From January 2011 until July 2011, me, a 24 year old theme park management student at the Academy for Leisure, NHTV Breda, got recruited for the Disney International College Program in Orlando, Florida.
The Disney brand, of course, is one of the most powerful in the world. It connotes quality as well as creativity and is the perfect choice for a placement in the leisure field. As a Disney College Program participant, I became part of the magic that is known worldwide. I got valuable, on-the-job experience in the parks, and expanded my knowledge in a classroom with several other international students. Discovering new worlds and create long-lasting memories within this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity led to a memorable experience,
which changed my life.
The international College Program is based on two different parts, the educational part within the Central Michigan University (CMU), and the working experience within the Disney World environment of parks and ressorts. On the one hand each student has to hand in different CMU assignments and attend compulsory meetings in Orlando, as well as attending a class once a week, which could also be offered by members of the World Disney Company. I, in particular, have chosen for the World Disney series “Walt Disney World-Exploring People Management” to take a closer look into the Human Resources side of the business at Disney particularly.
On the other hand I was part of the WDW entertainment character-performing cast, which helps creating and maintaining the show, whether through performing in various parades and shows or facilitating character meet & greets. Wherever the guest experience takes place, me as a trained “cast member” (how the Disney company calls its employees), turned the ordinary into the extraordinary, making dreams come true every single day.
In the specific role of a performer, Disney offered me the chance to bring to life the world famous Disney Characters and play in front of thousands of guests each day in “meet and greets”, parades and stage shows across the Walt Disney World Resort. Signing autographs, animating people, posing for pictures, dancing and acting in a role were all parts of my daily work experience, which became a passion instead of just a job.
Walt Disney always followed his dreams: “You reach a point where you don't work for money,” he once said, while reaching that point early in his career; he had pursued his passion to the point where he had made it successful and his work became a pleasure.
This is exactly what happened to me during this exciting and amazing program, which increased my passion for Disney as well as the Theme Park and Entertainment industry and instigates me to finalize my studies successfully and turn my dream into reality with working for this successful and inspiring company in the near future.
“When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably,” Walter Elias Disney once said. And from now on it is up to me to put forward and turn my dreams into reality with having the courage to pursue them.
