One word....Finals!!!

That's right folks! It's that lovely time of year for us college kids....finals week. This is only my second semester of college so I'm used to how things roll in college and have finally gotten used to studying. Unfortunately, finals just take every thing out of me. That's why I haven't been able to blog..I've been so busy with finals and packing and projects and presentations that I just haven't had the time. So, I found a little bit of spare time to let you know exactly why I haven't been blogging as much as I would like to.

So, now that the excuse is over I can blog about something Disney related. But, I'm really not so sure what to blog about....my brain is fried. All I can think about right now are questions like "What's the anti-derivative of cos^-1(ln x)?" and "How do you create a matrix in MATLAB?" Oh boy what fun it is to be an engineering major. But, the only thing getting me through (well one of the only things) is the fact that I know I won't have to deal with finals next fall because I will be at Disney! The other thing is the fact that I won't have to live in this terrible dorm room anymore. It's getting a little annoying. I don't mind the roommate thing. It's the community showers that the entire floor shares. It sucks!! I'm going to be happy about the fact I don't have to wear flip flops to go to the bathroom or in the shower! Oh the little things in life. I'm also going to be super ecstatic to have some home cooked food! Well not really home cooked but anything is better than the cafe in the dorms; I plan on making some amazing mac and cheese as soon as I get home!

So enough about me ranting about the dorm rooms and how nasty they are and how much I will love to get out of them and on to...well I really don't know what to say next. I know I want to start doing some Disney blogs where I research the parks and map out what I want to do and learn about the history of Disney more. And I plan on doing a roommate survey blog and a Disney bucket list blog. But, those aren't ready yet since it is time for finals and I don't have the time to do any research that I'm not being tested on within the next two weeks. So let me know what y'all want to here!! I will probably do one more blog before I get really in depth on the Disney stuff just as an autobiographical blog on yours truly. Or maybe not. Tell me what you want to hear!! So in the mean time here is another photograph of mine! Enjoy!

The Purple Folder

Zip-a-dee-do-dah!!!! That's what comes to mind when I think of the day I got my purple folder!!! That's right guys! Today's blog is all about the wonderful purple folder! So after the application process the recruiter tells you that you have to wait 3-4 weeks and all I could think was, "This is going to be the longest month of my life!!" Now, generally the wait does take this long especially at the beginning of application season (February I think). However, for some of us lucky people we don't have to wait that long! I found out exactly one week after my phone interview when I got my purple e-mail and the purple folder came a few days later! My recruiter also told me that if things were efficient enough on there end I could find out as early as two weeks but when I found out after a week I was like "This is a joke! Nope it's not a joke! Dang Disney is on the ball!!" I'm sure the only reason I found out so early is because I applied so late. See I applied for the Spring 2010 program last semester and didn't get past the online interview therefore I had to wait another 6 months to apply again. Which pushed my interview way back considering they stop the interviewing process April 30th and my online interview couldn't be accessed until March 24th.

Now I'm sure some of you may be wondering "What the heck is the craze about the purple folder? What's so special about it??" Well the purple folder is just something tangible telling you that you will be able to spend the most amazing semester you could have ever imagined working for the best company (if you ask me) that you could possibly work for. The best part of the folder for me was the letter in the middle welcoming me to the program as an Attractions Cast Member. I was SO excited to get my first choice when it came to my role. I have always wanted to work attractions in an amusement park haha. The folder simply contains vital information you need to know about the living, learning, and earning aspects of the program. It also provides you with your user name and password for the WDWCP website where there is even more vital information for arrival and anything you possibly would want to know. You also get a pair of 3-D glasses so you can play a special Disney heritage game for CPers only.

Oh also I'm not sure if I mentioned my arrival date yet. I was originally scheduled for 9/1 to 1/7 but September 1st is WAY to long to wait to get to Disney. And I was kinda upset that everyone seemed to be arriving in August and I wasn't arriving until September. So, I e-mailed recruiting and requested to have the date moved to an earlier arrival date and they switched it for me! I am now arriving on 8/11 and departing 1/7! Still looking for roommates though so I'll keep you updated on that!

So that's pretty much it for the purple folder. It's pretty exciting to look in the mail and see that big folder with Mickey Mouse on the front. It definitely gets you excited! Well I guess I will leave y'all for now and post another one of my photos.

Application Process

Hey guys! So today I'm going to discuss the application process. I would have already done this and posted blogs about waiting and waiting and waiting on my purple e-mail and folder but I didn't want to get ahead of myself in case I didn't get accepted. So here we go:

Presentation

First, you have to attend a presentation about the Walt Disney World College Program (WDWCP). Now there are two different types of presentations you can complete. You only need to complete one of them however if you are crazy excited about the program and can't get enough of it you will probably do both (like I did).

So, the first type of presentation, the one I personally recommend, is the live presentation. And this presentation is exactly what it sounds like; you attend the presentation at your college or a local college near you. Disney sends their recruiters around the states to give these presentations to WDWCP hopefuls. At the presentation you learn all about the program, benefits, living, learning, earning, and many other helpful topics. You also have the advantage of talking to a recruiter face to face and asking any questions you have or just for any tips they may have for you.

The second type of presentation is an online presentation. Now, this presentation is for people who can not attend a live presentation. If you have the opportunity to go to a live presentation I strongly suggest it so you can talk to the recruiter and have all questions answered. The online presentation isn't bad by any means. It presents you with the same information your recruiter does and it has some extra videos that the live presentation doesn't. And even though I attended the live presentation I was still watching the online presentation after the fact because I am so "gersh darn" excited to get to Florida!

