After training the middle and opening shifts, I finally learned the closing shift, which completed all of my different shift training! The closing shift is from 10 to 7. When you close, most of your day is pretty much the same as usual, except the last two hours are spent on manatee and closing everything down. The closer does all of the manatee spiels from 5-7, makes sure that all of the animals are safe for the night, and makes the building secure. There are also some closing cleaning responsibilities to get done as well. It's not a particularly hard shift, but my least favorite part of it is leaving at 7:00. I feel like there's not a lot you can get done for the rest of the night, so I usually go home, eat dinner, watch some TV and then go to bed.
I'm happy to be done all of my training, because that means that my shifts are going to start to be more varied. I'll probably work 1-2 of each shifts per week rather than doing the same shift all week, so it will be nice to have variation in my schedule!
Showing posts with label marine mammals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marine mammals. Show all posts
August 31, 2016
July 15, 2016
Manatees
A huge part of the marine mammal internship is learning about and caring for the manatees! The Seas is home to 2 West Indian Manatees, Lil Joe and Lou. We are a manatee rehabilitation center, which means both of our manatees are rescued and we hope to eventually release them back into the wild. Lou was rescued after a boat strike accident and Lil Joe was originally rescued as an orphan. Usually the interns cover the manatee stage. We are there to feed the manatees, make behavioral observations, answer guest questions, and make sure that both the guests and the manatees remain safe. We also give spiels twice an hour (unless another presentation is happening) where we talk for about 10 minutes on microphone about manatees.
My spiel begins by introducing the manatees and I talk about how to tell the difference between them. I then go into how we are a manatee rehabilitation center and how/why the manatees were rescued. I talk about what manatees eat and who their closest relative is (it's an elephant!). From there I go on to explain how manatees are marine mammals and talk about the 5 characteristics of a mammal and how manatees exhibit all of those. Finally, I wrap up with a conservation message about how it's illegal to interact with a wild manatee and what people can do to help manatees! Even though it's only been a few weeks, I already feel very comfortable giving my spiel and answering questions about the manatees. I've also had a lot of great, informative conversations with guests (with the occasional 'where is the bathroom' question thrown in as well)!
I've loved learning about the manatees and getting to be a part of their daily care. It's been a great experience and I'm excited to learn and experience even more during this dream internship! If you have any questions about the manatees, feel free to let me know in the comments below and definitely come check them out at The Seas with Nemo and Friends in Epcot!
My spiel begins by introducing the manatees and I talk about how to tell the difference between them. I then go into how we are a manatee rehabilitation center and how/why the manatees were rescued. I talk about what manatees eat and who their closest relative is (it's an elephant!). From there I go on to explain how manatees are marine mammals and talk about the 5 characteristics of a mammal and how manatees exhibit all of those. Finally, I wrap up with a conservation message about how it's illegal to interact with a wild manatee and what people can do to help manatees! Even though it's only been a few weeks, I already feel very comfortable giving my spiel and answering questions about the manatees. I've also had a lot of great, informative conversations with guests (with the occasional 'where is the bathroom' question thrown in as well)!
I've loved learning about the manatees and getting to be a part of their daily care. It's been a great experience and I'm excited to learn and experience even more during this dream internship! If you have any questions about the manatees, feel free to let me know in the comments below and definitely come check them out at The Seas with Nemo and Friends in Epcot!
July 6, 2016
Opening
It has been a few weeks since I officially started training with the marine mammal team. The first week of training I focused on learning the 8-5 shift, and then shortly after I was transitioned to learning the opening shift, which is 7-4. While I am not a fan of waking up early to get to work, I really love being done early and my shift goes by really quickly whenever I open!
The opener is the first member of the marine mammal team to arrive at The Seas. When I arrive, it is my job to open the office, turn on the computers, get the phone messages, and then check on the animals. After that, I start preparing the AM diets for the dolphins. This basically means I sort and weigh fish (capelin and herring) for each of the 4 dolphins. This is a pretty tedious job since I have about an hour to prepare 12 buckets of fish. Afterwards, I clean the kitchen and then get ready to dive! The opener always dives to clean the manatee pool and uses the vacuum. I really like diving because it makes the morning go by really quickly. Typically a second person dives with me to help move the sand around while I vacuum the bottom, but sometimes, like this morning, I dive alone, which means the dive safety people have to tether a rope to me! After diving, I shower and get changed back into my clothes. Typically, I go watch a dolphin session or give a marine biology talk afterwards and then it is time for lunch! The morning definitely flies by when you are an opener.
