Wednesday December 31, 2014

Happy New Years!!

Happy New Years Eve everyone!  I hope you all had an amazing Christmas holiday with your family, or Hanukkah if that's something that you celebrate!  I've been meaning to write another post for a few days now, but I've been really busy with work and everything now that I'm home again for the holidays.  A lot has been going on both with work and with getting  everything ready for Disney!  Since I've been home, I've done lots of shopping and have received several new emails from Disney, which is always exciting!  I don't know if you watched my most recent vlog about what I'm most excited for, but let me just say that at this point with only one more month left until I leave, I'm so so excited about so many things!  Guys, is it really only one more month away??!  This has been a dream of mine for so long now and I can't believe I'm actually going to be helping make magic for guests in the MOST MAGICAL PLACE ON EARTH!  I've been talking with my roommates for about a month and a half now and we've been getting along great!  I'm so excited for check-in when I'll finally get the chance to meet them!  I know I keep saying in my vlogs that I'll talk about how we met and who my roommates will be and I promise I will!  HEHE!  It was kind of a crazy process and I want to devote an entire video to that.  I'm also very excited to find out where I will be working and where I will be living.  There's just so much excitement, it's crazy!

 

Anyways, like the Disney Look email that I mentioned receiving in one of my videos, I also received an email about Education soon after that on December 17th.  On December 23rd, I received an email about my New Hire Paperwork and New Hire Portal Instructions which I was very excited about filling out.  There was quite a lot of information to read over and look through so I saved .pdf files of all the documents.  At the beginning, there was a welcome video which made me start to tear up a little bit.  This whole experience has just been INCREDIBLE and I haven't even started my program yet.  AHHH! 

 

My mom and I have been trying to go shopping to look for clothes for both Traditions, class, training and for my apartment.  Back over Thanksgiving break, we went to the Gulfport Outlets in Mississippi

 and I found a really cute skirt that fits the Disney look perfectly and I'm so in love with it!  I can't wait to wear it for Traditions!  Also, I just found some cute flats to wear for Traditions yesterday.  Finding shoes is so hard for me because I'm really short and my shoe size is like a 5 and even smaller in children's shoes and usually all the cute shoes start in 6's.  I don't wear flats that much so I thought they would be difficult to find in the first place, especially finding some that I liked, but I found some at Target that were actually children's flats, but they're plain and don't really look childish, so I'm happy I found some to wear.  I'm thinking about wearing a purple sweater that I had gotten at Forever 21 a little while back and hopefully finding tights to finish my outfit for Traditions.  I had bought another skirt also to maybe wear to class and a pair of skinny black dress pants from Kohls.  I'm just trying to pick up some professional pieces that I can wear when I need to.

 

Let's see, what else!  Oh, well exactly one month from today I will be in Disney!  I haven't vlogged about my travel plans yet, but trust me, I will film that too!  But very briefly, yes, I will be in Disney on January 31st!  We're arriving just a couple of days before my check-in date so that I can spend the weekend before with my family.  I can't believe how soon it's coming! 

 

For Christmas, my parents got me a Thomas Kinkade 2015 Disney calendar that I'm so excited to use in my apartment!  He has some of the prettiest Disney pictures ever!  I really want one of his puzzles to do!  That would be so much fun!  Also, they gave me Two Girls and A Mousetale by Elly and Caroline Collins which is a book that two sisters wrote about their experience while working for a full year during the Disney College Program.  I'm already on chapter fifteen and they were both Merchandise cast members so I really love reading their stories since that's what my role is!  It's a really great book, and I definitely recommend that one and Amber Earns her Ears just for a good read about the program. 

 

Also, my last little update that I have which is not exactly Disney related, but since I'll be down in Florida for six months, I was planning on visiting Universal Studios quite a few times and paying for an annual pass.  I've heard nothing but great things about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but as popular as they are, I've never been interested enough to watch the movies or read the books.  I've seen so many people vlog about going to Universal Studios during their program and everyone loves the Harry Potter section there, so I was curious what it was all about.  Last Friday night, I decided to watch the first movie just to see if I'd get into it, and I DID!!  I can't believe I've never watched any of the movies before.  The magic and wizardry is a little different than what I'm used to watching, but besides that, the story is so good and I love all the characters and storylines!  So far, my favorite one is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the Goblet of Fire!  I guess I'm turning into a Harry Potter fan now!!

