I forgot to start with a background story on how I got here. Way way back in Fall of 2009 I first heard about the Disney College Program from campus reps at BYU. I went to an information meeting on campus, and thought it was the coolest thing I'd discovered yet, because I'd always wanted the chance to work for Disney, and now here was a way for me to do it in college, and it was already all set up for me. So I filled out an application, went online, and took the online interview as the first step in the application process. And failed it. Somehow, someway, after my years of being obsessed with Disney and having the right qualities to be eligible for a number of other more intense things, I was told that the qualities that Disney was looking for did not match up with my personality at this time. What the heck! I felt like such a failure, and so I didn't tell a lot of people about it, because it was rather embarrassing.
I learned more about the program during Winter 2010 after going to another campus rep meeting, and in the Fall of 2010 decided to apply again. But after looking at the list of areas in which I could apply to work, I decided being in Entertainment would be the most fun for me, and so my friend Hannah and I drove to Salt Lake to audition to be character performers.
What a crazy audition! We were asked to dance a little, act a little, and be as animated as possible. Thanks to a 5-hour energy before the show plus tons and tons of adrenaline for what I was about to do, I was more pumped and animated than I have probably ever been in my life, and I was having so much fun!! Unfortunately, Hannah and I were both cut halfway through, but I learned about how the audition process works, how to stand out and that I would have to work on animating without sound, and know how to pick up a dance quickly and perform on demand. And we had fun :) If anything, we gained a better appreciation for all the work that goes into choosing the best performers that Disney can find for their Entertainment team. We also met a few people I would see again later, like Brynne, who would go on to work at WDW this past summer and become friends with some of the most beautiful and loved princesses in the land.
After applying (and this time making it past the online and phone interview) to the DCP again, I got my first acceptance letter in the mail, asking me to work Summer of 2011 in the Quick Service Food and Beverage department at Disney World. Now, no offense meant to any of those wonderful people in that area, but personally, I did not feel as though it was worth buying a plane ticket to and from Florida to work there during the summer in Food and Beverage. But that's just my personal opinion, and the DCP does this really cool thing where if you wait six months, you can apply again and they disregard your last application. So I decided that I would wait and apply for the next Winter semester.
In Winter of 2011, I met a girl named Jamie in my jazz class at BYU, and she told me about a random Disney audition she'd be attending in March. I asked if I could come along, just for practice, because my new plan was to audition again in the Fall for my application in the Winter. And growing up dancing I've been told over and over again that every audition is a chance to learn and practice. I wasn't planning on getting anything from the audition other than experience. So Jamie and I went, and both of us were extremely pleasantly surprised to find both of ourselves at the end of the audition, one being pulled to dance again, the other being pulled aside for my pictures. I was so unprepared that I hadn't brought a resume or headshot, or really anything besides my ID. I couldn't believe it, and we were both on top of the world!
A few weeks later we both got calls back, and I was told that Disney would like me to perform in an Entertainment role in the Fall, but I would have to apply to the DCP and do it through that, since I'm still enrolled in school. And I thought about it for a little less than a few hours, screamed my head off with excitement, and said yes :) I had to move my schedule around for school a ton, and it screwed up the timing I had set out for applying to my major (which I haven't even been accepted for yet, but I'm hoping to major in Advertising with a minor in Business) but this was the opportunity of a lifetime and I had to take it!
I was interviewed on the phone (and online) again for the DCP, got an acceptance letter with "Entertainment" on it, and here I am, 5 months later, living my dream! It took a long time, a lot of patience, effort, hard work and planning, but it still feels surreal, as if I'm going to wake up any second and be back in Provo, but I won't because I'm HERE :) Where it rains on and off like a switch and there are tourists around every corner and the brightest and most dazzling costumes bring the movies to life and I cannot tell you how grateful I am to be here, because I love my life.
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