A Year Ago Today

Thanks to the new Facebook feature, it reminded me what I did a year ago today. Something I thought would change my life. I applied for the Disneyland College Program (DCP). Approximately three months later I would find out I wasn't accepted. The reasons were vague, but it sounded as if I was too young, and that they had bad experiences with kids right out of high school. (Homesick, no work ethic, etc.) Plus, this program has grown tremendously in the past few years and competition is turning fierce.

Looking back at it all, I have to say I'm thankful for not being accepted. I know it was for a reason, and while I couldn't see it then, I do see it now plain and clear. The DCP would have set me back in school, in my career, and in my future. If I was accepted last year, I would just be finishing the program right now. This means I would be 2 semesters behind at Taft College. Given that I couldn't stay with Disney and live there on my own, by myself, or even with a roommate sine we'd be working part-time at minimum wage, I would have to come home. Then what? Start school again? Try to find a job? It would have been a mess.

Now, I am almost done with community college. My plans are to transfer to CSULB. If I get accepted, or accepted to another college down South, my plans are to work on my degree, and apply at Disney for a part-time job. That's just the basic overview right now. Anything can change and happen, and I know it will.

The DCP is an amazing program. But to answer all my family's questions- No, I will not be re-applying for it.

I'm not losing site of my goals and dreams in life. I'm ready for whatever it takes to get my degree and work somewhere in the Disney Company. That is what I truly want to do, and I can't say I'm going to settle for less. I think this lesson taught me more then anything that everything happens for a reason.


-Austen