#collegeprograms

[meeds-i]

college application stress is reaL

08.10.24

anyone else having mega anxiety and stress applying to college programs these days? Like just admit me im worth it ahah *insert crying emoji*

[bartending1]

nteractive Bartending Workshops:

Participate in interactive workshops that simulate real-world bartending scenarios.

[k12academics]

There will only be ONE (1) open house in September 2024 for the UMSL Office of Inclusive Postsecondary Education (OIPE).

If you know someone who's 17 years and older, who has intellectual and developmental disabilities, and is interested in attending college, please register by scanning the QR code or following this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScYbjFcmG6bWoasFNNCKWcAN4vMMfcbYhpqV6UoqhiaIKMgRA/viewform

[gibs-bangalore]

Ms. Palak Bansal (PGDM Batch 2021–23) has been awarded the prestigious GIBS Student of the Year Award, which includes a cash prize of Rs. 51,000. Palak has proven to be an exceptional performer in various areas, including academics, extracurricular activities, regular attendance, active participation in societies and placements, and a remarkable positive attitude. Her outstanding achievements have earned her this recognition, and we congratulate her on this well-deserved honour. We wish Palak continued success in her future endeavours and look forward to seeing her accomplish great things in the future.

[cademy1]

🎓 It's never too early (or too late!) to start planning for college, and cademy1 has the tools to help you every step of the way.🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️

Whether you're just starting to explore your options or you're knee-deep in the application process, these 8 college planning tools will help you stay organized and on track. ��

Visit cademy1.com and access all these tools for free!🙌🏻

#collegeplanning #highereducation #studyabroad #collegeprep #scholarshipsearch #loansearch #studentloansearch #financialaid #collegesearch #majorfinder #collegeprograms #collegemajor #internships #summerprograms #coursefinder #edtech #educationconsultant

[wplteenspace]

Nice turnout for our Scholarship Hunting 101 program last week! Thanks Nikki Bruno of Student Coaching Services for all of the excellent info (especially about the Stuck At Prom scholarship!). 

[sydwazhere]

Happy Birthday Animal Kingdom!!! #disney #disneyworld #animalkingdom #disneysanimalkingdom #disney2018 #disneylife #collegeprogram #disneycollegeprogram

[janetadamsspeak]

Weather permitting I am looking forward to speaking to the students today at @ddcc_ssstrio! We are going deeper than Google today and how the history of black wealth can close the wealth gap today! Every student that attends will learn what they need to do in today’s world in order to get ahead financially! I can’t wait! #trioworks #sss #collegeprogram #workshop #finlit #highered #sachat #university #payoffdebt #scholarship #internship #careeradvice #educationtips #financialfreedom #wealthgap #paygap #howtosavemoney #workhard #personalfinanceforstudents #triostrong https://www.instagram.com/p/CMj64Czj_tq/?igshid=1lkv9aoif9djv

[thekimmiandjackieshow]

The Weekend I Joined the Circus

When I first visited Walt Disney World in 2013, I fell in love with Magic Kingdom. I wanted to explore every inch of it. It solidified my desire to do the Disney College Program. I wanted to be part of the magic that I was feeling. I’m sure that’s what inspires many college program kids to apply. But the stand out moment to me was an odd moment. It wasn’t seeing the castle for the first time. It wasn’t the first time I saw one of the many inspiring Magic Kingdom shows. No, it was the moment I walked into Storybook Circus. The Cast Members behind the registers were wearing red striped vests, yellow striped shirts, carnival hats, and a giant striped tie. I looked at my mom and said, “I want to be a Cast Member and I want to work in this store with that giant ugly tie.” 

I didn’t know my wish would actually come true.

I hadn’t had any luck finding shifts at Storybook Circus. It appeared everybody who worked there, loved working there, and rarely were people willing to give away shifts to outsiders. My friend Emily had recently picked up a shift there though and said she loved it, so I was determined. One girl was giving away two shifts, a night shift on a Friday and a morning Saturday shift. I took them both. It was the only time I had really done that. Because my goal was to pick up shifts in as many different locations as possible, I wasn’t really repeating locations. But, I needed hours and the convenience of it was too much to pass up. 

I had always said, “I will work anywhere in Walt Disney World. I don’t care what costume they put me in - in fact, I hope they give me the most ridiculous costume!” I had repeated it to friends before I left SEVERAL times. I was hoping for a costume as memorable as Storybook Circus. The Animal Kingdom Strollers costume is a pretty great costume when it comes to “ridiculous costumes that only Disney would put you in”, but the Circus was my dream costume. I can’t really explain it, I just had my heart set on it. Getting to work there was so exciting. It was the shift I was probably the most excited for and the least nervous for.

