I’ll be honest, I wasn’t head over heels in love with the idea of the Disney college program when I first heard of it my freshman year of college. Of course I love Disney and everything they do, and to be able to work for them was certainly a dream come true, but I was terrified of the unknown and the anxieties that came with the program. I thought working for Disney within their parks would possibly ruin the magic for me and turn my favorite vacation spot into just work, and who wants that?

I did a lot of research on the program before applying and there were so many mixed messages of people either absolutely loving the program or absolutely hating the program. The negative comments scared me. I did not want to leave my friends and family, sacrifice a whole semester of college, and risk the chance of possibly growing to dislike Disney because of working for them in the parks, but I knew it was something I should do if I wanted to accomplish my goal of one day working for Disney Corporate, despite my reservations and fears.

I applied for the DCP during the fall semester of my sophomore year of college. It was the last week of acceptances going out and I got that email saying “Congratulations!” I was excited, but reluctant because of all my fears and anxieties about the program. With a little enthusiasm from my friends, I decided to go accept my merchandise offer.

A few months later, I was on the road for a 20 hour car ride to Orlando, FL. I was so nervous to be leaving home for so long and so far from home; I had never been that far for that long. I remember the night my parents were flying back to New Jersey, I had a major panic attack outside of The Brick House on International Drive during our last dinner together. My mom was telling me that we could all drive back to Jersey right then and there and that I wouldn’t have to do the program, but my dad encouraged me to stay, telling me that this was a journey that I would have to come face to face with at some point in life and why not do it when I am working for my favorite place… He was right, and so, I stayed.

I remember my first day of work, I met this girl who was not shy about showing her negative attitude towards working for disney. She asked me if I was a CP and I said yes and then she told me that she liked me and wanted to be honest with me, so I then asked, “about what?” She then told me that I was dumb for doing the Disney College Program and that the program was going to be a waste of my time. Great way to start off my program, especially when I already had so many anxieties about the program. I tried to pay no mind to what she told me, but her words stuck to me like a bad omen.

The first few weeks on my program were pretty lonely. College program participants come into the program in dribs and drabs, so even though my area had almost 50 participants by the middle of my program, most of those participants did not show up till I was done with my training, and even then, I was working opposite hours of most of them. So for the first month or so of my program, I worked alone a lot.

Granted, there were other CP’s that arrived with me, but they were trained by different people and at different times, so there was no opportunity for me to bond with anyone while I was training. I was also trained all by myself, unlike a lot of the other CP’s who were trained with a partner. I was trained by the same trainer too for the first two weeks, which hindered my chances to get to know multiple trainers like others, so It was just me and my, not so very charismatic, trainer for a while. Even my roommates worked mostly opposite hours of me, so I did not get a chance to bond with them immediately they way they all did.

All these factors kept piling up and I grew more and more pessimistic with every day of my program for the first month. I felt like the program was growing to be everything I feared and I was becoming more and more frustrated. Everyone I came into contact with was already entranced by this overwhelming “happy” and “magical” fever of the DCP that I just did not understand. What was so great about it? I worked insane hours, barely slept, was having a hard time meeting people and was constantly stressed out. What was there to like? I missed my friends from home, watching them on Snapchat go out and have fun, and my family, having family days and getting home cooked meals. I wanted so desperately to love the program and experience this epiphany that everyone else had about the program, but it just was not happening for me, until I made my first friend.

This first friend became one of my absolute best friends. He felt the same way I did, where we did not understand the big deal about the program, until we started talking to more people, creating bonds and friendships, and all at once, it happened. I had my epiphany. I was suddenly always smiling and happy, even when I was working 15 hours in a day, or crying in the back of our stock rooms because I was just so tired, or overly sensitive. The people I met on my program are what made my program what it was. I realized that my negative outlook from the beginning of the program is what hurt me all along. It was not till I started breaking down my walls and showing everyone that I was not this quiet, shy, negative girl, that I started truly loving my program.

Once I started letting people in, the magic consumed me fast. I realized that working for Disney did not ruin the magic for me, but enhanced it because I came to see that Disney is just a theme park. Yes, there are some great details, rides and aspects that add to the mystical atmosphere, of Disney, but the true magic of Disney comes from it’s cast members, the people who put in the hard work, sweat, tears and even sometimes blood, to make sure that guests experience that unforgettable feeling of magic and wonder, and as a College Program participant, even though it was only for a short period of time, I got to be a part of that.

Your college program is what you make of it. It may be rough at first, which is normal. It is hard to get acquainted to a new area, all new people and new lifestyle, but it will get better. If you go into it being negative like I did, you will have a bad experience, but if you keep an open mind, you’ll be surprised as to how much this program can change you forever. The college program is not always rainbows and sunshine. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and passion to do the DCP, but if you find your special group of friends, whether it is just your roommates, or your whole work area, it makes it all worth it. The friends I made on my program are the kinds of friends that I will have for years and years to come. I am so grateful for the experience that I had on my program and I cannot stress enough how much I encourage everyone to try it. Take it from a girl who started off the program by hating it, to leaving the program, crying the whole 20 hour car ride back home to New Jersey, you won’t regret it. Disney did change from being just a vacation spot to me, but did not become work, but my home.