My Disney Professional Internship Journey

The Disney Chronicles of Chelsea 

[mydpinternshipjourney]

July 24, 2017

Well updating my cover letter didn’t help. Although I was encouraged to update my materials by their personnel. I sometimes go to them with questions and I listened to them, this time it didn’t make any difference. I had the same one on for the past 13 weeks and now I’m No Longer in Consideration. I would be lying to say I’m not upset, but I said I was determined in my letter so I will keep trying. I requested to talk with someone to mentor me so I guess I'll see who they suggest. I hope they can help me I feel like I've been paddling upstream all year since I started all this applying.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

July 23, 2017

Today makes 13 weeks since I’ve applied to the Disney Professional Internship Program. I uploaded a new cover letter and tomorrow I will update my resume. I just finished teaching Game Programming at a local summer camp called College for Kids that I should add onto it. If I get this internship I’ll try to add them to this blog for viewing. It’s really late so goodnight everybody!!

[gameraboy]

Disneyland’s Fantasyland on opening day, Sunday, July 17, 1955. Photos by Loomis Dean. 

[mydpinternshipjourney]

I just really wanted to reblog this one!

[mydpinternshipjourney]

July 16, 2017

Today marks 12 weeks since I applied to the Disney Professional Internship. I haven't had any activity since I submitted my application in April. I'm about to have a busy week so unless I hear something I probably won't be on Tumblr with an update in a while. So bye for now.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

For those of you who haven't applied to a Disney job before and you're interested in trying, this is my Job Submission Status (As of today, I just checked it. Nothing's changed.) My latest application is listed at the bottom. And my previous attempts are listed above it. What I'm patiently waiting on is it's status to change to the next stage. I am a little stressed out because So much of what I'm trying to accomplish is up in the air. I believe a Disney internship will get me back on track with my goals before I enter grad school.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

As a good number of Disney Professional Internship applications begin closing, I’m sure you’re going to start feeling a bit anxious. Some of you may have gone through our application process previously. For others, this may be your first time applying. No matter how many times you apply, the waiting game is never

I can’t believe I spent all day on this blog, it won’t happen again tomorrow. I have too much to do but reading this will put my mind at ease for the night. I just hope that they will be contacting me soon with good news. Waiting for 11 weeks, 2 days and counting...

[mydpinternshipjourney]

The beginning of this blog. Today is not a milestone day in regards to my progress but it is the starting date of this blog! I have kept a Tumblr blog for about 3 years now. (A link is embedded in this post if you want to take a peek at it) It records artwork I made in college and recently. I finally decided to make another because others recommended keeping a blog or journal as a way of reflecting and waiting from Disney.

I’m trying my best not to get my hopes up too high so I only told my friend Jorge that I applied to be a Graphic Design Intern. He thought Disney might call me while he was in Canada, but I had nothing to report. Hopefully I will know soon, Fall 2017 is so soon. In the meantime, I took another Spanish course and he’s more than happy to coach me in that!

[mydpinternshipjourney]

April 23, 2017

I applied a third time to a Disney Professional Internship. I am currently a candidate for the Graphic Design Internship for Fall 2017. My transcript, portfolio and cover letter are attached to my profile. Today is July 10th, so it has been 11 weeks and 1 day since I applied. At first I was anxious to get a phone interview. But again I read that the Disney Professional Internships vary. Some require a phone interview, others may not. And the process takes much longer than the DCP. I still check my status frequently throughout the day. Probably more now than ever because I have no classes to teach. I want to know what will become of this latest attempt so I can tell my principal and colleagues what is happening this fall for them. My students really want me to return to Grace but they and other teachers know my plan. My plan is to have more heartache, but how is still to be determined. Will I miss out on another chance to be an intern or will I be away from my students? It is incredible how quickly an adult can connect with small children. I love my students with all my heart but I still believe I’m meant for other things.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

April 10, 2017

No Longer in Consideration. This time it took me completely by surprise. After weeks of waiting I was sure I was getting somewhere. But looking back on it I did because from other blogs I found that it is a good sign if your job status is ‘In Progress’ for a long time. This means that my profile was ideal and my interview shown a lot of promise. I may have been cut due to the high volume of applicants I couldn’t be let in.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

January 23, 2017

I applied for Fall 2017 Disney College Program. I watched the job search diligently and applied the day it appeared. This time I only shown real interest in attractions. I think it's a great idea to have a back up position that you could also fulfill but be prepared to answer questions for it. I was nervous from there because I had no correspondence with anyone until late February. I was asked to have another phone interview and I arranged to have it on March 3rd. I feel silly about this but I had my interview inside my very small bathroom for about 20 minutes. I had it in there because there is a large mirror to watch myself in and I didn't have the distractions of everything else around me. This interview went much better than the one I had in September! I think it went better for a couple of reasons. 1. I kept my interview a secret I didn't want many people to ask me how the job process was going. It's pressure I don't need. 2. I wrote the name of my interviewer's name down, after my interview I was able to thank Carolyn and I asked her how she started working for Disney. She worked in a Disney Store in Ohio for 13 years. 3. My biggest supporter- Jorge- stopped by right before my interview to wish me luck, having someone in your corner to cheer you on is a huge advantage.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