After lunch I typically cover the manatee stage, which consists of answering questions, feeding the manatees and giving spiels. There are usually some other cleaning tasks I help with in the afternoon. For example, this afternoon I also prepared the PM diets, cleaned the kitchen, scrubbed some rails, did dolphin observations, and covered manatee some more.
So far I am really enjoying the internship! I am totally exhausted by the end of the day, especially because a lot of the work I do is pretty physical, but I find the job very rewarding. I enjoy talking to guests and working with the trainers to care for the dolphins and manatees! I'll be posting more soon about the manatees and my marine biology spiel, so be sure to check back soon for more posts about my Disney Dream!
The opener is the first member of the marine mammal team to arrive at The Seas. When I arrive, it is my job to open the office, turn on the computers, get the phone messages, and then check on the animals. After that, I start preparing the AM diets for the dolphins. This basically means I sort and weigh fish (capelin and herring) for each of the 4 dolphins. This is a pretty tedious job since I have about an hour to prepare 12 buckets of fish. Afterwards, I clean the kitchen and then get ready to dive! The opener always dives to clean the manatee pool and uses the vacuum. I really like diving because it makes the morning go by really quickly. Typically a second person dives with me to help move the sand around while I vacuum the bottom, but sometimes, like this morning, I dive alone, which means the dive safety people have to tether a rope to me! After diving, I shower and get changed back into my clothes. Typically, I go watch a dolphin session or give a marine biology talk afterwards and then it is time for lunch! The morning definitely flies by when you are an opener.
After lunch I typically cover the manatee stage, which consists of answering questions, feeding the manatees and giving spiels. There are usually some other cleaning tasks I help with in the afternoon. For example, this afternoon I also prepared the PM diets, cleaned the kitchen, scrubbed some rails, did dolphin observations, and covered manatee some more.
So far I am really enjoying the internship! I am totally exhausted by the end of the day, especially because a lot of the work I do is pretty physical, but I find the job very rewarding. I enjoy talking to guests and working with the trainers to care for the dolphins and manatees! I'll be posting more soon about the manatees and my marine biology spiel, so be sure to check back soon for more posts about my Disney Dream!
June 24, 2016
Marine Mammals - Finally!
I just finished my first week working with the marine mammal team at The Seas and I could not be more thrilled! After weeks of long and tedious training in classrooms, it felt great to finally get to meet my team and see some of the work I'll be doing throughout the internship.
This week I trained the 8-5 shift, which is the middle shift. There are two other shifts, opening and closing, which I will learn in the weeks to come. Each shift has a different focus, but the middle shift is most focused on guest interaction, which was a perfect start for me! This week I wrote and was approved to give my manatee spiel! About every 30 minutes (unless there is another presentation), someone will give a talk on the stage about manatees. There are two manatees at The Seas, Lil' Joe and Lou. My spiel revolves around sharing information about the manatees, talking about our manatee rehabilitation work, and giving information about manatee diet, adaptations, and conservation issues. So far I really like being on the manatee stage! I like getting to interact with guests and answer questions about the manatees and I especially like getting to feed the manatees their lettuce heads. I even like spieling! The first time I did it I was really nervous, but after getting the first one out of the way I feel so much more comfortable and actually enjoy doing them now! And, I've already caught on to some of the most popular manatee questions (do they only eat lettuce?!)
I have also done a lot of cleaning this week. One big lesson I learned is that cleaning anything is better in the water! I have gone scuba diving to clean the manatee exhibit, scrubbed the walls of the dolphin back pools, pressure washed the decks, and used the power scrubber to clean the floor of the dolphin pools! It's been a lot of hard work, but being in the water makes it a lot more fun. Besides that I also learned how to do some fish prep and a lot of other kitchen tasks.
The third task I have been focusing on this week is observing sessions. I've watched several of the dolphin research sessions as fell as some fish feeding and marine biology sessions. I need to observe these so I can eventually learn how to narrate these sessions as well! I love watching the dolphin research sessions because not only are the dolphins adorable, but they are really smart and it's so interesting to see how they think!
