"To all who come to this happy place, welcome."
I'm still waiting for this all to become a reality in my mind, and as my departure date draws closer, I thought I would keep myself occupied with creating and preparing my DCP blog. It'd be a good idea to have it figured out and ready to go by the time I'm in Florida, right?
First Attempt
To begin, I was not accepted on my first try! Miracles do take a little time; mine just ended up taking about eight months. Originally, I had applied for the Fall/Fall Advantage 2017 program in the hopes that I would be eighteen by the time the program's start date arrived. Sadly, I missed the age deadline and was marked as an NLIC (no longer in consideration) about a month after applying. Of course, I was disappointed; but there's obviously nothing I can do about my age, so I probably wasn't as upset as most people might expect me to be.
Second Attempt
Six months after my first attempt, applications for the Spring/Spring Advantage 2018 program opened in August. As soon as I got the email announcing that applications were open, I began to prepare for my next attempt. I filled out the form, updated my work experience, and then waited until the day after I turned eighteen to submit my application: September 8th.
On October 2nd, I was still under "applied", so I was able to attend the Disney College Program auditions. The room was alive with energy, which had me excited with the anticipation of what the program might be like. I remember thinking how easy it was to work with the Disney recruiting team, and how organized the whole event was. I made it through to the second cut that day, and while I felt my audition went well, I tried not to raise my hopes too high just in case I didn't make it in.
At the time of the auditions, I had yet to receive any email about the web-based interview, which is Stage 2 of the application process. A lot of the audition attendees mentioned they had already had their phone interview, which is the third and final stage. Keeping up an optimistic attitude about being accepted became harder.
The Interviews On October 11th, my little sister and I were at a musical to support one of our friends who had a sub-lead role. Being the theater kid that I am, I was easily wrapped up in the show and had near-forgotten my anxiety of waiting to hear from Disney by the time intermission rolled around. As I pulled out my phone, I casually checked my email and had to keep from screaming in the theater. I was so shocked to see the message requesting that I take the web-based interview that I ended up calling my older sister and my mom before intermission ended. Inevitably, I took the interview as soon as I got home and was asked to participate in the phone interview immediately after.
My phone interview was scheduled for October 13th at 8:30 a.m. As I answered the interviewer's questions, I remember wondering if I sounded like I was trying too hard with being accepted. Even though my answers were genuine, it was still a very real concern of mine that she might assume I was just saying what I thought she wanted to hear. In fact, the most cringe-worthy response I gave her was when she asked me why I wanted to be put in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I had smiled and said without thinking, "Because I want to make little girls' dreams come true." It was the most cliche thing I could have said.
Getting Accepted and What Comes After
No one told me a week could be so painful. I was anxiously waiting, and I knew that I might not hear back for as long as November 17th (the cut-off date). It was nerve-wracking, knowing it could be any day that I would either be accepted or denied. Well, after those seven days of anxiety, I woke up on October 20th and checked up my email as usual. I was able to scream that time, since I was not in a theater. Within no time at all, I had filled out the required information and I began making phone calls to all of my friends and family. Soon after, I hopped onto Facebook and began searching for roommates.
Searching for roommates is hard; because you can only room with people arriving and departing the same days that you are, it definitely limits who you can room with. I've been so lucky to have been found by two girls, and then to have found three other girls afterwards. I am now part of a six-person roommate group and they're really just awesome people. Here's to hoping Disney honors our request and puts us together!
Well, 69 days to Disney. Yes, I have a count down. Posts will be sporadic and random until I'm actually there, but I will continue to update!
See ya real soon!
