seen in pictures and commercials. I longed for this place that was filled with pirates, princesses and pixie dust. In that moment, that place was so far away and it felt like I might never get to see it. I could have never imagined that I would be working in it, let alone living in it. It just so surreal to me that this is something I am experiencing and I am so grateful for this opportunity. I am having the time of my life with some of the sweetest people I have ever met.
            My roommates are like family to me now. We got really lucky because we all get along so well. It feels like every time I am on the bus, I hear more stories about how people aren't getting along with their roommates than ones about how they are. I've heard stories about how roommates have gone behind each other’s backs and gotten someone kicked out of the program or how they won’t even share Wi-Fi. I couldn't ask for a better group of girls to live with and I can tell that leaving on May 29th might even be as hard as it was leaving Wisconsin back in January.

              This week has probably been the hardest. I received some terrifying news on Wednesday that my dad had been admitted into the ICU due to an infection somewhere in his body. I thankfully had this day off because my roommates and I were going to Chef Mickey’s and Universal Studios and it was nice that they were all there with me. In a way it was the best worst day. If that makes any sense. I had a lot of fun with them but at the same time I was absolutely terrified of what was going on back home. But of all days for that to happen on, it was probably the best just because it was easier to keep my mind off of it. I also learned recently that my 18 year old cat, TomTom, is experiencing kidney failure. Getting TomTom is one of my first memories and I can’t remember a time without him. I hate the thought of him not being there when I get home. My mom and the vet are doing what they can to increase his kidney function so I can at least be there to say goodbye. 18 is a long time for a cat, I understand that and maybe I am being selfish but TomTom isn’t just a cat. He’s a part of our family. He’s more human than animal and he had a deal with my sister for 21. All of this is a reminder that the pixie dust and magic isn’t going to last forever and I am eventually going to have to return to reality. I just wish I could live somewhere in between the two. Both my dad and TomTom are doing okay, they both aren’t home quite yet but hopefully will be soon. I don’t want to end this on a sad note but for those who are and have prayed for me and my family, thank you. It means a lot to all of us. I’m doing okay and I just want to continue thanking you all for your support. In the near future I plan on posting a blog dedicated to just showing everyone my apartment so you can get a glimpse into where I am living. If you have any other things you’d like to know more about just contact me or my family and I will see what I can do. Thanks again.

Saying Goodbye and New Beginnings

         I apologize that it has taken me so long to update my blog. It’s been hectic here and very go go go since we checked in….

         These past three weeks have been the most terrifying, exciting, devastating, happiest and emotional weeks of my life. If that makes any sense. Up until three weeks ago, I didn't think leaving was going to be a problem. I thought it was going to be the easiest thing in the world to leave Oshkosh behind. I couldn't have been more wrong. 

I think I finally realized how hard it was going to be the day of my going away party. So many people showed up to help me celebrate and I had so much fun seeing people I hadn't seen in a while. It was really reassuring to hear about how genuinely happy and excited everyone was for me. I have heard of other people in the programs families being very unsupportive of the whole thing and I just felt really blessed to have all of my family and friends support. I had such a fun time preparing everything for my party, everything needed to be and was Disney related. All the food was labeled to be something related to Disney, I made Disney “photo booth props” and I had floating lanterns from the movie Tangled. 

The week after my party was very emotional. I don’t think there was a day that I didn't cry. A lot of goodbyes were said to a lot of people I care about and it was really hard. I didn't expect it to be. I know I’m coming back and I know that four months is going to be really fast but it’s still hard to know that I won’t being seeing people for such a long period of time. 

After spending the weekend packing and spending time with my family, Sunday arrived and it was time to leave. We left Milwaukee at 4:30ish and we landed in Orlando at around 8:30 PM. We spent that week playing in both Disney World and Universal studios and I had an absolute blast. It was a weird feeling being a vacation but also knowing that I wasn’t going home afterwards. At this point I was still sort of unsure if this was actually something I wanted to be doing. Leaving home was a really scary feeling and I already felt homesick but everything changed that Thursday when we went to Magic Kingdom. We stood on Main Street for Celebrate the Magic and Wishes, and as soon as Celebrate the Magic started, my eyes began to water and I ended up bawling through the whole thing. It wasn’t because I was homesick and wanted to leave but because it reminded me why I am here and why I wanted to stay. One of my favorite parts of Celebrate the Magic is when Walt Disney appears and says “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing- that it was all started by a mouse.” It was here that I realized again why I fought so hard to be here, Walt was an incredible person who created this world of fantasy that families could go to and forget about all their troubles for a little while. It’s a place where magic is a reality and dreams actually do come true. Disney World was always this place that I knew about but never had the opportunity to go to and now it’s my home. How is that not a dream come true? I am just so excited to be a part of making the magic for all these families. 

