This morning I had a meeting with Jeff, my teacher for my Environmentality & Sustainability class. I met Jeff at his office in Vista Way and we talked for about thirty minutes about the rest of my time here in Orlando and how to effectively network with my remaining time. Jeff was extremely helpful, especially because I really didn't know what direction to head in in terms of networking. Jeff suggested that the next two weeks in class would be very beneficial to me and that I should take the opportunity to introduce myself to our guest speakers and let them know that I am interested in their work and ask them questions. He explained that the speakers are there on their own time, and that the speakers like having questions asked, because then they don't feel like they wasted their time to come speak with us.
Jeff also gave me some helpful hints about when to use business cards and hand out resumes, and what kinds of things I can do now to help me apply for professional internships in the future. Because I am not planning on applying for a professional internship in the next few semesters, I felt like I didn't know how to best network to help myself in a year or two, but Jeff explained to me that staying in touch with a simple email is a great and effective way to continue networking into the future.
I now feel like I have a little more direction in my networking experiences, and I have some plans to get in contact with other people in order to help myself move forward with the Walt Disney Company.
For those of you thinking about doing the DCP or just for anyone interested, meet & greets are extremely effective ways to network and make connections with the company, and I highly recommend starting sooner rather than later!
March 26, 2014
March 25, 2014
Program Update #1
A lot has happened since my last post, so I wanted to make a general program update to let you know about all of the cool things that have been going on during my DCP.
First, I finally got to see the new Festival of Fantasy parade at the Magic Kingdom! It was amazing! It's great to see some of the new characters making their first parade debuts, and the floats are truly spectacular. The amount of detail on each one is enough to make your head spin! Here are some pictures from the parade.
First, I finally got to see the new Festival of Fantasy parade at the Magic Kingdom! It was amazing! It's great to see some of the new characters making their first parade debuts, and the floats are truly spectacular. The amount of detail on each one is enough to make your head spin! Here are some pictures from the parade.
The parks are definitely getting more crowded since it's spring break season, and with the crowds of course come a lot of changes at work. Almost every day we make a slight modification to the loading process at Nemo, which keeps things interesting! After all, Walt did say "We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
My friends and I have been planning a lot of fun days and activities, with the most recent being the Miley Cyrus Bangerz tour in Orlando! Five of us bought tickets to the concert in the Amway Center in Downtown Orlando. It was seriously so crazy (as expected with Miley) but a ton of fun and a great way to spend time together.
In the middle of all of this fun, we've also had other issues to worry about, like passing the second round of inspections! We all cleaned for a couple of days leading up to inspections, and this time around we got inspected on the second day of inspections! I was in the apartment when they inspected us, so I got more of an idea as to what they did. Honestly, it was so quick. There were three people that came in, looked all over our apartment, and then told us if we needed to improve in any areas or if we were doing a good job. We passed with flying colors and got our 2nd White Glove Award! I'd say we are doing pretty well with inspections, well that, or the other apartments in the complex are just really dirty and gross...
Anyway, I have a lot planned in the next few days. I have a Meet & Greet tomorrow with my teacher to talk about how I should approach the rest of my program, an advising meeting with my Clemson advisor for next year on Thursday, my last two classes of environmentality and sustainability, and even some fun play time at the parks and resorts. Be sure to stay tuned for my posts in the next few weeks!
I hope everyone is having a magical day, and remember to keep on dreaming!
March 20, 2014
Environmentality & Sustainability - Week 6
This week was another field trip week in Environmentality & Sustainability, and this time we went to The Seas in Epcot! Yes, I know, I'm a lucky girl who got to get a backstage tour of The Seas two weeks in a row... (if you haven't read my Meet & Greet at The Seas post yet, be sure to check it out!) Anyway, this week was a lot of fun. My group was given a private tour of The Seas by one of the education team's professional interns, Zack. He was really great and gave us a lot of information about the aquarium, the animals, and the care and maintenance of such a large system. I learned that all of the marine mammals at The Seas are males (4 dolphins, 2 manatees), that the water is constantly being filtered, and that it is the second largest aquarium in the world (behind the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta).
It was really cool to once again get a backstage tour of The Seas and learn about the kind of work and research that is going on there. I also had a great time talking to Zack about his role as a professional intern, and asking him questions that would help me best prepare to get a PI at Disney in the next few years. All of these classes are great networking opportunities, and it's not lost on me how much of an amazing experience this truly is. I know that not many people get to go backstage at The Seas, and far fewer people have as many opportunities as I have had to learn and see first how truly how much Disney cares about the environment and conservation.
I honestly could have cried being there, I wanted so badly to jump into the tank and put on my scuba gear to get in the aquarium. It was an amazing experience, and I am so looking forward to my last few classes of Environmentality & Sustainability!
By the way, if you're wondering why I haven't been taking pictures of all of my amazing backstage experiences, it's because Disney has a strict no backstage pictures policy, so I'm sorry guys, but you will just have to take my word for how cool it truly is!