 

I just thought I would share some pictures from Christmas and earlier today. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!

 

                      

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Thursday December 11, 2014

Goodbye Finals, Hello Disney!!

Guys!!  I can't believe it!!  Today was my very last day at Southern Miss, and I'm really sad...  It feels so weird to think that I'm not coming back to school in January with the rest of my friends, but I'm also so excited to begin my Disney journey!  It feels so nice knowing that I'm done stressing with school until next August, which makes me really HAPPY! 

 

I had finals all this week which is never fun, but I got through them and am so happy that I finally have about a month and half to be at home and prepare for Disney until I leave.  I had two finals Monday and two finals Tuesday and then a paper for English due today.  On top of that, I had to pack up my entire dorm room to move out completely since I won't be coming back in the spring.  My parents drove to come help me this morning because I had tons of stuff to pack up and bring home.  Most of it will probably be repacked for Disney,  HAHA!  The last few days on campus were amazing, and I feel so blessed for all the sweet friends I have that have wished me the best of luck down in Disney!  It's such a bittersweet feeling leaving.  Around this time last year was when I first decided to research the program, and just about one year later today, here I am moving out of my dorm to start this new chapter in my life. 

 

I just wanted to write a quick little blog about what's been going on!  There's so much I want to tell you guys since I'm finally free from all the stress of college, but I feel like it would be easier to make a separate post for each thing I want to share with you all, which just means that there will be many new posts to read very soon! 

 

Starting Monday I'll be working again until the end of January, which is exciting!  I'm glad to be back working and to hopefully make a little bit of extra money to start me off for my program.  Let's see what else I can say real quick...  OOOHH Christmas will be here very soon which is my all time favorite holiday, so I'm looking forward to that!  I forgot if I've mentioned this in past blogs, but I did find all my roommates and we've been talking about once a week or so.  We all follow each other on Instagram and talking with them makes me so much more excited to meet them all!  I will most likely write a separate post about how we all found each other and who everyone is.  On a sidenote, Disney has been sending several emails within the past few days which is always exciting!  I love Disney emails!!!!  I received one all about the Disney look, which isn't very new, but there's tons of information to read (which I love!).  All my roommates and I also received a tax registration email which was really simple to fill out, and I've already heard of some people getting their New Hire Paperwork email which is so cool!!  I haven't gotten mine yet, but I'm hoping it will come soon!  Disney also sent an email about a new arrival date opportunity which was different.  They are apparently offering a new check-in date on March 2nd, but the departure date associated with that date would still be August 7th.  I don't know anyone who would want to change their date to an even later one, but I thought that was interesting!  I've already made my travel plans and have found all my roommates so I'm sticking with February 2nd!!  Also, just two days ago I got my most recent email which was about the DORMS Housing process.  It didn't say much, but it did remind us that we would able to register for housing two weeks before we check-in!

 

I'm going to miss everyone so much, BUT......................

 

In just 53 days more days and counting...  I'll be there... Can't wait to be in the MOST MAGICAL PLACE ON EARTH!

 

                     

                     

 

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Friday November 14, 2014

Registration for Disney Classes!!

One of the coolest things that I was interested in about the Disney College Program was the LEARNING aspect of the program.  Most of my friends and family are confused about what exactly the program is, and while I wanted to dedicate an entire page on my blog to all the aspects of the program and what it is about, I haven't had time to do that yet, so in the briefest of terms, I will explain the learning aspect of the program right now. 

 

Learning refers to the opportunity that Disney College Program participants have as far as taking classes through Disney University while you are in Walt Disney World or Disneyland for your program.   They offer many outstanding courses that are one-of-a-kind classes that you can only take at Disney.  Most people ask if I am able to earn college credit while I am doing the program, and while I can, my major does not really relate to any of the classes offered and I am already caught up and am about to finish all of my pre-requites courses for nursing in a few more weeks, so I will not be taking any of the credited courses offered.  Disney offers three types of courses - Collegiate Courses, the Disney Explorational Series, and the Professional Development Series.  The Collegiate Courses include classes like Corporate Analysis and Marketing You which are beneficial towards those who are interested in building skills in communication, marketing, leadership, guest services, etc.  These classes offer college credit for those interested.  I'm not too familiar with the Professional Development Series, except that they offer Engineering, Entertainment Show Production, and Security.