While this has been a great first week, it has also been an exhausting one. I forgot how tired you get after being on your feet for 8 hours a day! Additionally, I'm in the process of adjusting my sleep schedule to waking up early... it's been rough so far, but I hope I can adjust to going to bed early and getting up early soon!
All in all, I would say this has been a very successful first week. I've learned a lot, had some fun, and finally achieved my dream of being a member of the marine mammal team at The Seas!
June 13, 2016
The Gathering, Traditions, Welcome to Ops, and Epcot Discovery Day
If you're wondering what my life has consisted of the past few days, it's been a lot of business casual clothing, training classes, and park tours! I'm in full swing with my training for the marine mammal internship and it has been a hectic few days!
The first major event I attended was the ASE (Animals, Science, and the Environment) Gathering. This was an opportunity to meet the fellow ASE interns, meet the talent management team and leaders, and get our training schedules! It was fun to meet everyone and it felt like the official "start" to my internship!
A few days later I had Traditions, which is Cast Members' official welcome to the Disney Company! It's a four hour class at Disney University where you learn about the heritage of the Disney Company, the Disney way, and the keys to Disney's success. This was my second time taking Traditions, so I knew what to expect, but it was still a pretty nice day. We also got to go to the Magic Kingdom to "observe" Cast Members working in action! That's definitely my favorite part of the day because we get to go in backstage Magic Kingdom and see the utilidors (the tunnels) and also get to be in the parks and enjoy the atmosphere! We also received our Company IDs and our name-tags. Getting my name-tag was great, especially because the big cheese (Mickey Mouse!) hand delivered them to us! After Traditions I went over to the Epcot Cast Services Center where I met some of The Seas Cast Members who helped me get my costume and gave me and the other interns a tour of The Seas!
The next day was a full day of classes at Disney University. My day started with Welcome to Operations, which was a 4 hour class about being an operations Cast Member. Operations Cast Members include, ASE, custodial, merchandise, transportation, resort, attractions, entertainment, and several other areas. Honestly, Welcome to Operations was not my favorite class. I felt like a lot of the information was stuff I already knew from being Cast Member before and it was just a really long and tedious class. Luckily, after lunch I got to go to a new class, which was Welcome to ASE. This one was much better because the information actually applied directly to my internship. The class was taught by two zookeepers at Animal Kingdom and they kept it interesting by telling funny stories and sharing their Disney journeys with us.
Finally, today was Discovery Day at Epcot. No matter what your location is at the Walt Disney World Resort, you will always have a location orientation day where you learn about the property. At Epcot, this is called Discovery Day. This was my third park orientation (I've done DAKlimation and On with the Show), and it was definitely the best one yet! I felt like I learned so much more about Epcot and had a blast doing it. For instance, did you know that the dancing fountain behind Spaceship Earth has water from every country represented in the World Showcase in it? Each world leader brought water from their respective countries to the dedication of Epcot and placed it in the fountain symbolically tying all of the countries of the world together. During Discovery Day we also got to ride Spaceship Earth (for research, of course!) and we took a boat tour of the World Showcase. We also learned about culture and how Epcot is unique in that it brings people from all different cultures together with one common goal - to create happiness for guests! There were even a few surprises during the park tour that I do not want to ruin for others, but let's just say that it was a great morning and I really felt welcomed into the Epcot Community!
After Discovery Day ended, I had On the Job Training at The Seas for the first time. I tried on my dive gear, learned Animal Care do's and dont's, discussed professional organizations tied to The Seas, covered Dive Safety and a bunch of other important information! I also got my training schedule for next week, when I will actually begin my marine mammal duties. Today was definitely my favorite day of training, simply because I learned the most!
I'm looking forward to finishing up the rest of my classroom training so that I can begin learning my actual duties as a marine mammal intern! Keep checking back for more updates on the rest of my training and the start of work with the marine mammal team!!
The first major event I attended was the ASE (Animals, Science, and the Environment) Gathering. This was an opportunity to meet the fellow ASE interns, meet the talent management team and leaders, and get our training schedules! It was fun to meet everyone and it felt like the official "start" to my internship!
