Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Working 40+ Hours per Week....while Simultaneously taking 4 academic Classes

To start off,

Im exhausted!!!......and mising my friends
Even though I'm having the time of my life here at the Disney College Program and I have had the opportunity to meet so many important people involved within the company, I still have to admit. This program does start to take its toll on you. It wasnt until a couple weeks ago during work that I really started to miss my friends back home.

I was working at my usual location when out of the blue, a couple cars rolled up to the kiosk and when i leaned in to talk to them, I realized that my friends were in both cars. By coincidence they had just arrived to the hotel to pick up another friend and didnt realize it was actually my work location. Thats when the "friendsickness" started. I dont call it "home sickness" because I dont actually miss home, I more miss my friends that ARE home.


This is essentially my life right now.

See because what the recruiters dont tell you at the recruiting events is that this will be an experience of a lifetime and you will make lifelong fiends and connections that you could only dream of BUT the trade off, you will lose some friends back home, you will grow up a lot faster and you REALLY shouldnt try to take classes at your University at the same time.

Most of nights that arent spent working are spent trying to decide if I want to miss that week's assignemt for my 4 classes or go out and make those lifelong friends and connections that I was sold on when starting the program. Lately unfortunately I've been more focused on everything BUT school. Time management is really something I should look into. What I have decided is this though, I LOVE my job, I LOVE my friends here and I LOVE the area but sometimes, work or school, or social life has to be sacrified. You can only pick two options.

I have had some pretty epic and memorable events here though. Just to take a break from the past couple weeks of formalities, i'll share some pictures of what my life has been like these past couple of months here at the college program in Anaheim,ca. Enjoy!


I got "married" at Disneyland. My friend Jude and I are on the right and
 my roommate Kaitlyn is on the left with her "husband"


This is me, Kaitlyn, and Spencer at Huntington Beach. Spencer just got
a Manager in LA and is starting to play music in the club circuit there.



Friday, March 1, 2013

Company Leadership Competencies

This week in my Blended Learning Series class, we learned about the Company Leadership Competencies that are maintained within the Disney Company and is expected of everyone that seeks to make a lifelong career at Disney.
 The top 8 competency levels that Disney instills in its cast members are
  1. Thinks Strategically (develops a game plan for success)
  2. Builds Relationships (Cultivates relationships to advance business goals)
  3. Communicates Effectively (Inspires, influences and informs others)
  4. Drives Results (Delivers timely, high quality work that adds value)
  5. Inspires Creativity and Innovation (Generates breakthrough ideas to improve performance)
  6. Champions Change (Advances new initiatives that align with business strategy)
  7. Builds Teams (Aligns people to a shared purpose)
  8. Exhibits Professional Excellence (Acts as a role model for others)
 This past week I had a "check-in" with one of the managers that was assigned to me to make sure that I was liking my position within the company. She asked about what my aspirations were for movement within the company and how would I like for her to help me get to where I want to be in the future.

I've been learning more and more that this company prides itself on creating and promoting cast members that actually want to move up within the company.