 

The classes that I was interested in taking from the beginning were those from the Disney Exploration Series, which in my opinion, seemed like fun and enjoyable classes to take.  These are free classes that really just focus on you exploring more about they Disney Company and the reasons how Disney creates such a magical place for guests to visit.  I really wanted to take Exploring Disney Heritage which is a class devoted to learning about the history of Disney.  It's a really popular course, so I was afraid I wouldn't get in, so I chose another class as a back-up which was called Exploring Guest Service and it seemed very similar to the Disney Heritage class so I was hopeful for either one!!

 

Registration was supposed to start at midnight EST on Monday November 10th, but the afternoon of that day, the registration page changed on the Onboarding website and said that classes would now be available starting at 10:00 AM EST on Monday November 10th.  I go to school in Mississippi so I'm located in the Central Time Zone, meaning that the classes would become available to me at 9:00 AM that day and of course I would have classes from 9:00 - 12:50 PM.  I was so upset because I knew how popular Exploring Disney Heritage was and I knew I probably wouldn't get in it.  I was going to try to register on my phone in class, but I never keep my phone out in class while I'm taking notes so it made me really nervous, but I didn't want to wait to register.  The whole time I was in class it kept saying my username and password were wrong.  I kept trying to use the same username and password that I use to login my Dashboard, but I didn't know it was different.  I was stressing out about class and registering and then I had ten minutes in between my next class, so I tried again.  I had been messaging some of my other friends and eventually asked them if I was using the wrong information to login and they told me how to do it after wasting an hour trying.  Eventually, I was able to login and the process took a little longer than I thought.  I was trying to rush before class started and the way you register was like in a survey form, so it was a little different than what I was expecting.  Sadly, Exploring Disney Heritage was full, so I requested to be placed on the waitlist for it, but I was able to get into Exploring Guest Services on Mondays at 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM.  I'm really really excited about it and just happy that I am able to take a class at Disney World and to experience what a Disney class is like.  I feel like this class will help me so much in providing guests with outstanding guest service in my location and I'm really excited about it!!

 

 

 

I just wanted to update y'all on that exciting news and I will continue blogging whenever I think of other things to write about.  HAHA!

 



 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

 

 

Thursday October 23, 2014

CONGRATULATIONS!!

Today was one of the greatest days of my life!  I never thought I would see a purple "Congratulations" email with my name on it!!  I was officially ACCEPTED into the Disney College Program for the Spring Advantage 2015 semester for the role of MERCHANDISE and I couldn't be any happier.  I'm so so excited!!!  Words can't even describe how happy I am!!!  I have so much to share with all of you so I hope that you will continue reading and enjoy my acceptance story!!

 

First of all, I am so sorry that I am behind with posting blogs on this page!  I meant to write about my status update about a month ago, but I this semester is one of my hardest yet because I'm trying to finish all my pre-requisite classes before next spring so I won't be behind for nursing school next fall.  So again, I apologize and I hope that I can find more time when I am down in Disney to keep you all updated! 

 

As you know, I applied for the Disney College Program on Thursday August 21st and had my Phone Interview on Friday August 29th.  I waited four weeks until Wednesday September 24th until I received a PENDING email.  That day was pretty crazy!!  So many people on the Facebook page seemed to be receiving pending emails, but I didn't receive mine until 4:02 PM.  I was kind of upset about it, but not devastated because I still thought that there could be a chance, but I wasn't for sure.  I was really confident with my phone interview and I thought I may have been pended because I expressed interest in seventeen of the twenty roles they offered.  Everyone seemed to have their own theories, but I kept thinking about how this season has been so different with applications coming out early and the majority of people getting out of submission after a month so I just stayed really hopeful and optimistic, except towards mid-October I started to get a little sad the more I thought about the what-ifs of being no longer in consideration, but I tried my hardest to focus on the positive aspects of my application process so far.  I received a second pending email exactly three weeks after the first on Wednesday October 15th at 4:22 PM.  I wasn't surprised because everyone said that they usually send reminders.  Honestly, I was happy that they had looked over my application and interview and that I was still in consideration.  Little did I know that eight days later I would be CELEBRATING some very exciting news!