Now you HAVE to attend one of these two programs before you can begin the application process. It is the first step to getting yourself closer to Florida and in the WDWCP.

Online Interview

Ok, after you have sat through one of the two mentioned presentations you will receive a "special code." The only purpose this code serves is to prove you have listened to the presentation. So, when you really begin the application process you go to http://disney.go.com/disneycareers/disneycollegeprogram/ where you can find all the information your recruiter told you about. Since you now have your code you can click on "Apply Now" and begin the online interview. The online interview usually takes up about an hour of your time. It consists of you entering "general knowledge" about you such as your name, birthdate, class ranking, etc. etc. It is quite boring but since it gets you closer to Disney it's not all that bad. Next, you pick what roles you are interested in. All the roles and their descriptions are listed on this site. Now if you don't want a certain role such as custodian or housekeeping...DON'T MARK IT! Even if you think "Oh if I mark everything it will make me look like a hard worker!" Bad decision. If you check one of those roles off that you absolutely don't want to do and then get that role...don't complain about it.

The next part of the online interview is timed! It consists of different questions to try and get a feel of what kind of person you are (I think that's what it's for at least). I can't remember what the questions were exactly but they aren't hard but still think about them you have somewhere around 20 seconds to answer each one. After you are done with this a screen will pop up telling you whether you are proceeding to the phone interview or if you didn't make it this time. If you don't make it DON'T GET DISCOURAGED! I didn't make it past the online interview the first time, but came to realize it just wasn't my time to go. If this is really what you want to do then try again in 6 months. If you do make it then CONGRATULATIONS! And get prepared for your phone interview.

Phone Interview

Now that you have went to the presentation and passed the online interview you can start to prepare for your phone interview. There are a list of ways to prepare listed on the WDWCP website, just click on "Interview Tips." Read those tips and I suggest you follow them. When I first read them I was like "Do I really need to do this?" But yes, yes you do. I never thought anyone could tell if you were smiling or not over the phone but it definitely changes the way your voice comes over and definitely makes you sound even more friendlier than you are. The phone interview lasts about 20 minutes total. And one tip that isn't on that list..don't be nervous. Talk to your recruiter as if they are your friend. Make sure they know you are a good person. The questions themselves aren't difficult. They are going to ask you standard interview questions that you would get asked anywhere. "What is your prior work experience?" "How did that help you?" stuff like that. Then they go into specific questions based on your top three role choices (which they ask you to choose). I don't remember the questions I was asked involving the roles at all. I would definitely recommend printing those roles and their descriptions off because it will make the interview that much easier! I didn't and couldn't even remember three of the ones I chose..I just knew I wanted attractions and then I remembered two more. Then they tell you at the end of the interview it will be 3-4 weeks before you will hear from us.

And so then you play the waiting game....sometimes its a week...some people wait the full 4 weeks....some (mainly returning CPers) wait even longer!!

So that's all for now in the next blog I will discuss the wait and the long anticipated purple email and folder! Oh and here's another one of my photos I took last summer!

Why, Hello There!

Hey guys! So I decided to jump on the blog bandwagon for my Walt Disney World College Program experience! I'm new at this so I will probably forget to post blogs for a while but hopefully I'll have the hang of it by the time I get to Florida. So I guess I'll just use this first blog to introduce myself. My name is Stephen (pronounced like Steven) Miller. I am 18 years old and will be 19 when I participate on the College Program. I am a Freshman Industrial Engineering major at West Virginia University. I am originally from a little town in the southern part of West Virginia called Princeton, or the land of no opportunity. Seriously, there is nothing to do where I am from. Our fun on weekends consisted of going to Wal-Mart or sitting in the school parking lot. I absolutely love to travel! I have been to various places along the East coast of the states and also out of the country to Canada, England, Wales, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. I am involved in 4-H in my home town and it's another passion that I have. I won't get into 4-H much but if you have any questions about it let me know! Although my major is Industrial Engineering my passion is Photography. However, I am not brave enough or confident enough in my skills to jump into such a risky career. I absolutely love being behind the camera and capturing the magic that a picture can produce. I will be taking a lot of free time while at Disney to go to the parks and capture that magic in pictures and will post them on here.

I have never really been to Disney. I have been to Florida and the surrounding areas and even been to Universal Studios. The one time I got to go to Disney I was performing. We went for my high school band and marched around the lake at Epcot on St. Patty's Day a couple of years ago..but I did not by any means get to experience Disney and the amazing place I have been told it is. I was bounced around to all 4 parks in one day and did not get to enjoy it. So, if anyone ever asks if I have been to Disney I reply "No" because I honestly haven't. To go somewhere is also to experience it not try to see everything in one day. I barely even remember what I saw. So I am obviously CRAZY excited to have free access to the parks and get to explore them and finally discover the magic that people experience at Disney. I am also a huge adrenaline junkie..so I plan on visiting surrounding parks such as Universal, Islands of Adventure, Bush Gardens, Wet N' Wild, Aquatica, and just anywhere close by with big thrill rides.



Well that's all for now! I'll try and post another blog soon. If you have any questions for me/about me or just wanna know my opinion on something let me know! Also I said I was into photography so I posted my personal favorite from my collection!