The costume has several pieces. The first is an optional carnival hat. I loved wearing Disney’s hats. Strollers had one and it was great at first, but after a while it became too much of a hassle. The costumed band around it always slid off and the humidity made my hat hair unbearable. I gave up on it shortly after starting my program. Still, I knew I had to have the circus hat. The next piece is the big yellow, red, and blue striped tie. Luckily it was a clip on. This sat underneath the collar of the yellow and blue striped, long sleeved shirt. The shirt was a little stiff at the ends where you could either button the white cuffs closed around your wrists, or roll it up a few times depending on the weather. Next were the pants...high-waisted red pants with even deeper red stripes. They were as soft as silk pajama pants, but they sat ridiculously high.

Over the top of all this sat a matching red striped vest. I checked out everything I needed and headed to the bus. I can’t even tell you how thrilled I was. 

The thing about working at the Circus is it’s technically part of “New Fantasyland”. The Circus portion of the land had been revamped on several occasions. It started as “Mickey’s Birthdayland” and progressed to “Mickey’s Toontown Fair”. The idea was that the land was filled with vacation homes for Mickey and his friends, who of course lived in Toontown in California. From what I heard, it didn’t go well and was later reimagined to the Storybook Circus around the same time as New Fantasyland. In the land there were two Dumbo rides, a kid-friendly rollercoaster, circus themed meet and greets, and of course, Big Top Souvenirs. Because New Fantasyland was an expansion of Magic Kingdom in 2012, the tunnels system didn’t travel all the way underneath that part of the park. I don’t know how it worked for Mickey’s Birthdayland and all that when it first opened, but Storybook Circus was also expanded a bit when it was rethemed, meeting up with a backroad that the West Clock Buses took to the tunnel entrance. So, instead of the bus stopping at only the tunnels and requiring Cast Members to walk to their work places on stage, they had another bus stop that allowed New Fantasyland Cast to walk to their work locations through the backstage area. I think New Fantasyland Cast Members could use the tunnels if they wanted to but I know that several got off at the other bus stop.

The West Clock Bus’s first stop was at Clown’s Alley, the backstage area behind Storybook Circus and leading to a gate for other New Fantasyland Cast Members. My coworker Emily had recently picked up a shift at Storybook Circus, so she had texted me what to look for and where to go. I felt like I had found where I needed to be, but I was a little bit nervous. I never knew what to expect from doors backstage. Would the door lead me on stage or would it be to another backstage area? Walking on stage half-ready with personal belongings in tow is frowned upon at Disney, so doors always gave me pause. I went in anyway and got lucky. Inside sat a row of lockers, CDS (where we clock in), and double doors that clearly marked the way to on stage. There were also a few offices. I went around the corner to the offices to see if I could find a coordinator that would introduce me to the area. As I waited, I watched the TV that was mounted above the CDS. Music from Festival of Fantasy played as daily announcements flashed across the TV, and then a short skit made up by some Cast Members who worked at Storybook Circus played. The loop went on and on, filling the back area with music from the parade. I was surprised at how much effort they had gone to for this merchandise location. At my home location, we were lucky if we got briefed by coordinators before starting our shifts. Things that were “need to know” were announced to those who opened, and everybody else got their information through the grapevine, if at all. I was excited to have picked up two shifts at the circus, seeing how organized everything was. 

I got a tour of the backstage area and the entire store. Big Top Souvenirs is so interesting because it has so many moving parts. They sell almost everything there. There’s of course the regular merchandise like hats, shirts, plushes, jewelry, postcards, keychains, etc. But there was also an entire concession stand in the middle of it all selling caramel apples, dipped marshmallows, and other Disney snacks. They also sold MagicBands, which (at the time) required Cast Members to be able to link the bands up with guests’ accounts. Behind a different register, guests could get their ears they purchased embroidered. I was amazed. Cast Members who work at Big Top are able to be trained in so many different things. To work with food they had to be trained in food safety and have the training to actually make the food, to link MagicBands they had to be trained to link it up with guest tickets, and to embroider ears they had to be trained in Costuming. I was curious about what I would be able to do as a Cast Member who was only qualified to sell regular merchandise and MagicBands. They told me that backstage was called Clown’s Alley, and in that alleyway were the cast restrooms and break room. They showed me where the stockroom was, and then I was on my way! 

Assignments were given by register, but each register was themed to look like a circus cage. Each cage was given a particular animal, so instead of being told to go to Register 1, you’d be told to go to Lions 1. There was also the option of working the outside cart by Casey Jr’s Splash and Soak Station. It’s really only open during peak days when the weather is warm enough, otherwise the Splash and Soak Station is turned off and the cart remains closed. 

The cart sits off to the side and sells basics like hats, sunglasses, sunscreen, and towels for those who got a little more soaked than they intended. 