 

PENDING EMAIL FROM SEPTEMBER 24TH AT 4:02 PM

 

 

SECOND PENDING EMAIL FROM OCTOBER 15TH AT 4:22 PM

 

 

DASHBOARD AFTER PENDING EMAILS



I had been home for Fall Break October 16th through October 19th and I started to get very anxious about waiting.  I got back to school and the next Monday was October 20th which meant that it was officially late October.  They had said that applications would come out in late August and when they did come out it was August 20th.  I was a mix of emotions the beginning of that week because I was so hopeful, yet I still kept thinking about the chance of not getting in and having to wait up until the very last possible date to hear back anything which was Monday November 17th.  I noticed a few acceptances that Monday and none on Tuesday, but Wednesday was the very first day that a ton of penders began to get accepted and I FREAKED OUT!  Sadly, I was not a part of the wave that day, but it made me really happy and even more hopeful that the rest of that week I could possibly find out something. 

On Thursday morning on October 23rd, I woke up at 7:00 AM to get ready for class.  I continued my usual morning routine of checking my dashboard and email, but nothing appeared from Disney every time I refreshed.  I left to go to my Anatomy class and usually as soon as I get out of class, I had been refreshing my emails, but something made me wait that day until I got back to my dorm to check.  First, I had a bunch of Facebook notifications and I started to see people saying they were accepted for Spring Advantage 2015 Merchandise and I was like OH MY GOSH that's the role I really want and the season I applied for.  I refreshed my email, and this time there it was... an email from wdw.disney.recruiting.... CONGRATULATIONS! I opened the email and I couldn't believe I was finally seeing my name on the email I had been waiting for nearly two months for!!  I screamed and jumped up and down and my roommate knew immediately what was going on!  It was the best moment I'll always remember.  Both my mom and dad were at work, but I called my mom first to tell her the news and she couldn't believe it!  I called my dad next and he said from the minute I said hello he had a feeling I was about to tell him I got accepted into the Disney College Program!!!  My parents have wanted this as much as I have since the day I told them I really wanted to apply back in December of 2013 and I couldn't be more blessed for having their support throughout this whole process.  My brother was at school, so I had to wait to tell him after my afternoon classes.  After I called my mom and dad, I shared all my details on social media except I never even checked to see what my role was.  I clicked the link in my acceptance email and it pulled up a link for a .pdf file and as it downloaded, I was so nervous but excited to see and guess what?!?  I got my top choice - MERCHANDISE for Spring Advantage 2015!!  I couldn't be more happier!

ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

 



 



After checking my role, I accepted my offer and waited for a second email in order to pay my program fees.  I got the email about an hour later, but I waited until my parents got home so that we could read over all the information together.  The fees cost a total of $354.00 which included $150.00 for the housing events, $200.00 for the first few weeks of housing rent, and another $4.00 as a processing fee.  Once I paid my fees, I was excited to be able to choose my arrival and departure dates.  I was hoping to arrive some time in January so that I could stay even longer down in Disney, but the only two arrival dates that were open for my to choose from were February 2nd and February 9th so I chose February 2nd because it was the earliest date I was able to choose.  All Spring Advantage 2015 departure dates were August 7th, so my official program dates are February 2nd - August 7th and I am so so excited!!!  I will be down in Disney for just about six months which is amazing!!  I can't wait till February!  I already started a countdown on my iPhone which will help me track how many days are left until I arrive!

 

MY WELCOME EMAIL

 



 

I have so much more to write about and I can't wait to keep you all informed about my progress with the Disney College Program!!  I am so happy that I am being able to have this opportunity and I can't wait to start planning everything and finding potential roommates!!  I will keep you all updated with everything as more exciting things start happening, but for now, I hope you all have a magical day and I can't wait to meet all my fellow College Programers next semester!!

