Get ready for version 2.0!

Hello everyone!

As you may or may not know, I recently received a piece of paper worth $30k.

(not pictured: piece of paper worth $30k)

Okay, so I received a handshake from the president of UNLV and the piece of paper (aka: my Bachelor of Arts degree) is supposedly arriving in a few weeks months.

So, with this pending piece of paper comes employers, on their hands and knees, begging me to come grace their business with my new found skills and desire to pay off my student loan debt. Right? Right???

Not exactly. The economy is still  tough, I'm still not sure exactly where I want to live for the rest of my life, and I'm still not ready to be done with school. I'd like to go on to my Master's degree for several reasons. The only thing I know for sure is that I'd like to work in public relations and event planning. The specifics of this are still cloudy, however. Will I work for a company? Have my own business? Live in Florida, California, Colorado? Should I look at more internships?

As of now, my sole internship experience comes from my time at Disneyland last fall. While the internship wasn't necessarily specific to what I want to do, it provided valuable lessons I may have not learned otherwise.

•  The customer is, in fact, always right, even if they happen to be a total tool and you'd prefer punching them. That customer is right, and you are going to serve them to the best of your ability with a smile on your face because that is what customer service is about. That's how you build a reputation for being the best in the business.
• You are integral piece of the business you work for, even in a front of the line position. You are the foundation and face of the company. To be an effective manager, you must understand what it is like to walk in the shoes of the people you lead.
• Neither of the aforementioned things mean you must change who you are or give up yourself. The two above items have to be met by you understanding your abilities, how to use them and understanding how to use the creativity you have inside.
• I am much more intuitive, quick thinking and extroverted than I thought I was.
• In the end, if you can find a career where you can make it a point each day to improve someone's life, even in the smallest way, you have made it.

Because I wasn't quite ready to let go of a life with Disney, I applied to be a Campus Representative for UNLV when I got back in January. Being a Campus Rep was a wonderful experience; I love talking the ear off anyone willing to listen about the College Program, so much of it came naturally. The presentations were really fun to do, and we had a ton of interest for the program at UNLV.

In the midst of this, I was putting in applications for several Professional Internships with Disney. These internships are the next step above the College Program, and are focused on a specific area. The ones I applied for were all event planning focused. I did get to interview for one of them. While waiting to hear back, I mentioned during a Campus Rep meeting that if I didn't get one, it would likely be the end of my Disney career since I was graduating (you have to be currently in school or on the College Program to apply for a Professional Internship most of the time, and you have to be in school at the time you apply for the College Program). One of the other Campus Reps mentioned that I should apply to the program in Florida as well for a back up plan; if no PI came through, I could do the CP again and apply for more PIs in the Spring. Despite my initial reservations about Florida (I'm a Disneylander at heart), I went ahead and applied.

Well, lo and behold, no PI for me. But, an offer did come for the Fall 2011 College Program in Florida, once again in the Attractions Role. After some thought (aided by the fact that my sister had accepted a spot in the Fall Advantage 2011 program in Florida and would also be out there), I went ahead and accepted the offer.

I've had a few interviews for internships around here that I hoped to have for the summer, and despite a few really liking me, I didn't get them due to the fact that I will now be moving to Florida at the beginning of September.

So, it looks like my life will continue to be Disney until at least January 6th, 2012. Luckily, one of my room mates from California, Ellen, is also doing Attractions for Fall 2011 in Florida and we're planning on rooming together! I will be making a cross country trip with my dad beginning September 2nd for my check in date of September 7th.

I'm very much looking forward to being a Cast Member again and seeing what Florida has to offer. I'll be keeping this blog again (hopefully more regularly) to keep tabs on my adventures. I've also added some new features along the sidebars, including my Bucket List for Florida and a box to sign up for email updates from the blog.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming.....

The weeks just keep chugging along faster and faster it seems like! It seems like every day there's something new, and less time to blog about, sleep, or sometimes even eat! Just a bit of what I've been up to:

Touring Walt's Main Street Apartment // This month, the college program offered us a chance to see the inside of Walt Disney's apartment inside Disneyland. For those that don't know, it's above the firehouse on Main Street. When Walt would be using the apartment, he always turned the lamp in the center window on to let everyone know he was around. That light is always left on now as a reminder that Walt's spirit and dreams are still a part of the park. Plenty of celebrities who have done filming in the park or served as the speaker at the annual Candle Light Processional during Christmas time have been allowed to use the apartment as a green room. Beyond that, not many are allowed to see the inside, so this was a huge honor to be allowed a tour of a place where Walt lived and worked.

