HAPPY THANKSGIVING, ALL!
This year, I'm grateful that in just a few short months, I'll begin my Disney College Program!
I've been dreaming about this for years now, and I'm still kind of surprised by how well everything is working out!
In I believe 52 days now,
hourglass) I'll be in the Most Magical Place on Earth, and I'll have the chance to make magic for countless people. It's literally a dream come true. And yes, I am using the world literally properly. I've really dreamed about it.
When I first started researching the DCP, I was initially really nervous. It seemed like there were so many people who applied every recruiting season and yet were never accepted. Sure, I love Disney. A lot. But evidently that wasn't enough.
And so I'm somewhat surprised and incredibly excited about everything that's happening. First of all, I GET TO MISS THE WINTER. I'm a California girl. I spent 18 years there. Girls started bringing blankets to school when it hit 40 degrees. My high school genuinely had heaters. In
California.
Now, attending school in Utah, I have to face the winter. Snow AND cold. It's basically terrible. I'm genuinely still confused about how it can be so darn cold outside
while the sun is shining. Nowadays, when it reaches 40 degrees, I throw a miniature dance party because I don't have to wear a coat that day. Not only am I counting down the days until Disney, I'm counting down the days until I get to go home for Christmas and experience a proper 70 degree winter holiday.
And then, I don't have to go back to Utah. I get to go live in Florida, where they have semi-proper weather. It's amazing to contemplate.
However, I'm going to miss my Disneyland terribly. My family have annual passes that expire soon, so they've been a number of times in the last few months, and it hurts inside. At Disneyland, I'm unfailingly happy. That's not an exaggeration. My grandfather once mentioned that its only in Disneyland that he ever sees me smile. Which
is an exaggeration.
But the principle still stands. Disneyland is like a symbol of my childhood. It stands for a place and a time when everything was simple, when I didn't have to worry about paying rent or missing a day of work because it's Thanksgiving, when home was also a place of refuge and love. I miss that. As much as I love being an adult, it's stressful.
Especially now, when in the next few weeks I have four papers to write/finish, 7 tests/finals to take, an apartment worth of stuff to pack, and mountains of stuff to condense to 2 suitcases and 100 pounds, I really wish I could just be a little kid standing in line for Peter Pan again.
And hopefully in a few months, I can. Of course, I will be working full time and I'm sure that won't be a cakewalk, but I'm guessing that full time work at WDW will be much more exciting than the other jobs I've had. Hopefully when I finish up a long shift, I won't go to bed dreading the fact that I have to wake up the next morning and do it all again.
But Disney makes me happy. It always has. I really, really hope that it always will. I hope that in a few years, if I can ever work up the courage to have kids, I can take them to Disney parks and teach them to love it as much as I do.
As a history major, people are always asking me what I want to do with my life. I don't know, okay?? I'm 19. I don't need to have a life plan right now. But the more I think about it, the more I think I would like to work for Disney. First of all, it means I would get to live somewhere warm. That's an absolute requirement.
But more importantly, I would get to do something I love. Even now the thought of working 40 hour weeks for the rest of my life is depressing. I've never had a job that I've genuinely loved, and so my main goal in life is to find one. One that I can stick with without dreaming about the day I can quit.
My ultimate life goal is to be a writer. Not necessarily fiction, because I'm terribly uncreative, but to travel the world and just write about different people and cultures. To experience all the world has to offer.
I know it's a long shot. As much as I love writing, I'm not the most talented person. It probably won't ever happen. That's why Disney has been perpetually on my horizon. And so, after a long diatribe, I'll reiterate by saying that I'm grateful that in less than two months I'll be able to pursue my goals.
And, in a slightly off-topic list, yesterday I sat down and spent five minutes brain-storming what I'll miss most about Disneyland. Of course, with only five minutes it's not an extensive list, but it's all the most important stuff.
Things I'll Miss About Disneyland:
1. Steak Gumbo.
2. Cars Land.
3. Hand dipped corn dogs
4. Space Mountain
5. Mark Twain Riverboat
6. Sailing Ship Columbia
7. Petting zoo
8. World of Color
9. The Beasts Library
10. The Aladdin show
11. Monsters Inc.
12. Beignets at DTD
13. Knowing where everything is
14. Castle walk through
15. Screamin'
16. Soarin'
OVER CALIFORNIA
17. Paper fastpasses
18. Grizzly River Rapids
19. Countdown chicken fusilli
20. The French Market
21. New Orleans Square
22. The walk from the hotel to the entrance
23. Being able to walk between the parks and hotels
I'm sure I've missed things, but there it is. Have a happy holiday, everyone!
Love you all,
Kira