I have applied to the Disney College Program so many times, four times to be exact, and not only did I get in this time, but I feel like it is the right time in my life to go and move down to Orlando for a semester, for the Disney College Program. The way the application process works is you submit an application online, then you either get an email to complete the web-based interview right away or you get stuck in applied. The applied status on your online dashboard means that because of the large volume of applications, you have to wait to go to the next step and do your interview. The web-based interview is basically where you answer survey questions online and there is also situational statements where you say if you agree or disagree with them. The web-based interview is to see who you are as a person, how you deal with different situations, how you work with other people, and even if you are right for the Walt Disney company. The key to pass your web-based interview is to be as honest as possible and to keep your answers consistent. Then, if you pass your web-based interview, you then will receive an email to schedule your phone interview. A Disney College Program recruiter will call you, and they can call you up to fifteen minutes before or after your interview time. What you talk about during your phone interview depends on your recruiter, but some things you may talk about are: your past work experience, why you love Disney, your top role preferences, and even why you want to do the Disney College Program. After your phone interview, your status on your online dashboard will stay at under review until you either get an offer or no longer in consideration. You could get no longer in consideration the day of your phone interview, or you could hear back a couple days after your phone interview up to months after.

My first time applying for the DCP was first semester of Sophomore year and my phone interview was absolutely awful; I was so nervous that my voice was shaking, I kept on coughing and clearing my throat because my allergies were killing me, and I couldn't understand my recruiter's name. I knew it went badly, and I wasn't really surprised when I got my no longer in consideration email that same night. I was still devastated, but that didn't stop me from applying again in spring semester of my sophomore year. When I applied the second time, I didn't have to take the web-based interview, because it is good for up to six months. I went straight to the phone interview, got to talk to Christy about our love for Disney, and got advice about how to get started with Disney. I was so confident about my interview and had a smile on my face both after my interview and during my interview. Many acceptance waves that season passed by, and I didn't get accepted until March 24th, 2017 for Fall Advantage lifeguard. However, I unfortunately had to decline because it didn't seem like the right time in my life for me to go.

Then I applied again fall semester of my junior year, that semester, short story short, I thought I had an okay interview, it wasn't as good as the semesters before, but it was okay. Then, unfortunately I got that dreaded no longer in consideration email soon after my phone interview. I cried so hard and was devastated that I didn't get in, because at that moment in time I thought it was the best time in my life to do the Disney College program. If I got accepted, I would of been there now and I would of missed my big and my little's last semester of college. I was so wrong, and that was not the right time for me to go and do the Disney College Program.

This semester I decided a few days after applications dropped, to apply again. I thought Fall semester of my senior year, fall of 2018, would be the perfect semester for me to go, so I could go before I began student teaching. I submitted my application on January 24th, 2018, skipped the web-based interview, and got an email to schedule my phone interview on the same day. I scheduled my phone interview for January 30, 2018 at 12pm. I had Stefanie for my phone interview, we talked about many of the roles they offered, why we love disney and even my past work experience. That was the most confident I felt after a phone interview for the Disney College Program and I felt so good about it. Then, after a short two weeks after my interview at 8:28pm on Tuesday, February 13th I got accepted for Fall 2018 Quick Service Food and Beverage. I wanted to get accepted so bad that I cried and called my parents. I didn't care what my role was, I just knew that my dreams were coming true and that on August 13th I will be moving to Disney World and working for Mickey Mouse. I prayed throughout the whole application process and told God that if it was the right time for me to do the DCP, and that it was a part of his plan for me, then to let me get accepted. I followed my dreams, never gave up, and it seems so surreal that my long time dream of mine will be coming real just in a little over five months. I am grateful for the support from my family, friends and sorority sisters, and grateful that God gave me this beyond amazing opportunity!

I guess the moral of this story is to follow your dreams, no matter how far fetched or impossible they seem. Never give up and keep on trying, even when life is constantly knocking you down. If you want to do the Disney College Program there is still time to apply, apply for that internship you have been wanting, save money to travel the world, write that novel you have been wanting to write, and do anything that will help you follow your dreams. Always live your life to the fullest, because you are the one who has to make your dreams come true! Keep dreaming and never give up!