Our tour started outside the firehouse, where our tour guide from Guest Relations gave us some interesting info on Main Street. The street is made to look like it could be the main street of any town in America, in the "good ol' days". However, the buildings are all purposefully smaller than what they would be in the real world, to make it its own place and not too similar to any town in particular. The fire station was the second building built on main street.

Next we went backstage to a staircase leading up to the front door of the apartment. The apartment has all the original furnishings and items Walt and Lillian used, as well as their kids and grandkids. The apartment is decorated in Victorian-era style with florals, which was Lillian's idea. (picture at left from the Orange Country Register, from an authorized tour they took back in 2008) Original china and furniture are in the apartment, including two red couches that are hide-a-beds - one for Walt and one for Lillian. There's also a small patio outside right next to the roof of City Hall that you can see Main Street from.

Our tour guide told us all sorts of interesting stories about Walt, but three in particular really stuck with me. He didn't live by hours of the clock but by inspiration, and could be sometimes found out in the park at 2 or 3 in the morning, including one time in his bathrobe when he ran into two 3rd shift carpenters and invited them to have a glass of orange juice with him at the original Sunkist Citrus House. Walt's daughter says she remembers being in the apartment and watching him take out a piece of paper and pen, hand it to his grandson, and instructing him to scribble to his heart's content on it. When he was done, Walt added lines and figures here and there to create a character out of the scribbles.

My favorite story however, was about opening day. The Mousketeers were stationed around various windows on Main Street to wave and call out to people as they came into the park. A few of them had the honor of being in Walt's apartment with him. They have said they remember Walt standing back, right in front of the lamp he always turned on and watching the people streaming into the park as the gates first opened and simply smiling. It was an image I'll probably always remember as I stood in the same spot and looked out the same window.

Getting paid to be a Space Ranger //  Work continues to be great! Sure there are some days when it's "work", and I really dislike working until 1 am sometimes. But every time I go in it's another chance to make a guest's day, make someone smile, and generally have fun myself. In fact, today at work an older gentleman told me, "Good afternoon, princess," and another guy took a picture with me as his cruiser passed by. The kids are adorable, the adults are fun, and I get paid to work at Disneyland.


Celebrities // One of the more interesting aspects of work has been seeing a handful of famous people. Sometimes you never know who you'll look up to see waiting to board a Space Cruiser. I've seen Kevin Jonas, Jason Lee, LeAnn Rimes, Naveen Andrews and just  missed Britney Spears. However, my by far favorite happened today - Slash of Guns 'N Roses and Velvet Revolver. I'm quite sure I looked a bit weird staring and yet attempting not to stare at him (while saying, "Welcome back, Space Ranger, exit out to your right please!") , but there was no mistaking him. Out of all the rest, he's the only one that caught me off guard and left me feeling like I could just skip down the street at full speed shouting, "I JUST SAW SLASH!!!" It's actually really strange to be that close to a famous person, especially in that capacity and when you're a fan of them. My reaction process went something like: "That guy looks like Slash. He really looks like Slash, and I think he knows it. Does he wear that nose ring and those glasses to play it up? Wait....is that a guest relations tour guide with him? OH MY GOD IT IS SLASH. Don't stare. Why is he not getting off the cruiser? Should I ask him if they want to go again? OH MY GOD HE'S LOOKING AT ME. Probably wondering why I'm staring at him. Stop staring. BUT IT'S SLASH. I have a billion questions to ask him...oh he's gone. Where am I again?"

And then I was left feeling slightly stupid, a little embarrassed, and entirely elated because I'd just been part of his Disneyland Memories.

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Unfortunately, there's always some bumps in the road - I recently had the window of my car smashed out and my XM radio stolen. For their effort, they got away with a $30 piece of equipment that does them no good without the antenna. Ah, the perks of living in a city. Thankfully the window has been replaced now, and nothing more important was in my car.

And to finish up on a nicer note, I'll leave you this lovely photo that I entirely stole from my friend and Jobie sister Stephanie:

yay!

Stephanie and some of her friends came down for a Disneyland trip, and I was lucky enough to get to see her and ride a few rides with them! I've also seen Nichole, who's been the only one so far with the highly esteemed honor of seeing me at work in all my Space Ranger glory :) My dad and sister were also recently down for a visit, which I will post about in the near future.

Until then....

OH MY GOD IT'S SLASH! I hope he never comes across this blog and remembers me as the weirdo in the space suit staring at him. Also, I would like to know why a picture of Justin Bieber is included in the images that come up when you Google "Slash".