A few days later I had Traditions, which is Cast Members' official welcome to the Disney Company! It's a four hour class at Disney University where you learn about the heritage of the Disney Company, the Disney way, and the keys to Disney's success. This was my second time taking Traditions, so I knew what to expect, but it was still a pretty nice day. We also got to go to the Magic Kingdom to "observe" Cast Members working in action! That's definitely my favorite part of the day because we get to go in backstage Magic Kingdom and see the utilidors (the tunnels) and also get to be in the parks and enjoy the atmosphere! We also received our Company IDs and our name-tags. Getting my name-tag was great, especially because the big cheese (Mickey Mouse!) hand delivered them to us! After Traditions I went over to the Epcot Cast Services Center where I met some of The Seas Cast Members who helped me get my costume and gave me and the other interns a tour of The Seas!
The next day was a full day of classes at Disney University. My day started with Welcome to Operations, which was a 4 hour class about being an operations Cast Member. Operations Cast Members include, ASE, custodial, merchandise, transportation, resort, attractions, entertainment, and several other areas. Honestly, Welcome to Operations was not my favorite class. I felt like a lot of the information was stuff I already knew from being Cast Member before and it was just a really long and tedious class. Luckily, after lunch I got to go to a new class, which was Welcome to ASE. This one was much better because the information actually applied directly to my internship. The class was taught by two zookeepers at Animal Kingdom and they kept it interesting by telling funny stories and sharing their Disney journeys with us.
Finally, today was Discovery Day at Epcot. No matter what your location is at the Walt Disney World Resort, you will always have a location orientation day where you learn about the property. At Epcot, this is called Discovery Day. This was my third park orientation (I've done DAKlimation and On with the Show), and it was definitely the best one yet! I felt like I learned so much more about Epcot and had a blast doing it. For instance, did you know that the dancing fountain behind Spaceship Earth has water from every country represented in the World Showcase in it? Each world leader brought water from their respective countries to the dedication of Epcot and placed it in the fountain symbolically tying all of the countries of the world together. During Discovery Day we also got to ride Spaceship Earth (for research, of course!) and we took a boat tour of the World Showcase. We also learned about culture and how Epcot is unique in that it brings people from all different cultures together with one common goal - to create happiness for guests! There were even a few surprises during the park tour that I do not want to ruin for others, but let's just say that it was a great morning and I really felt welcomed into the Epcot Community!
After Discovery Day ended, I had On the Job Training at The Seas for the first time. I tried on my dive gear, learned Animal Care do's and dont's, discussed professional organizations tied to The Seas, covered Dive Safety and a bunch of other important information! I also got my training schedule for next week, when I will actually begin my marine mammal duties. Today was definitely my favorite day of training, simply because I learned the most!
I'm looking forward to finishing up the rest of my classroom training so that I can begin learning my actual duties as a marine mammal intern! Keep checking back for more updates on the rest of my training and the start of work with the marine mammal team!!
April 28, 2016
Megan's Disney Dream
So, I may have hinted once or twice (and in my blog title) that working for Disney has always been my dream. When I accepted my college program, I truly felt like all my dreams were coming true. I got to work for my dream company, meet incredible people, network, make magic, and have the opportunity of a lifetime! What more could a girl ask for? Well, truth be told, I did have another, slightly bigger Disney Dream. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a Marine Mammal Intern at the Walt Disney World Resort.
My family and I traveled to Disney World countless times growing up. It became our home away from home and we all loved our vacations. I have loved animals for as long as I can remember and especially enjoyed spending time at Animal Kingdom and The Seas learning about the animals and their care. I could be kind of a shy kid at times, but my parents always made me go ask the same question to the Cast Members, "what can I do to get your job in the future?" The answer was always the same - get a college degree, get lots of experience, and work incredibly hard.
As I got older and discovered more about myself and what I wanted to do, it became clear to me that I wanted to work with animals in a zoo/aquarium setting. Disney was always in the back of my mind, but I knew how competitive their programs were so I never wanted to get my hopes up too much. On my College Program in 2014, I fell in love with the Company and decided that Disney was actually my long-term career goal and that I would do absolutely whatever it took to work with the animals at Disney.