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

 

 

 

Friday September 26, 2014

Waiting Tips

I'm so so sorry that I haven't written anything during the majority of the month of September.  I haven't forgotten about writing, there just wasn't really anything much to write about, but recently, I've been thinking of some things that I wanted to write about on my blog and share with all of you as I continue through my application process with the Disney College Program Spring Advantage 2015.  A lot has been going on throughout the month of September and I'm not even sure where to begin.  First, school has been keeping me really busy and I've been trying my hardest to stay focused in my classes this semester, but honestly, it's so hard considering that Disney is constantly on my mind 24/7.  If you have read my other posts and have been watching my vlogs on my YouTube channel, many of you may know that I applied to the Disney College Program on Thursday August 21st which was the same day that I completed my Web Based Interview, and I had my Phone Interview the following Friday August 29th at 11:30 AM.  Today marks four weeks since I have had my phone interview which is crazy and I am still waiting.....

 

I keep trying to remind myself that even though people have already begun getting accepted as of the first week of September (Friday September 5th), my interviewer stressed that the majority of decisions would be made during late October which is keeping me hopeful.  I'm still in progress, and I have another update about my status that I will most likely write about tomorrow in another post so be sure to check that out!  I filmed a vlog about several tips that have been helping me as I wait to hear anything back from Disney, so I thought that I would explain in words these tips and share them with all of you!

 

Waiting Tips:

 

1) Keeping busy with school and assignments

School has been my number one distraction throughout my waiting process.  Even though I mentioned before that Disney has been distracting me from focusing on my classes, school is still a huge distraction and is the only thing really keeping me focused on other things besides the wait.  I'm taking seventeen hours this semester so that I can complete all my pre-requisite classes in case Disney works out for me before I start nursing school in the fall, so I'm always studying or writing papers which consumes a lot of my time!

 

2) Spending time with my family

Even though I go to college an hour and a half away from my family, I was able to go home over Labor Day to visit with my mom, dad, and brother the day after my phone interview which was really exciting!!  Also, my family just recently came up to visit me this past weekend at college.  I enjoyed our weekend together!  They ended up coming to one of our home football games (WHICH WE WON!!) and came to church with me on Sunday morning, which you can watch in my vlog.  All together, it was a great weekend because I missed them, and I will be going home again soon during my Fall Break in mid-October (crossing my fingers that I will know something from Disney around that time!)

 

3) Spending time with friends

I couldn't ask for better friends to share my college experience with!  So far, sophomore year has been great, and I've already made so many lasting memories!  I'm always socializing and hanging out with different people, which definitely helps me take my mind off of Disney and the wait for a little while.  My friends are some of my biggest supporters throughout this entire process and help keep me hopeful!

 

4) Listen to Disney Pandora

I love, love, love listening to Disney music!!  It just makes me happy!!!  I always have my Disney Pandora station turned on whenever I'm rewriting my notes or doing some homework in my dorm room!  It's a perfect way to keep Disney on my mind while waiting and also just helps make me happy and hopeful during this process!

 

5) Watch Disney movies

Disney movies are my favorite!!  I just recently watched Beauty and the Beast which is one Disney movie that had been on my mind for a while, and I finally found some down time to watch it.  I hadn't seen it since I was really little and it brought back so many memories.  I fell in love with it all over again!  I also love whenever ABC Family sometimes has Disney movie marathons!  I always try my best to catch some of the movies when they air on television!

 

6) Shopping

So, of course I love to shop for clothes and jewelry and what-not, but it just seems so coincidental that wherever I seem to be shopping at, I just so happen to see Disney merchandise everywhere - whether it be clothing items, notepads, balloons, cards, stickers, etc.  It makes me so happy seeing Mickey and Minnie featured on merchandise around Dollar Tree, Walmart, or Target.  Literally, I feel like I've seen more Disney merchandise since I've applied for this program than I ever noticed or paid attention to before!  Maybe it's a sign...  Who knows!

 

HAHA!!  So, if you would like to see the vlog that I filmed and edited related to this blog post, be sure to check it out here!!  Hope you all have a magical day, and I will continue to keep you all updated with my status.  Talk to you again real soon!