I didn’t even realize the cart was back there until the coordinator showed me around. My hope was that I’d get a healthy mix of being outdoors and getting to work around the store. Knowing that I wasn’t trained in everything made me nervous that my entire shift would be outside. Sure enough, I started my shift at the cart. It was fun watching the kids play in the water. It wasn’t a boring cart by any means. I was working the cart by myself though, and I wasn’t a fan of that. Every so often somebody would come and restock the cart with a towel or two, but beyond that I was by myself. 

Later on I got to be inside, and I loved it. There were parts of the store that were hard to keep clean, like the plush walls or the walls of Mickey ears, and sometimes the registers got surprisingly busy for a story in the back corner of Magic Kingdom, but keeping busy was what kept it fun. When I got my break slip it was called a “cookout”. Something about walking backstage where Festival of Fantasy music is being played and running into a Cast Member who asks if you’re headed to your coookout makes the whole thing more magical. It didn’t feel like real life because it didn’t feel like anybody would live a life where they dress head to toe in carnival themed clothing to sell merchandise to guests. The evening signaled the end of my shift and I went home, all smiles.

I worked a Saturday morning opening shift. We skipped the tour since I had just worked there the night before. The store was incredibly slow. Guests hadn’t really gotten all the way to the back of the park by that time, so we were pretty over staffed. With that, I got to do “tasks”. Tasks are the assignments that merchandise Cast Members pull every so often. They can be because something really needs to be completed or because there are just too many Cast Members at that time. One of my tasks was to take the trash cans out, including the ones in the kitchen area where all the caramel apples and other snacks were being made. It was the only time I was ever allowed back behind one of those counters as I wasn’t food trained or anything. It was neat to see how its set up and how it functions. Not that taking out the trash is special or anything, but when you’re curious about the magic made at Walt Disney World, any glimpse of backstage that you’re not used to is exciting. Another of my tasks was to entertain guests outside. There were a few carnival style games we were allowed to bring out to the front of the store to bring attention to the store and bring that extra magic to guests. The Cast Member who was doing it before me was clearly tired of having to work outside in the sun, playing the same carnival game they’ve probably been forced to play for hours on slower days. It was all new to me though, and it was far more fun than the worn down hula hoops Animal Kingdom Strollers has. 

I stood outside and played with guests willingly. It was better than straightening out the Mickey plushes for the 90th time. I was glad I had picked up an opening shift because it was so different than my almost-closing shift from the night before. 

With it being so slow, they decided to briefly train me on how to ring out embroidery orders. Typically, one Cast Member takes the order and rings it up while the other Cast Member preps the sewing machine and embroiders the ears. I wasn’t there long enough to be trained on the embroidery part of it, but I read through the rules of embroidery orders, wrote out orders on the little cards, and rung them out. I realized that I really missed being constantly challenged at work. My favorite part of working at Tower Gifts was when I learned how to find, edit, print, and ring out ride photos for guests. Learning how to do embroidery orders, no matter how small that was, was fun for me. I liked being pushed to do new things and learn more. It was the primary reason my job back at Animal Kingdom was getting stale. CP’s were so limited at DAK Strollers that after a certain point, learning new things wasn’t really an option.

I also got lucky in that the Saturday morning I was working also happened to be the day Ricky was in town. He had come in town for Animal Kingdom’s Birthday (and the release of Rivers of Light that never happened) and was hanging around the parks. He stopped in Circus for a visit and even though he had just visited me at Animal Kingdom a few days before, it was awesome to see him again. Plus, he was able to get a few pictures of me working which was cool. 

When I made that joke years ago about wanting to work at Big Top in the silly hat and giant tie, I didn’t think it would actually be possible. I honestly think that if I hadn’t done it, it would have been one of my biggest regrets. I loved working at Storybook Circus and if I had to do the program all over again, I think I’d request it as my home location.

[destinationsdesi]

Have you all seen these Cast Member Nametag Jackets by @doodlebugboutique_ !?! You have to get one! So comfy! Makes me feel like I’m back working at the parks! 💙💙💙 . . Awesome tumbler by @hawkkrafted . . #castmember #collegeprogram #cp #collegeprogramalumni #wdwcp #wdwcpalumni #collegegear #disneymerch #disneygear #magic #magicalmoments #jackets #custom #embroidery #tumblers #starbucks #holographic #blue #fashion #disneystyle #disney #disneyworld #day #sunshine https://www.instagram.com/p/CCbmqx9DatG/?igshid=ytb1u72sod99

[jtemtsocialmediadude]

So many College Programs students walking behind Festival of Fantasy today 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[waltzdisneythings-blog]

The dcp tag!