Last Monday was check in day. We arrived at Check in at 7:45 AM and proceeded to stand in line for at least a half hour before we received our college program guide books and continued into another line that would tell me the fate of my role. It was such an adrenaline rush to know that I was finally going to know where I would be working. As my turn approached, the smile grew wider on my face, I knew that wherever I was, it was going to be up to me to make this the best four months of my life. Even if I wouldn't have gotten a role I wanted, it was going to be my attitude about it that would make the four months or break the four months. The time had come and walked to the desk and as the lady told my location, I knew it was perfect for me. I am attractions so I originally had this idea that I would be working a ride, I knew a show was a possibility but I didn't think that it would actually happen. But both things were wrong. I got Main Street Operations in Magic Kingdom. And you’re probably wondering what that is? I thought the same thing. Its parade audience control. So I will get to “watch” all the parades, shows, and fireworks that happen on Main Street every day while maintaining the audience of course. It’s going to involve a lot of guest interaction and I am really excited about that. If I was running a ride, I wouldn't be able to have conversations with the guests about their vacation and I wouldn't be able to create as many magical moments. I also found out that while waiting for the parades to start I get to play games in the street with the kids. Things like Hula hoops, ring toss, bubbles or other games I get to make up. I am really excited about that part. 

Another thing that happened on Monday was meeting my wonderful roommates. We all had been talking since the end of October and decided we wanted to live together. After three months of talking on the internet it was really cool to meet everyone in person. Their names are Courtney, Haley, Kelsey and Wendi, and then there is Sara who came from Oshkosh with me! We all get a long great and I couldn't ask for better roommates. We live in a two bedroom apartment, with three girls in each room. It sounds like it would be crowded but it really isn't that bad and most of the time at least one other person will be home. 

Left to Right: Courtney, Wendi, Kelsey, Haley, me, and Sara

         I am so excited for this adventure and I apologize again for the late update. I promise I will upload again soon with more on these past few weeks of training. Thank you so much for all of your support.

To 2015

It’s New Year’s Eve and 2014 is only a couple hours from being over. When the clock strikes midnight, I will be down to 24 days until I leave for the internship of a lifetime. I am so incredibly nervous and excited for this new chapter in my life. It will be my first time being away from family and friends for such a long period of time but I know this experience is going to help me grow so much as a person. I've become too dependent on everyone around me that being thrown into this new situation is going to be tough but also a great learning experience. I couldn't be more thankful for this year and everything that has happened.

Disney, as most people know, is a part of me. I couldn't be happier to be a part of making magic for so many families. Two years ago I got to experience firsthand how amazing Disney World is. I was standing on Main Street, with my best friend, Sara, and her sister. Wishes (the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom) began and I remember just staring in awe as the fireworks exploded over Cinderella’s Castle. I couldn't believe I was there. Disney World was always somewhere I dreamed of going but never actually thought I would get to see. It was in that moment that I knew that Disney was the place I was supposed to be.

The following fall I applied for the Disney College Program and soon after I was devastated to find out that I was denied. It was a big hit to my self-esteem and my ideas of who I wanted to be. Looking back on it, I realize I went into applying way too fast with barely any knowledge of the process. But I wouldn't admit that back then. I refused to apply again, I was scared of being rejected. So I ignored it. I didn't apply again in spring and I wasn't planning on applying this fall either. But after countless encouragements from my mom, sister, aunts, cousins, and friends, I caved and applied again. To be honest, if it wasn't for my best friend Sara, I wouldn't have applied. She was applying too and convinced me to try again. It wouldn't hurt right?  I went into it this time with a realistic mindset and I prepared. I knew more about the application process and I had Sara to talk to about it. And here I am accepted and about to embark on a journey of a lifetime. Oh and Sara was accepted too! We get to experience this together and I wouldn't want to get to share this with anyone else.

Anyways, I am so excited to see what 2015 brings. I know it’s going to be one amazing ride and I can’t wait to share this with all of you. I can’t thank all of you enough for your support. Happy New Year!