Like a bunch of other people who absolutely love Disney, I could not wait to apply for the Disney College Program. I am a Disney fanatic and I have always wanted to work for the company; who wouldn’t love spending six months working for the mouse down in Florida?

The application process itself is stressful, but I felt that with my resume I was sure to get in. Boy, was I wrong. Not only was I NLIC'd (also known as No longer in Consideration), I had spent the entire recruiting season in submission, which is somewhere you do not want to be. Submission is what happens after your application is submitted and has gone under initial review. Some people will move out of submission, but a majority of people who are in submission usually end up staying there till the end of the recruiting season. Like many in submission, I wasn’t even given a chance to do a video or phone interview. I was starting to lose hope as this was my second time applying for the program.

At the time, I didn’t know that receiving my NLIC email was actually a blessing in disguise. Being declined from the Disney College Program led me to an amazing study abroad adventure. A program where I get spend 102 days aboard a floating campus traveling the world; this program is called Semester at Sea. Over the course of this 102-day voyage, I get to see eleven different countries and fifteen cities. These countries include Japan, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), India, Croatia, Morocco, and then a few days traveling through the Suez Canal. I get to experience not just one, but eleven different cultures all over the course of one semester. This is an experience that will be putting me in a position outside my comfort zone. This opportunity may be some ways away, but I never would have considered this if I had been accepted by Disney.

A dream is a wish your heart makes, and sometimes you don't even know that dream until it gets presented to you.

Everything happens for a reason, and boy am I happy that it did.