It was then that started to look at the Professional Internship job descriptions. I noticed you needed experience, and lots of it, to even qualify for most of the internships. It was at this point that I was determined to get the experience I needed and develop my resume so that it was geared towards getting a Professional Internship with the Animals, Science, and Environment Department after graduation. I started with the Animal Department Internship at the Greenville Zoo, where I worked for a year learning how to take care of exotic animals in a zoo setting. I then moved to the Marine Mammal Internship at the National Aquarium, because I wanted to make sure that marine mammals were something I still had an interest in. I was right - I still loved marine mammals, which meant that I was definitely going to apply for Disney's Marine Mammal Internship the following year. I also joined a Research Program at my school and studied primate personality and behavior so I would have experience in a laboratory setting quantifying and explaining animal behavior. Finally, I traveled to both India and Turks and Caicos for study abroad opportunities so I could experience fieldwork and learn about the natural environment outside of the classroom.
So, after getting all of this experience and learning so much about biology, psychology, animal care, husbandry, and so many more topics, I finally submitted my application to be the Marine Mammal Intern at the Walt Disney World Resort. I also submitted two other PI applications, just to increase my chances, but my first choice was always the Marine Mammal one. I actually could not believe that after years of preparing for this internship opportunity, it was finally happening! I mean seriously, I've wanted this internship since I was about 10 years old! After going through the long process of filling out questionnaires, interviewing, and most importantly, waiting, I finally got the call that confirmed that all of my dreams were coming true - I was going to be a Marine Mammal Intern at Disney!
The amount of support I have received from family and friends during this whole process has been overwhelming. Everyone is so supportive and excited for me and they keep wishing me luck "pursuing my dreams at Disney." And every time they say that, I just smile. Yes, I'll be pursuing my dreams down in Disney, but in my opinion, I've been pursuing my dreams for the past four years, and now it's time to enjoy my dream! I do want to continue with the company after my internship and make a long career out of working for Disney, so I plan on networking a lot while down there and start working on a new dream. BUT, I also plan on enjoying every second of my current dream. I've worked hard to get to where I am, and I plan to enjoy every minute of it!
My family and I traveled to Disney World countless times growing up. It became our home away from home and we all loved our vacations. I have loved animals for as long as I can remember and especially enjoyed spending time at Animal Kingdom and The Seas learning about the animals and their care. I could be kind of a shy kid at times, but my parents always made me go ask the same question to the Cast Members, "what can I do to get your job in the future?" The answer was always the same - get a college degree, get lots of experience, and work incredibly hard.
As I got older and discovered more about myself and what I wanted to do, it became clear to me that I wanted to work with animals in a zoo/aquarium setting. Disney was always in the back of my mind, but I knew how competitive their programs were so I never wanted to get my hopes up too much. On my College Program in 2014, I fell in love with the Company and decided that Disney was actually my long-term career goal and that I would do absolutely whatever it took to work with the animals at Disney.
It was then that started to look at the Professional Internship job descriptions. I noticed you needed experience, and lots of it, to even qualify for most of the internships. It was at this point that I was determined to get the experience I needed and develop my resume so that it was geared towards getting a Professional Internship with the Animals, Science, and Environment Department after graduation. I started with the Animal Department Internship at the Greenville Zoo, where I worked for a year learning how to take care of exotic animals in a zoo setting. I then moved to the Marine Mammal Internship at the National Aquarium, because I wanted to make sure that marine mammals were something I still had an interest in. I was right - I still loved marine mammals, which meant that I was definitely going to apply for Disney's Marine Mammal Internship the following year. I also joined a Research Program at my school and studied primate personality and behavior so I would have experience in a laboratory setting quantifying and explaining animal behavior. Finally, I traveled to both India and Turks and Caicos for study abroad opportunities so I could experience fieldwork and learn about the natural environment outside of the classroom.
So, after getting all of this experience and learning so much about biology, psychology, animal care, husbandry, and so many more topics, I finally submitted my application to be the Marine Mammal Intern at the Walt Disney World Resort. I also submitted two other PI applications, just to increase my chances, but my first choice was always the Marine Mammal one. I actually could not believe that after years of preparing for this internship opportunity, it was finally happening! I mean seriously, I've wanted this internship since I was about 10 years old! After going through the long process of filling out questionnaires, interviewing, and most importantly, waiting, I finally got the call that confirmed that all of my dreams were coming true - I was going to be a Marine Mammal Intern at Disney!
The amount of support I have received from family and friends during this whole process has been overwhelming. Everyone is so supportive and excited for me and they keep wishing me luck "pursuing my dreams at Disney." And every time they say that, I just smile. Yes, I'll be pursuing my dreams down in Disney, but in my opinion, I've been pursuing my dreams for the past four years, and now it's time to enjoy my dream! I do want to continue with the company after my internship and make a long career out of working for Disney, so I plan on networking a lot while down there and start working on a new dream. BUT, I also plan on enjoying every second of my current dream. I've worked hard to get to where I am, and I plan to enjoy every minute of it!
