What I've learned recently is that you can't plan things. You can't imagine what your life is going to be like or what your going to want, because guess what? It's probably gonna change.

   From the time I was very young I had this perfect plan of what I was gonna do with my life. And that was to go away to school, get my elementary education degree and finally become a real teacher!! Something that I've wanted for as long as I can remember. I picked Illinois State University and didn't even apply to any other school. As senior year of high school was ending everything was working out perfectly! 

   When I got to ISU, at first everything seemed perfect, until it wasn't. Until I hated it and spent days laying in my bed just wanting to go home and never come back. But I didn't go home. I stuck it out and kept moving forward, even when I had to drag myself to classes and force myself to smile when I saw my friends around campus. 

    I thought nothing good could come from all the unhappiness I felt, but around late January of that year I decided I wanted to apply for the Disney College Program. I had friends who had done it and it looked like the perfect escape from campus! I started watching countless YouTube videos and reading articles online about the program. I called my mom and told her about it and even though her support was tentative at first she eventually came around with the idea of me moving to Florida. So did my dad, and I could not be more thankful for parents who didn't question my crazy new dream. 

   I met with one academic adviser, and then another... and then another, to figure out how I could do this program and still graduate from ISU in four years. As the end of the school year rolled around things seemed to be falling into place. 

    The summer months only got me more and more excited about the possibility of doing the program and then on August 15th around 11:30 PM central time, the application dropped and I applied the next morning! After the longest and most stressful six weeks of my life I got that magical life changing email that read "Congratulations!"  All the hard work had paid off and I was going to Disney World!!! 

    The program itself changed my life in so many ways. The biggest being what I wanted to do when I "grew up". I realized toward the end of my time with Disney how special the company truly is and how badly I wanted to stay.  And now (even though I haven't changed my major and am keeping an open mind about what I want) I'm planning to move back down to Orlando after I graduate! And all I can think about is how this never would have happened if I hadn't had a hard first semester away at school. 

   So take it from the girl who's life was a perfectly planned out straight line. It's okay to not be happy doing something you thought you would love. And it's okay to want something new for your life. Even if it's scary, or crazy, or if nobody else understands why you want to do it in the first place. Find and new dream and go for it with all of your heart, because I promise, the happiness it will bring you is more than worth it.