 

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Wednesday September 3, 2014

My First Vlog

 

I have some really exciting news to tell you!  I just filmed and uploaded my very first vlog related to the Disney College Program and I am so excited!!  I've been wanting to start making vlogs ever since I started watching other people's videos on YouTube whenever I was first researching about the program.  I was trying to wait until after I completed my application process so that I would have something to talk about and now that I've already had my phone interview, I went ahead and filmed my first vlog.  I figured this would be a fun way to spend the dreaded wait of finding out any news from Disney, so here it is!  This is just a quick INTRODUCTION about me and what you will expect to see from my channel.  If you have any suggestions about videos you would like to see, feel free to comment and let me know because I would love to hear.  I know this post is a lot shorter than the others, but I just had to tell y'all about this!  I hope you like it, and I can't wait to film more!  

 

 

Friday August 29, 2014

Phone Interview

GUESS WHAT?!  Today is the day of my phone interview!!  I can't believe today is really here!  I've been waiting for so long to finally be able to do this and explain all the reasons for why I want to participate in this program!  I'm so so happy!  Only a few more hours!  Talk to y'all soon...

 

Two and a Half Hours Later...

 

Ahh I can't believe I just had my phone interview!!  I'm going to start from the very beginning and explain everything I can without making this blog super long.  So, last night I could barely sleep!  I had a horrible dream that I had missed my phone interview call and I was so upset!  On top of that, this week has been very long and so I was really tired.  Whenever I get really tired, I start sneezing for some reason. Last night I started sneezing and I felt awful, and when I woke up this morning, I was still sneezing, and I had a sore throat.  Usually, my runny noses go away, but of course not today on this BIG DAY! Of all days, the one day that I've been waiting for so long for I had to be kind of sick for.  I was so upset, but I knew I would just have to make the best of it.  I only had one class this morning from 9-9:50 AM.  Immediately after class, I came back to my dorm to start preparing for my interview and finished the last touches to the flashcards I was making.  I wanted to make inspirational cards that said "SMILE", "THINK DISNEY", "THIS IS SO EXCITING", and "BE YOURSELF" just to make me smile and be happy during my phone interview.  I also made a little sign that I taped on the front of the door of my dorm so that no one disturbed me during my interview.  I had my Disney frame on my nightstand and my pink, little Minnie Mouse doll sitting next to me on my bed.  Let's just say, I was really excited for this BIG MOMENT!

 



 

My phone interview was scheduled for 11:30 AM Central Time.  My nerves started getting the best of me around 11:00 AM.  I was listening to Disney on Pandora from the time I got back from class until my interview.  I initially was going to do my interview in a study room at the end of our hall, but my roommate told me that she was going to go to lunch with her sister, so I ended up just staying in our room.  I really wanted to record my interview on my camera just for and memories and so that I could rewatch it if I ever wanted to.  I was messaging some of the girls on the FaceBook page and I started to get really emotional as I was waiting thinking that THIS MOMENT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING!

At around 11:25 AM I went and pressed play so that my camera could record and then finished listening to "Circle of Life" from the Lion King on Pandora.  Literally like five seconds after that, my phone started ringing!!!!  It showed up as a NO CALLER ID so I knew it had to be Disney!  My heart was racing!  I answered the phone and my interviewer was so nice!!  I didn't catch her name and I'm not even sure if she said her name, but the interview went very well.  It lasted 24 minutes and I didn't really feel like she asked me that many questions.  I was smiling and laughing the entire time!  I felt like I was having an actual conversation with my best friend which is something that I know everyone says, but it really did feel that way.  Of course, I was really nervous in the beginning, but the longer the interview lasted, I began to feel more relaxed and comfortable talking with her.  We talked a lot about my work experience and discussed which roles I was interested in and my reasons for choosing those as my top roles.  At the end of the interview, she told me that acceptances probably would not come out until mid-to-late October!  I'm going to hate waiting that long!  But I hope that THE WAIT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT IN THE END!

So yeah!  That was my phone interview!  She asked me typical questions about what type of conditions I would rather work in and how I would like living with multiple roommates.  I asked her about how to register for classes through the Disney College Program because I am really interested in taking the Disney Heritage class and she said that if I were to be accepted that they would send all that information out through email.  I also asked her if she wouldn't mind telling me how she got started with Disney in case she didn't have time, but she told me that she also participated in the College Program a little while back and has loved seeing how much has changed and transformed with the program over the years.  I feel very good about my interview because I know that I did all that I could at this point and now it's their decision.  I don't want to get my hopes up, but I really want to be a part of this program so much!  All I can do for now is just cross my fingers and hope that if this is in God's plan for my life, than everything will work out MAGICALLY! When October comes, I'll update you guys about my progress with the program.  But until then, I hope to be posting weekly blogs and small updates if I find out any new news!  I also plan on officially starting my YouTube vlog channel very soon!!  I already have a channel with a couple videos already on there, but none yet about the Disney College Program.  Hope you all have a magical day and thanks for reading!