April 14, 2016
So You Accepted a Professional Internship, Now What?
About three weeks ago, I officially accepted my PI with the Marine Mammal team at The Seas in Epcot. The days after my acceptance phone call were filled with excitement - I got to tell all my friends and family, make a big Facebook announcement, and start to get excited about graduation and my future. But then, after those few days had passed, I found myself sitting there thinking "so now what?" I still had a few weeks until graduation and a few months until my start date. I had let the PI application process consume my entire semester, and now that it was officially over, it was a completely strange feeling.
So, allow me share my "so now what" journey with you as I eagerly anticipate my start date for the Fall 2016 Marine Mammal Internship.
The first point of business after accepting a PI is to find housing accommodations. Disney does offer PI housing in Falcon Square, but they charge $140 a week (as of now) and you have to share a room with another intern. I've heard that the PI housing is nicer than CP housing, and it is really convenient because you don't have to worry about finding a place with a short-term lease or buying furniture. However, I did not have the best experience with CP housing, and being a 22-year old college graduate, I did not feel like being put back in a situation where I had a lot of strict housing rules to follow while sharing a room and paying a fortune for it. So, my friends and I (my roommates from my CP) decided we would find our own housing. Looking for apartments was kind of a long process, but I started a few weeks before I was accepted to make the process easier! We ended up signing a lease with Victoria Park Apartments in Davenport, Florida. The reason we signed here was because it was relatively cheap compared to other options, the staff was extremely helpful and friendly, and it came recommended by some friends! All of this made it a lot easier to sign a lease from out of state and without having actually seen the complex. We are currently in the process of signing the lease for our 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom place! I'm really excited for move-in and think that Allie, Megan, and I will have an absolute blast when we are reunited in Orlando!
The next communication I got from Disney was about joining Yammer, which is an online social networking site for businesses. Basically, it's a place to get to know one another and ask any questions about your position, costume, or other parts of your internship! The ASE Yammer is really cool because Issac, who is a part of the talent management team, is also on the page and is available to answer questions and share some funny stories with all of us. It's a really great resource and a way to keep us all busy before check-ins start!
The last piece of communication I received from Disney (so far) is my welcome letter. The ASE Talent Management Team sent me a welcome letter introducing themselves, telling me how to contact them, and giving me details about Yammer. The letter also included information about my arrival date, the Disney Look, and my costume and shoes. Finally, since I am a marine mammal intern and will be SCUBA diving as part of my responsibilities, I had to read another part of the letter specifically about diving. This section mainly just talked about how we can't wear jewelry on the job, how we have to use special animal-safe hair-ties, and about how they will provide us with diving gear for on the job use! I had to respond to the email with my height, weight, and shoe size so that my gear would be ready for me when I arrived!
Besides finding an apartment, figuring out Yammer, and preparing for my arrival, I've also been trying to enjoy my last few weeks at Clemson! Two weeks from today I will be done my finals and officially done with my undergraduate career. I have mixed feelings about this - I'm so excited for my new Disney adventure (and to be done with school, for the time being), but I am also really going to miss my friends and Clemson overall. Clemson has given me so much during my 4 years here, and I am really going to miss it!
So, if you've made it through this long post - congrats! You now know how I've been handling this "so now what" period, and the best ways for you to handle it as well! My advice would be to plan ahead and don't leave all of the preparation until the last minute. You want to be able to enjoy your last few weeks of school without having all the stress of finding roommates, an apartment, and getting acquainted with the company policies. I should be getting my new hire paperwork and some more information about the internship closer to my arrival date, so be on the lookout for another post about more pre-arrival tasks! And, as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out and let me know!
54 days and counting...!
So, allow me share my "so now what" journey with you as I eagerly anticipate my start date for the Fall 2016 Marine Mammal Internship.