October 30, 2016

Competition Internship Summer 2017 Like the last application I submitted I applied and was quickly rejected for not having enough time to gather my materials. So since then I have made it into a habit to check often for more job opportunities so I can decide whether to apply to them or not. From there I decided to give the Disney College Program another shot so that meant I’d have to take another class. Así estudié más español. (So I studied more Spanish) I figured I should be fluent by the time I get my foot in the door.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

October 5, 2016

Creative Design Intern Spring 2017

I was still very hurt from not being accepted into the Disney College Program but then I started thinking, why can’t I apply to a Disney Internship instead? So that’s just what I did. Unfortunately, I must have applied too close to the deadline. I didn’t have any of the required materials like my portfolio or transcript so I was immediately rejected without interview. 

[mydpinternshipjourney]

September 16, 2016

No Longer in Consideration

I was notified immediately by my Job Status changing to ‘No Longer in Consideration’ I read later on that it is sometimes called NLIC but it all means the same thing- It’s over but it also means try again. I felt awful and what was worse is I was away from home when I found out. To say I was upset would be an understatement and I only had Jorge to console me until I went home.

Of course I had boasted to all my friends that I would be working in Disney World and I had to break it to them that I didn’t.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

September 15, 2016

I had my first phone interview

I don’t remember all of the specifics but I know I made mistakes in the interview and I can’t forget them.

I was told to apply for up to 3 positions, I was excited and felt ambitious. I knew I’d be perfect for any job so I said I was interested in many positions like attractions, character attendant, bibbidi-bobbidi boutique, story teller, life guard. This was a mistake because I made the interview much longer than it needed to be. I was most interested in attractions and that is the one I should have focused on. My interviewer asked me how I got along with my roommate and I got caught up in some details.

[mydpinternshipjourney]

August 28, 2016

I applied to the Disney College Program for the first time.

Months prior to applying I was advised to take one college course. The program requires that all applicants either take at least 1 college course worth 3 college credits or be a recent graduate (within 6 months) A year had already passed since I graduated so I enrolled in a class at Black Hawk College. Estudié español por un semestre. (I studied Spanish for a semester.)

My instructor was awesome! I took Spanish 1 & 2 from her. Although I took 3 years of Spanish in high school and I’m Mexican on my dad’s side I was very rusty!

[mydpinternshipjourney]

Introduction

Greetings, I’m Chelsea and this is the beginning of (what I hope) will become a Disney Internship. I have read several blogs centered around The Disney College Program and a few on Disney Professional Internship and I realized that my past is unconventional compared to others, so allow me to explain why.

First my ambitions from childhood have always been to work for Walt Disney. It started in August of 1999. I visited Walt Disney World for the first time with my parents and brother. It was inside a Disney art gallery on Main Street U.S.A. As I admired framed Disney drawings, I became aware that Disney was founded by artists and expanded by the people who love Disney. That first trip to Disney inspired my lifestyle and it motivated me to study animation in college.

In college I had heard of The Disney College Program and I even had friends that spent a few seasons working in Disney World. But for me I didn’t feel like there was a good time to apply tho the program. I was a full time student for six years (3 yrs community college + 3 yrs at NIU) I didn’t want to take off a semester, I wanted to graduate at the same time as my friends. My professor was not a Disney advocate and during my last year my closest friend was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor. Jorge underwent immediate surgery and made a full recovery.

In 2015 I graduated and I went back to working as a receptionist at a local photography studio, then student loan payments started coming due and leaving for Florida for months seemed impossible. Then my studio was bought out when my boss retired. My hours were cut so I decided to look for work elsewhere.

My mom works for my former school district and she suggested that I try to work in their schools. The schools were in desperate need of substitute teachers so I applied for my paraprofessional educator’s license from the Illinois State Board of Education. I served as a substitute teacher for a few months then I heard of another opportunity.

My childhood friend, Mary and I taught a video game development class at a summer camp in 2016. She saw I had a talent for computers and I was already great with children. So Mary suggested that I apply for the Computer Teacher position at her school. Thankfully I was given the job and August 22, 2016 was my first day of teaching at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy. The school year was difficult for me in a few ways. I had no prior experience in planning lessons. I only knew the ways of a public school, now I was in a CATHOLIC private school. My dad is catholic but I was raised methodist so I needed special permission from our diocese to teach at our school. I completed an entire school year while applying to Disney seven times. I felt hopeful for each attempt and each rejection is more hurtful than the last. But I plan on trying until I finally have my day!

I love the students at Grace and they have shown love and appriciation for me too which confuses my family. They don’t understand why I don’t teach computers for the rest of my life but it’s simple to explain, I never wanted to be a teacher. I’m only part-time and I still long for a creative job at Disney.

Last November Jorge and I visited Ball State University’s campus and I fell in love with their animation program. I want to apply there before the year is up so I can go there next fall and spend my summers with Disney.