~ Krista Lauren Girod

 

Okay hey everyone!!  Sorry, I decided to edit this blog because I received an email this morning, Saturday August 30, 2014 saying "Thank You for Interviewing."  The email was actually sent late last night, but I noticed it in my inbox this morning.  I also checked my dashboard periodically throughout today and my status still says "IN PROGRESS" so that's a good sign!!  My fingers are crossed that everything works out and sometime in October I will hopefully know something!!  I just had to mention this real quick!  Talk to you again real soon!

 





Sunday August 24, 2014

I APPLIED!!

Okay, so I'm just going to start from the beginning and explain everything that has been going on in the past few days!  I moved back to Hattiesburg, Mississippi on Wednesday August 13th to start my sophomore year of college!  I was so busy with Golden Eagle Welcome Week and getting all settled in for a new year that I didn't have much time to watch Disney vlogs like I had been all summer!  I had seen some posts on the Disney College Program Spring/Spring Advantage 2015 Facebook group saying that applications might be coming out on Wednesday August 20th.  I wasn't actually sure what to believe, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to check the Disney College Program website to see if they were out or not that day.  Well, August 20th was my first day of classes so I had checked the website before my first class and nothing was showing up online.  I got to my first class a little early so I had some time to search Facebook some more before class started and GUESS WHAT??  Someone had posted that apps were officially out!!  EEEEPPP!  I couldn't have been more excited!  I couldn't wait to go back to my dorm after class to see for myself! 

 

I ended up being really busy Wednesday and I didn't want to apply really late at night, so I waited till Thursday morning on August 21st to apply.  I had one morning class, but as soon as class was over, I came back to my dorm and sat down to apply.  The application was pretty simple, it just took me a little while to fill it out because this is my first time applying and I really wanted to take my time with the application and read everything carefully!  There were a bunch of different pages that I had to fill out, but it wasn't hard at all.  I remember them asking to verify my school history - like my grade classification and school name - work experience (which took some time) - volunteer experience - role interest - and consent for a background check.  Choosing my interest in all of the roles was definitely my favorite part of the entire application.  I chose high interest for merchandise, attractions, and quick service food and beverage because I really want a role that allows for a lot of guest interaction since I love talking with people and I feel like those roles will help benefit me the most with my major.  I only chose no interest for the roles I really couldn't see myself working which were lifeguarding, recreation, and transportation, but everything else I chose moderate or low interest.  After I finished filling out the application, I clicked SUBMIT and then went to my next class for the day!

 

I was really nervous after submitting the application because I know it's a possibility that those applying could be in submission, but luckily, only about an hour and half after applying, I received an email saying that I could take the Web Based Interview!

Once all my classes were finished on Thursday, I came back to my dorm again and filled out the Web Based Interview while my roommate was at band practice.  I was so nervous to take it because I knew it was timed and I know that this is kind of the make it or break it factor that may lead to a phone interview!  I took a deep breath and started the interview.  It was divided into three sections.  I don't remember a lot of the questions asked, but I can see how they try to trick you.  Just focus and pay attention to how you answer a previous question in case they ask again, but if you are honest with every answer, then you shouldn't have a problem.  I didn't know if there was going to be a submit button, so I just kept clicking next until a new page came up saying that my next step was the phone interview!  I literally sat back and took a deep breath and then starting squealing with excitement!  I was soo happy!!!  I immediately called my parents and my mom was like, "So when's your phone interview?!" and I told her than I didn't know yet cause I was waiting for them to send another email for me to schedule it.  I told her that I was just too excited and had to call her right away!

I received another email about ten minutes after allowing me to schedule my phone interview!!  I'm getting so so excited as a type this right now!  I ended up scheduling my phone interview a week later for FRIDAY AUGUST 29TH.  I wanted to give myself time to prepare, plus I wanted to schedule it on a day that I wouldn't be too busy since Friday I only have one morning class.  My interview time is for 11:30 AM CENTRAL TIME!  I will let y'all all know how it goes!!  Can't wait!

