The happiest place on earth sits 421 miles from Auburn University. Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida has been making dreams come true for college students all over the world. The Disney College Program (DCP) offers jobs to students, so basically they get to work for the mouse for 5-7 months with a castle in their backyard.
Auburn student, Katy Stevison, has been a member of the DCP twice. As a communication major and business minor, she was able to gain valuable experience by working in merchandising at Disney Springs and vacation planning. “The jobs I had at Disney really prepared me for my future. They taught me how to understand people, whether that be my co-workers or guest. I was able to really listen to verbal/non-verbal cues to help better understand the needs or wants of people, and that is a huge part of my major,” said Stevison.
While in merchandising Stevison worked a lot of late nights 4-5 days a week with shifts averaging about 8 hours. While working as a vacation planner, she had a typical 9:00-5:00 schedule 5-6 days a week. Stevison noted that the vacation planning job helped her get on a fixed schedule and prepared her for future employment.
Even though she was working, Stevison made time to take a full semester of classes her second time through DCP. “It was extremely challenging, but I think that it taught me how to manage my time between play, school and working. I actually came back using a planner when I never used one before!”
While at Walt Disney World Sevison met her five best friends. It has been two years since their first time meeting, but that does not stop them on their pact to travel the world together. They plan a new trip every six months to relive their glory days. Their most recent trip was to San Fransisco. She also got to visit her roommates from her second DCP program in New York City where they watched an Ed Sheeran concert. “The friendships I made in Disney are irreplaceable, and I am thankful to have friends from all over the country that I still talk to every day. In vacation planning, I actually worked with mostly international students so it really allowed me to learn about various cultures and make friends that I probably would not have ever had to the chance to make if it wasn’t for Disney. My friend Jess, who is from Auckland, New Zealand, are always trying to make plans to travel to see each other; however, international flights are so expensive! I’m convinced it will happen one day though!”
While working as a vacation planner, Stevison applied to be a professional intern at Disney. People usually apply to be a professional intern after graduation to continue their time with the company. She received a position as a professional intern in vacation planning. “As much as I wanted to take it, the timing wasn’t right. I wanted to finish my Auburn education and accepting this opportunity would be taking it away from someone who was in the right timing and would delay my graduation. It would have been an amazing opportunity; however, I’m so happy I ended up back at Auburn finishing my education.”
“I think one of my favorite memories and one that I’ll never forget is the impact you as an individual can make in someone's life. Keeping the magic alive and storyline around Disney is extremely important, so just talking to a little kid about their favorite character can make their day,” said Stevison. She retold a memory that stuck out to her, “One time my friends and I all rode the Tower of Terror with a little girl who’s mom couldn’t ride, and she thought we were the coolest people ever because we talked to her through the line and held her hand when she was scared. So, even making an impact on people outside of work was really cool.” She also loved being able to explore the Orlando area; she even went skydiving.
Stevison had the time of her life while working for the mouse. She said the main thing she learned through the experience was, “Have courage and be kind. This obviously is a line from Cinderella but totally relatable in everyday life. I think that you have to be courageous, whether that be standing up for something or just taking a chance on something you’re just not sure about. And being kind of really self-explanatory, you never know who you’ll meet or what impact you’ll make on someone just from being kind.”
Stevison notes that she does not feel like she missed any opportunities at Auburn. She advises everyone to do it and not look back because she would not be who she is today if it wasn’t for DCP.
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