What’s up? I’ve had a lot on my mind, and I’ve been hard at work brainstorming what I want my page to be about, but, while we wait, I’ve decided to do the DCP tag!

Originally, I’d started to create my own — if you’re interested in seeing it, let me know and I’ll think about sharing! — but I quickly fizzled out due to school. Anyway, here we go!

—————————————————————

1. How did you hear about the program?

I’ve known about the program since I was probably ten years old; I have an Aunt who actually did the Program back when it first started, and she met her husband on the program! Crazy, right?

2. How was the interview process?

This is actually my third time applying for the college program, and I aced my first WBI/PI (but had to turn it down 🙁), was waitlisted last semester, and aced this semester’s process as well!

The WBI was mostly just your general form, so if you’re nervous, don’t be! Lots of companies have one to see if employees are a good fit!

My first two phone interviews were with Christy, and the most recent with Lynn!

3. Where were you when you found out?

When I found out that I was accepted for Spring of 2018, I was in bed! I was just browsing my phone before i needed to get ready for classes, and it was a pleasant surprise!

4. What is your role? Preferred roles?

I was accepted for QSFB; my top three were Attractions, Merchandise, and QSFB (in that order). I’ve never had experience in food, so it should be an interesting change!

5. How did you find your roommates? How many do you want?

Currently, we have seven set while we search for an eighth and final roommate! We all met through the Facebook page and chatted over GroupMe.

6. What are you going to miss while in the program?

I’m going to miss my fiancé and pets more than I can even begin to express; we recently moved into our own apartment and it’s going to be tough, but we started as LD so it shouldn’t be too awful.

I’ll also miss my family a lot, because I don’t get to see them much now, so being across the country means I’ll likely see them even less. Hopefully, they’ll come to visit!

7. What’s your favorite Disney park?

My favorite park has and always will be DAK. There’s something magical about the message, and it truly feels so realistically immersive.

8. First thing you want to do when you get there?

I either want to go to Disney Springs for a mini shopping spree, or resort hop! When I get my main gate, the first thing I’ll want to do is go to Pandora, however, I’ll probably end up at MK first 🤣

9. What is number 1 on your bucket list?

I want to dedicate an entire day to DAK, and more specifically, Pandora and the Rivers of Light! I haven’t gotten to experience either so far, and I can’t wait!

10. One thing you hope to take away from the program?

I hope to make some genuine friends while on the program! Also, I hope it’s a factor in helping me shape my future. Fingers crossed!

—————————————————————

That’s all for now guys! Let me know if you want my personal tag, and until next time...

Have a Magical Day!

[magicalthingsbykimmy]

I FILMED EVERY DAY OF MY DCP! . . . I’m so excited to finally start sharing it all! Link in bio! . . . #disney #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld #dcp #disneycollegeprogram #collegeprogram #mydisneycollegeprogram #dcp2018 #dcpfa2018 #dcpfall2018 #dcpfalladvantage2018 #disneycollegeprogram2018 #dcp2019 #dcpspring2019 #disneycollegeprogram2019 #disneycastmember #castmember #wecreatehappiness #dailyvlogging https://www.instagram.com/p/B33KXvAgzW7/?igshid=1bnmkr5gjt77p

[k12academics]

The Office of Inclusive Postsecondary Education (OIPE) offers three programs for the neurodiverse population of students interested in attending college at the University of Missouri - St. Louis: Succeed Program, Succeed+ Program, and Link Program.

Succeed: Nationally recognized and award-winning, this model comprehensive transition and postsecondary program was established in 2013. Students earn academic credit hours and earn a Chancellor's Certificate after two years in the program. Succeed+ is a similar, but non-credit earning program.

Link: Offers comprehensive academic and vocational support services for students aiming to earn either a two-year Chancellor's Degree or a four-year Bachelor's Degree.

We offer an inclusive college experience at the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL). This implies shared classes, student organization and campus activities/events, and even vocational opportunities between neurotypical and neurodiverse student populations.

[gibs-bangalore]

GIBS Business School, located in Bangalore, India, is one of the top private BBA & PGDM(MBA) colleges in the Bangalore. With its state-of-the-art infrastructure, world-class faculty, and industry-oriented curriculum, it has established itself as one of the most sought-after business schools for aspiring managers.

Founded in 2014, GIBS has consistently ranked among the top business schools in India, providing students with a comprehensive learning experience that equips them with the necessary skills and knowledge to succeed in the corporate world. The school offers a range of MBA/PGDM programs that cater to the diverse needs of students, including a full-time BBA & PGDM(MBA), an executive PGDM(MBA).

[jeahloraine]

I’m starting to have a little interest, hope it will not fade away.

#CollegeProgram

#ContemplatingMindForNothingness