~ Krista Lauren Girod

 

 

 



Saturday August 23, 2014

THE BEGINNING....

Hey everyone!!  My name is Krista Girod and I'm applying for the Disney College Program Spring Advantage 2015.  I know I've already introduced myself a bunch of times on this blog, but I just figured I would write it all out again for my very FIRST BLOG POST! I kind of wanted to start off by explaining how I came to find out about the Disney College Program, why I would like to participate in this program, and how I chose when the best time would be to apply so here it goes...

 

It's actually kind of a funny story how I first found out about the Disney College Program.  I have been going to the parks at least once every year since I was five, but I first found out about the program the spring before my freshman year of college.  I was about to graduate high school in the Spring of 2013 and one night for dinner, our waitress at the Cracker Barrel left a receipt with her name and it said something along the lines of, "HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!" My dad sparked a conversation with her and she began to tell us how she was just about to leave to go to Florida for the Disney College Program.  I had somewhat heard of the program before, but had no idea what it was all about and how it worked.  She seemed really excited about it and it made me think more about applying for it.  I knew it was a college program so I figured I would have to be in college which I was about to start in the fall, but I was so confused about how the classes worked and what the program really consisted of. 

 

I never really researched anything about the program that whole summer because I was really busy getting things prepared for my first year of college.  Once I got to Southern Miss, I noticed some tables set up in our main union area and posters hung up in our dorm advertising the program, but honestly, I was more excited about starting my freshman year than thinking about applying for the program. 

 

During my winter break, I got home and something made me think about the Disney College Program so I researched it on the Internet and that's when my obsession with watching DCP vlogs all started. HAHA!! I remember the very first video I watched regarding the program was one of the DIS Unplugged videos on YouTube.  It was about an hour long and I watched the entire thing in one sitting.  I recommend that video for anyone thinking about applying because it really did clear up a lot of questions I had regarding the program.  Here's the link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_jXmkcYWII.  The video is from 2013 so some things may have changed a little, but the basic concept of the program is well-explained!

 

Immediately after watching that video, I really started to think that the Disney College Program was something that I really wanted to try to do.  I ran to tell my mom and dad and they were excited about it and said to go for it.  My mom had been telling me to research the program for a while before, but I just never really had the time until then.  So during my entire winter break, I continued to watch vlogs on YouTube and that's what inspired me to want to create my own blogs whenever I apply. 

 

The next step to my DCP STORY was trying to find a semester to take off of school in order to participate in the program.  I'm a nursing major and my goal was to start nursing school the fall of my junior year which would be the Fall of 2015.  I thought it would be kind of hard to take a semester off during nursing school, so I thought the best time for me to do the program was before I started nursing school.  The only way to do that though was to try and get ahead in some of my pre-requisite classes so that I wouldn't be behind for nursing school.  I took two courses during the summer after my freshman year - so this past summer - and I am currently in the first semester of my sophomore year.  After this semester, I will have completed all of my perquisite classes and I have to apply to nursing school by February 1, 2015, so if everything works out, I will not be behind and will be able to start nursing school as soon as I get back from Disney if I get accepted for Spring Advantage 2015.

 

Sorry this was such a long post, but I enjoy hearing others DCP stories and I thought mine might help all of you out if you had any trouble trying to choose when to apply for. 

 

Last but not least, I have so many reasons for wanting to do this program.  I've never participated in any type of internship opportunity before, and I really think that this will be a great opportunity to do something different with my life.  I'm hoping that by participating in this program, I will be able to really improve on my working abilities by learning from professionals and by networking with others.  As a guest at Disney World, I know what it feels like to share some of life's greatest memories in the HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH, but it would be such a great experience for me to be able to share my memories as a guest while being a cast member.  I am looking forward to participating in the college program because of the amazing learning environment that is available to college students.  I love interacting with others, I love to smile, and I'm always happy.  Working for Disney will really enhance my resume when it comes to finding jobs after college.  I'm so so excited to share this amazing opportunity with all of you and I will talk to you all very soon!

~ Krista Lauren Girod