It was really cool to once again get a backstage tour of The Seas and learn about the kind of work and research that is going on there. I also had a great time talking to Zack about his role as a professional intern, and asking him questions that would help me best prepare to get a PI at Disney in the next few years. All of these classes are great networking opportunities, and it's not lost on me how much of an amazing experience this truly is. I know that not many people get to go backstage at The Seas, and far fewer people have as many opportunities as I have had to learn and see first how truly how much Disney cares about the environment and conservation.
I honestly could have cried being there, I wanted so badly to jump into the tank and put on my scuba gear to get in the aquarium. It was an amazing experience, and I am so looking forward to my last few classes of Environmentality & Sustainability!
By the way, if you're wondering why I haven't been taking pictures of all of my amazing backstage experiences, it's because Disney has a strict no backstage pictures policy, so I'm sorry guys, but you will just have to take my word for how cool it truly is!
March 17, 2014
A Thought on Dreams...
While I was working at Nemo today in the pouring rain, wind, and cold weather, it suddenly hit me: I am 20 years old and have already accomplished one of my life dreams. For as long as I can remember, it's been a dream of mine to work for the Walt Disney Company. Growing up coming to the parks, I always felt as though I "belonged" there. I knew that I could be the happy, smiling, and helpful Cast Member who always exceeded Guest expectations. And guess what? I am that person.
This was a welcoming thought in the middle of the torrential downpour that hit central Florida today. Despite the few downfalls that come with being a Cast Member (among them, the temperamental Florida weather), I am doing something that I have dreamed my entire life of doing, and that I am sure many others dream of someday doing.
So, this post is dedicated to all of those dreamers out there. Whether your dream is to apply for the DCP, become a Cast Member, travel, discover the cure for cancer, or change the world, your dreams matter and you should never let anything stop you from achieving your dreams. It doesn't matter if you are 9 years old or 90 years old, it's never too late to make your dreams come true.
Take it from me, Megan, the girl who is currently living her Disney Dream!
Keep on dreaming, dreamers!
This was a welcoming thought in the middle of the torrential downpour that hit central Florida today. Despite the few downfalls that come with being a Cast Member (among them, the temperamental Florida weather), I am doing something that I have dreamed my entire life of doing, and that I am sure many others dream of someday doing.
So, this post is dedicated to all of those dreamers out there. Whether your dream is to apply for the DCP, become a Cast Member, travel, discover the cure for cancer, or change the world, your dreams matter and you should never let anything stop you from achieving your dreams. It doesn't matter if you are 9 years old or 90 years old, it's never too late to make your dreams come true.
Take it from me, Megan, the girl who is currently living her Disney Dream!
Keep on dreaming, dreamers!
March 14, 2014
Meet & Greet at The Seas
Today I had the most amazing experience; I had a meet and greet with Lisa, one of the dolphin trainers at The Seas in Epcot! Let me start this off by saying that there are only five, yes FIVE, dolphin trainers that work for the Walt Disney World Resort, so having the opportunity to meet her and talk to her is truly amazing!
Let me back up a bit by explaining how I got here, and then I'll tell you all about my time with Lisa! So, for those of you who don't know me, I'm a conservation biology major and a psychology minor and my goal is to work with animals after I graduate, hopefully in the animal training/behavior field. Obviously Disney is the dream, which is why I am here right now, but really I would love to work at any zoo or aquarium. So, that being said, about a year ago over winter break I went to work with my dad to help him file papers and all that kind of fun office stuff. Long story short, I ended up having lunch with some of my dad's coworkers and telling them about my school experience and what my plans for the future were. Lisa is his coworker's niece, and she is a dolphin trainer at The Seas. She was kind enough to put me in contact with Lisa, and I have been speaking with her since about this time last year. We spoke on the phone about breaking into the marine mammal/training field and she offered me advice about where to go with my career and education path. Then, when I got accepted to the DCP, I sent her an email telling her I would be living in Florida for 7 months. Since I've been in Orlando, we've been in contact, and we were able to set up a time for me to go meet with her at work and learn a little more about her job and what life is like at The Seas!
Flash forward to today, when I met Lisa at The Seas for the very first time! She was truly amazing, and did more than I would have ever imagined. First, she gave me my own personal tour of the aquarium from the guest's perspective. We talked about all the different kinds of fish, how they are collected, their care, and she gave me some fun facts about the aquarium. Fun fact: The entire Epcot ball could fit inside the aquarium tank and there would still be room for someone to swim around the entire ball!
Then, we went backstage and I got to see what the facilities look like from a Cast Member and trainer perspective! I was completely shocked by how huge the aquarium truly was (you can't tell from the aquarium windows). I even got to go see the dolphins while they were resting and learn about dolphin enrichment and training, which is something I am SOOOO interested in.