The first point of business after accepting a PI is to find housing accommodations. Disney does offer PI housing in Falcon Square, but they charge $140 a week (as of now) and you have to share a room with another intern. I've heard that the PI housing is nicer than CP housing, and it is really convenient because you don't have to worry about finding a place with a short-term lease or buying furniture. However, I did not have the best experience with CP housing, and being a 22-year old college graduate, I did not feel like being put back in a situation where I had a lot of strict housing rules to follow while sharing a room and paying a fortune for it. So, my friends and I (my roommates from my CP) decided we would find our own housing. Looking for apartments was kind of a long process, but I started a few weeks before I was accepted to make the process easier! We ended up signing a lease with Victoria Park Apartments in Davenport, Florida. The reason we signed here was because it was relatively cheap compared to other options, the staff was extremely helpful and friendly, and it came recommended by some friends! All of this made it a lot easier to sign a lease from out of state and without having actually seen the complex. We are currently in the process of signing the lease for our 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom place! I'm really excited for move-in and think that Allie, Megan, and I will have an absolute blast when we are reunited in Orlando!
The next communication I got from Disney was about joining Yammer, which is an online social networking site for businesses. Basically, it's a place to get to know one another and ask any questions about your position, costume, or other parts of your internship! The ASE Yammer is really cool because Issac, who is a part of the talent management team, is also on the page and is available to answer questions and share some funny stories with all of us. It's a really great resource and a way to keep us all busy before check-ins start!
The last piece of communication I received from Disney (so far) is my welcome letter. The ASE Talent Management Team sent me a welcome letter introducing themselves, telling me how to contact them, and giving me details about Yammer. The letter also included information about my arrival date, the Disney Look, and my costume and shoes. Finally, since I am a marine mammal intern and will be SCUBA diving as part of my responsibilities, I had to read another part of the letter specifically about diving. This section mainly just talked about how we can't wear jewelry on the job, how we have to use special animal-safe hair-ties, and about how they will provide us with diving gear for on the job use! I had to respond to the email with my height, weight, and shoe size so that my gear would be ready for me when I arrived!
Besides finding an apartment, figuring out Yammer, and preparing for my arrival, I've also been trying to enjoy my last few weeks at Clemson! Two weeks from today I will be done my finals and officially done with my undergraduate career. I have mixed feelings about this - I'm so excited for my new Disney adventure (and to be done with school, for the time being), but I am also really going to miss my friends and Clemson overall. Clemson has given me so much during my 4 years here, and I am really going to miss it!
So, if you've made it through this long post - congrats! You now know how I've been handling this "so now what" period, and the best ways for you to handle it as well! My advice would be to plan ahead and don't leave all of the preparation until the last minute. You want to be able to enjoy your last few weeks of school without having all the stress of finding roommates, an apartment, and getting acquainted with the company policies. I should be getting my new hire paperwork and some more information about the internship closer to my arrival date, so be on the lookout for another post about more pre-arrival tasks! And, as always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out and let me know!
54 days and counting...!
March 23, 2016
Marine Mammal Professional Internship
This morning I received the phone call that I have been dreaming about for years - I officially accepted a position as the Marine Mammal Intern with the Walt Disney Company starting in June! Words cannot even begin to describe how excited I am for this opportunity. I've been dreaming about this internship for as long as I can remember. I cannot believe that my dreams are finally coming true!!!
Last week my dashboard status changed to "post-interview stage" for the marine mammal position. Then, I received an email late last night to set up a "brief phone conversation" to further discuss my position. I had a pretty good idea this meant good news, but I was still really nervous!! Finally, around 10:00 this morning I received a phone call from the recruiter. We went over basic information about the applications I submitted, verified a lot of information, and then at the end of the conversation she let me know that the Marine Mammal team wanted to offer me the position!!
So, beginning June 8, 2016, I will officially be moving to Orlando and starting work as the Marine Mammal Intern at The Seas in Epcot!! I have dreamed about this opportunity for so many years, and I am so thrilled to share my journey with you all!!
"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them." - Walt Disney
February 24, 2016
Marine Mammal Interview
This morning I had my interview for the Marine Mammal Professional Internship! I wanted to share my experience with you all because there is very little information available online about Animal Programs Internships, and even less information about the Marine Mammal Internship.
My interview was at 9:30 AM with Kim, the marine mammal manager. We used a program called Blue Jeans, which is an online video conferencing program, to conduct the interview. I was really nervous about using Blue Jeans because I've heard rumors that there are a lot of technical difficulties with it, but everything was fine and the audio and visual worked perfectly the entire interview! I rented a room in my school's career center for the interview and arrived about 20 minutes early. I made sure to dress in business casual clothing and I was in Disney Look as well! I logged in about 8 minutes early to make sure everything was working properly and because I wanted to be online when Kim joined. She joined the conference at exactly 9:30 and our interview began!
