First Two Weeks

Oh my, where do I even start?? What a week it has been!! We arrived in Orlando Saturday, August 10th. We were planning to pick up our friend, Tonya, and her daughter, Anzley, at 8am but saying goodbye was a little harder than I expected. It was really tough to say goodbye to my sweet grandparents, and just hard to drive away from my house knowing that I wouldn't be back until January. Many tears were shed as I left, and then we headed to Tonya's house. She and Anzley both have annual passes, so they went with us. They rode with me, and Mama and Nathan went in her car, loaded with all my stuff. 

It was a long 8 hour trip, and the first time I had driven all the way. Mama was in a hurry to get down here, so she drove much faster than she usually does. It was hard for my little car to keep up with her!! Haha. When we got here we checked into our hotel, headed to grab a bite to eat, and Tonya, Nathan, and Anzley went to the parks. Me and Mama drove to find the check-in place. 

Sunday afternoon, we met my sweet roommate and her family. It was such a relief to finally meet them!! After just a few minutes of talking to them, we all knew that God had put us here together for a reason. We were concerned that we might not get the 1 bedroom apartment that we had requested, which would mean living with people we didn't know. But we trusted that God was in control and felt His peace. We decided to meet at check-in at 5:45 Monday morning, because we heard that it was best to get there early. It was good that we did, because over 1,000 people checked in on the same day that we did. It was the biggest group to ever check in on one day!! 

We were the first people to go through the check-in process and were so relieved to get a 1 bedroom. That's also when we found out which park we would be located at. Mine is Epcot, which was fine by me. After that, we got on a bus to go to casting, where we filled out a bunch of paperwork. We had the rest of the day to move in. Our apartment was nasty so we had to do some deep cleaning before we could move in. We didn't finish until midnight. Since it was so late, Lauren and I decided to spend the night back in the hotel with our parents. 

At check-in

Outside our apartment

Tuesday morning we had a housing meeting, and after that it was time for Mama, Nathan, Tonya, and Anzley to leave to go home. Mama didn't cry, but I definitely did. It was so hard to say goodbye to her, because she is my best friend. It helped knowing that I would see her at the end of the month. After they left, Lauren, her mom, and I went grocery shopping. 
The first few days after we moved in were weird. It was like spending the night with a friend, without the parents home. Thursday Lauren and I both had Traditions, which is orientation. Mine was in the morning, and hers was in the afternoon. There was a welcoming event that night, and since Lauren was still at Traditions, I met up with some girls from Columbus State. We had fun!! That night Lauren and I went to Magic Kingdom to watch Wishes and get Dole Whips. We were going to watch the parade, but it got rained out. Friday morning we got up and headed to Magic Kingdom again. We rode a few things, then met up with Meghan and Molly from Columbus State. 
Also, a very neat thing happened to us at lunch that day. We were upstairs eating at Columbia Harbor House and noticed there was a section roped off. The tables were full of boxes, makeup, and hair spray. We just kept staring over there and finally a cast member said, "I bet you guys are wondering what is going on." Then he proceeded to tell us that all 50 of the Miss America contestants were going to be walking in any minute and sure enough, they did!! They were there to walk in the 3 o'clock parade. It was really cool to see them!!

The next few days Lauren and I both had training. Saturday I had "Discovery Day" where we learned about Epcot. Sunday I had "Custodial Core Training" and we learned the basic things we needed to know about custodial work. After my training ended, I met up with my friend, Jack, and his dad Matt. It was so good to see familiar faces and I feel so much better knowing that Jack is here now. Monday was my first day of on the job training. I trained on the streets with a very nice man named Randall. He taught me how to do a trash run, which is where you take out all the trash in your area and wipe down the cans. It seems easy, but it takes a really long time to do. Tuesday I trained in the restrooms, which was nice because it was air conditioned. Basically all I have to do is keep them clean by taking out the trash and wiping everything down. The best part of the day was getting to watch Illuminations (the fireworks extravaganza) and then waving to the guests that exited the park. That has always been something that I've dreamed of doing. Wednesday was my assessment day, in which I had to take a multiple choice test about everything that I had learned. Then, my trainer for the day assessed me doing a short trash run and restroom cleaning. Myself and another custodian that had been training with me met with a manager to go over a few things. We got trading pins and lanyards then headed out to the streets to familiarize ourself with the park. Thursday was my first day in the parks alone, which was really scary. No more than 30 minutes into my shift, I had to clean up multiple "code v's"...think about that for a few minutes and I'm sure you'll figure it out. A lady had gotten dehydrated. A very nice manager gave me a card saying that I demonstrated courtesy and show (2 of the 4 basic keys) while cleaning, which made me feel better. It was such a stressful shift and after I got off, I had to wait 35 minutes on the bus, surrounded by people speaking different languages. When the bus finally came, I was packed into a closed space with those same people speaking different languages. I think I was on the verge of a panic attack. My next task is to learn to drive to work!! Yesterday really made me miss home, but I know that I will have both good days and bad days. 

I miss everyone back home so much!! The people and atmosphere down here are both so different!! I'm enjoying myself and appreciate everyone's thoughts, prayers, and encouraging words!!

Love my bulletin board filled with sweet notes!!

This makes me smile...miss my running buddies!!

This is hanging over my bed now :)

A collage of our apartment

Preparation

It's hard to believe that in just 8 short days I will be taking one of the biggest steps of my life and starting a new journey. I am so overwhelmed with emotions right now that I don't know what to do with myself. Before I get too deep into this, let me explain how I got to where I am.

For years, my dream has been to participate in the Disney College Program and I have always planned on making that dream come true. In February, Disney started accepting applications for the fall program and I applied immediately. I applied online, went through a web-based interview, as well as a phone interview, and then the waiting began. Disney's rule is that they will update you on your employment status every two weeks. The fourteenth day came and I received an email saying that I was pending a final decision. Two more weeks passed and I got another email saying the same thing. Finally, after another week passed I got an email saying that I had been accepted! I was beyond excited!

So I'm accepted into the College Program...what does that mean? I will be taking a semester off of school and working for Disney. It's kind of like an internship. I leave this Friday, August 9th, and won't return home until January 3rd. The next question...what is my job? I'm going to be a custodian! I'm not entirely sure of my job description, but it will consist of things like sweeping the streets, taking out trash, and cleaning bathrooms. It's a job that isn't repetitive, yet still allows me to have a high level of guest interaction. Where will I be living? Disney has four housing complexes that are much like dorms for College Program participants to live in. My "apartment" will have a bedroom that I will share with someone, as well as a kitchen, bathroom, and living area. I have a roommate, Lauren, and we're hoping that just the two of us will be sharing living space. I don't know her, but I can already tell from talking to her that she is sweet and we will be great friends! Do I know anyone else doing the program? Yes! A friend from high school, Jack, is doing the College Program as well. It is a relief to know that I will have a friend with me!

The thing that people always say when I tell them about this is, "Your mama is going to miss you so much!" And she is. I'm going to miss her too, as well as the rest of my family and friends. I have been overwhelmed with love and support from the entire community. I have had two surprise parties, as well as surprises from my coworkers and running friends. I am so blessed to have so many sweet friends in this small town, and words cannot even begin to describe how much I'm going to miss everyone! I'm very excited about this new adventure, yet very sad to leave. I know that there are going to be many hard days ahead of me, but many good days too. Thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated, as I still have a lot of packing left to do. I still have a few goodbyes to say as well, and those are never easy. 

I'm going to try to post on this blog as much as I can to keep everyone updated! See ya real soon!