Finally, we went back on stage and talked about breaking into the field. I asked Lisa how she got to where she was, and she said it's all about working hard, networking, and of course, a little bit of luck. I asked her what kinds of things I should be doing to get myself prepared for a career in the field, and she said to volunteer and get as many internships as possible, because internships turn into jobs! Luckily for me, I'm already scuba certified, which is a huge step in the right direction, since most internships/jobs require you to be scuba certified to work there. I also asked about the professional internship (Marine Mammals) and what kind of stuff I could do to best prepare for the application process. It's an EXTREMELY competitive internship, but it's a dream of mine and the advice she gave me was great and will hopefully help me reach my goal!
After meeting with Lisa, I stuck around to watch the dolphin training session downstairs and I got to talk to one of the professional interns, Jenna. She told me about how she landed the experience, and to just keep volunteering, working hard, and wished me good luck with everything! Also, the dolphins were amazing. The dolphin I watched, Calvin, was doing a test where he saw a moving picture and then was shown three pictures, and he had to choose the correct one that he originally saw. The whole idea of the training/research is to try to see how dolphins think/learn so that we can better understand them.
I am so thankful for my time with Lisa. She is an amazing person to talk to, and truly went above and beyond with her time with me. I'm not kidding when I say that I was hoping we could grab a cup of coffee or something, so imagine my surprise when she offered to take me around the entire aquarium!! I had a great day and learned so much that I definitely will put to use when it's time to apply for internships in the future.
So, thanks to Lisa for all of her help, and thanks to all of you for reading this and joining me on my journey! If you have any specific questions, PLEASE feel free to ask me, I love answering questions about my time here!
Let me back up a bit by explaining how I got here, and then I'll tell you all about my time with Lisa! So, for those of you who don't know me, I'm a conservation biology major and a psychology minor and my goal is to work with animals after I graduate, hopefully in the animal training/behavior field. Obviously Disney is the dream, which is why I am here right now, but really I would love to work at any zoo or aquarium. So, that being said, about a year ago over winter break I went to work with my dad to help him file papers and all that kind of fun office stuff. Long story short, I ended up having lunch with some of my dad's coworkers and telling them about my school experience and what my plans for the future were. Lisa is his coworker's niece, and she is a dolphin trainer at The Seas. She was kind enough to put me in contact with Lisa, and I have been speaking with her since about this time last year. We spoke on the phone about breaking into the marine mammal/training field and she offered me advice about where to go with my career and education path. Then, when I got accepted to the DCP, I sent her an email telling her I would be living in Florida for 7 months. Since I've been in Orlando, we've been in contact, and we were able to set up a time for me to go meet with her at work and learn a little more about her job and what life is like at The Seas!
Flash forward to today, when I met Lisa at The Seas for the very first time! She was truly amazing, and did more than I would have ever imagined. First, she gave me my own personal tour of the aquarium from the guest's perspective. We talked about all the different kinds of fish, how they are collected, their care, and she gave me some fun facts about the aquarium. Fun fact: The entire Epcot ball could fit inside the aquarium tank and there would still be room for someone to swim around the entire ball!
Then, we went backstage and I got to see what the facilities look like from a Cast Member and trainer perspective! I was completely shocked by how huge the aquarium truly was (you can't tell from the aquarium windows). I even got to go see the dolphins while they were resting and learn about dolphin enrichment and training, which is something I am SOOOO interested in.
Finally, we went back on stage and talked about breaking into the field. I asked Lisa how she got to where she was, and she said it's all about working hard, networking, and of course, a little bit of luck. I asked her what kinds of things I should be doing to get myself prepared for a career in the field, and she said to volunteer and get as many internships as possible, because internships turn into jobs! Luckily for me, I'm already scuba certified, which is a huge step in the right direction, since most internships/jobs require you to be scuba certified to work there. I also asked about the professional internship (Marine Mammals) and what kind of stuff I could do to best prepare for the application process. It's an EXTREMELY competitive internship, but it's a dream of mine and the advice she gave me was great and will hopefully help me reach my goal!
After meeting with Lisa, I stuck around to watch the dolphin training session downstairs and I got to talk to one of the professional interns, Jenna. She told me about how she landed the experience, and to just keep volunteering, working hard, and wished me good luck with everything! Also, the dolphins were amazing. The dolphin I watched, Calvin, was doing a test where he saw a moving picture and then was shown three pictures, and he had to choose the correct one that he originally saw. The whole idea of the training/research is to try to see how dolphins think/learn so that we can better understand them.
I am so thankful for my time with Lisa. She is an amazing person to talk to, and truly went above and beyond with her time with me. I'm not kidding when I say that I was hoping we could grab a cup of coffee or something, so imagine my surprise when she offered to take me around the entire aquarium!! I had a great day and learned so much that I definitely will put to use when it's time to apply for internships in the future.
So, thanks to Lisa for all of her help, and thanks to all of you for reading this and joining me on my journey! If you have any specific questions, PLEASE feel free to ask me, I love answering questions about my time here!
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