The interview began with her just going over some basic information: making sure I had full work availability, that I could lift 50 pounds, and that I understood that this was a learning opportunity and that it would not involve a lot of hands-on work with animals. Then we moved into discussing my prior experience in the field and how it related to the requirements of the internship. We then moved on to discussing this specific internship and why my personality and particular interests drew me to this position. Finally, we wrapped up with some general information about what to expect if accepted and I asked her a few questions before we ended the interview! All in all, it was a 24 minute conference call.
I was extremely nervous before the interview, mostly because I feel as though there is a lot riding on this internship opportunity. I'm graduating in May so I am really hoping to get an internship with Disney so I can begin my post-grad career with the company. However, as soon as the interview started I relaxed and felt very at ease talking with Kim! We laughed and had a genuinely good time. I think the interview went really well and I'm happy with the way I presented myself and my experiences.
Kim did inform me that she is interviewing for 6 positions from a pool of approximately 75 applicants, so the competition is extremely intense for this internship! I am not sure if all 75 applicants get interviews or not, but regardless, there are a lot of people vying for very few positions! Regardless of the outcome, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to interview for this dream role and I feel really good about my performance. Now I get to continue playing the waiting game and keep my fingers crossed for some good news in the next few weeks!
My interview was at 9:30 AM with Kim, the marine mammal manager. We used a program called Blue Jeans, which is an online video conferencing program, to conduct the interview. I was really nervous about using Blue Jeans because I've heard rumors that there are a lot of technical difficulties with it, but everything was fine and the audio and visual worked perfectly the entire interview! I rented a room in my school's career center for the interview and arrived about 20 minutes early. I made sure to dress in business casual clothing and I was in Disney Look as well! I logged in about 8 minutes early to make sure everything was working properly and because I wanted to be online when Kim joined. She joined the conference at exactly 9:30 and our interview began!
The interview began with her just going over some basic information: making sure I had full work availability, that I could lift 50 pounds, and that I understood that this was a learning opportunity and that it would not involve a lot of hands-on work with animals. Then we moved into discussing my prior experience in the field and how it related to the requirements of the internship. We then moved on to discussing this specific internship and why my personality and particular interests drew me to this position. Finally, we wrapped up with some general information about what to expect if accepted and I asked her a few questions before we ended the interview! All in all, it was a 24 minute conference call.
I was extremely nervous before the interview, mostly because I feel as though there is a lot riding on this internship opportunity. I'm graduating in May so I am really hoping to get an internship with Disney so I can begin my post-grad career with the company. However, as soon as the interview started I relaxed and felt very at ease talking with Kim! We laughed and had a genuinely good time. I think the interview went really well and I'm happy with the way I presented myself and my experiences.
Kim did inform me that she is interviewing for 6 positions from a pool of approximately 75 applicants, so the competition is extremely intense for this internship! I am not sure if all 75 applicants get interviews or not, but regardless, there are a lot of people vying for very few positions! Regardless of the outcome, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to interview for this dream role and I feel really good about my performance. Now I get to continue playing the waiting game and keep my fingers crossed for some good news in the next few weeks!
February 23, 2016
Update on Applications
So, as predicted, the first DCP acceptances did go out at the end of last week and the beginning of this week. Unfortunately, I was not a part of the first wave of acceptances, however I still am in progress! I know there is really no rhyme or reason to the waves of acceptances, but it's still frustrating to not hear anything! I'm just trying to remain patient and I'm constantly refreshing my email and dashboard!
However, on the bright side, I received an email from the Marine Mammals Department over the weekend to set up an interview with their team! I have an interview set up for tomorrow, February 24, at 9:30 AM! We are going to be doing a video conference. I'm so excited for the opportunity to speak with some members of the team and tell them about myself, my experiences, and my passion for animal care and training! I'm going to be spending most of today preparing for the interview. I booked a room in my career center so that I have a professional background and I'll be wearing business casual "Disney Look" clothes!
I'm so excited for my interview. I'll be sure to blog about it tomorrow and let you know how it goes!
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