Quick Update

So the last few days have been super busy and awesome, so I promise to post more about them later, but I figured I would get a quick post in before I head off to work in a little bit. So Wednesday-Friday of last week we had our in parks training shadow and pair days. It was super fun to be out there in the park doing what I will be doing the next 6 months, but it will definitely take a while getting used to the heat and all of the time on my feet. I only had a one day weekend, which was yesterday. I was hoping to get a bunch of errands/chores done, but since it was the last day a bunch of us will have off together in a while I had a fun filled packed day. I am glad that I worked late shift today so I could sleep in a bit today! Well, I have to leave soon and I need to go make my lunch, but wish me luck as I start my first few days riding solo starting today. I am super nervous, yet excited...

"Last" Training Day

Today was our last training day. Like I said before, we were told to come to work in guest clothes. we started off the morning by taking our assessment. There was short answers, T/F, and a practical. It was not as bad as I think most of the presenters thought it would be. I got almost all of them right, and the rest I was at least 75% right with my answers. We were given 2 hours to finish, but 6 of us finished within an hour. So one of our managers took us over to Cast Services Center in the employee cafeteria to check us off on all of our computer training. 

Then we were sent off to go and get as many Wilderness Explorer badges as we could! We had previously gotten the 10 that the Troop Leaders (us Education Presenters) give out through our training. Our group headed in the direction of Everest and got a few Africa Badges and most of our Asia badges (and HAD to ride Expedition Everest to complete to Yeti and Everest Badges.) Then we headed to DinoLand to get the 2 we needed there and rode Dinosaur. Afterwards, we headed back and got the rest in Africa and Asia (mostly Trials related ones). At this point we had collected all but the ones up at the Conservation Station and we didn't have time to go up to Rafiki's planet watch. Therefore, we have 26 out of our 31 badges! Now one of these days I will have to go and get my last 5 badges to become a Senior Wilderness Explorer!!! Then we broke for lunch at Pizzafari and even got a Conservation button for donating to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund!

Then all of the presenters met one of our Core Team leaders at It's Tough to be a Bug and we watched it as a group. Unfortunately, Hopper didn't work, but it was a ton of fun to see everyone's reactions. I don't think that I have heard so much screaming at it before. Then we walked around a bit and saw the kangaroos and giant shark catfish before going over to watch Flights of Wonder. It was an amazing show and I can't wait to go back to see it again! Anastasia even got picked to be a volunteer. At this point we went back to the classroom to go over our assessments and learn the last few things before getting done a little early.

A group of us (Amber, Allie, Diana, and I) wanted to find the Company D by Animal Kingdom (and failed to do so before it closed for the day) but we were able to get the appropriate rain gear from costuming and I grabbed another pair of shorts to see if they would fit. Then we headed back to the park and met up with Megan and Amber's friend Nick (who is pretty awesome!) and rode Dinosaur twice. After Megan left to go home we also rode Everest (we rode in the first few rows which is a completely different experience!) and Safari (we saw a ton more animals then I expected for how hot it was. We even saw some hippos fighting and a rhino was just a couple of feet from our vehicle).

I am sooooo tired. I got home and watched Pretty Little Liars with Dana (and Amber, but she doesn't know what is going on completely...), ate a delicious bowl of cereal with peaches, took a shower, and am pretty much falling asleep typing. Today was a ton of fun, but being out in the sun was exhausting. Tomorrow is our first shadow day and first full day out in the park in our costume. I am going to sleep well tomorrow. Luckily I have a later start on Thursday since I am supposed to meet up with my cousin and Aunt at Magic Kingdom tomorrow night. Well, time for an early trip to bed!

Ride Count

Also, I forgot that I have added a Ride Count tab so I can keep track the number of times I ride each ride. I have downloaded a Ride Counter App, which is pretty good, but isn't up to date with the newer rides and whatnot. Therefore, if you are interested in following how many times I do each attraction just take a peak. (currently Hollywood Studios is the winning park and the top three rides are:  The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (5), Rock 'n' RollerCoaster (4), Star Tours (3).

Hello, My Name is Sandy and I am from Vernon, CT

First off, I promise I will go and post about the last week and a half, but I figured I would at least try to post consistently now to not get tooooo far behind. So I'll start off from yesterday (the day off that I pretty much did nothing but watch Ghostbusters 1 and 2 on TV, uploaded photos to my laptop/Facebook, and didn't get out of my PJs until around 6pm).

Sunday Night (HS)

Last night we went to Hollywood Studios, but not as many people showed up as we wanted, but a good group of people came, including some of the Seas interns, which was fun since we don't get to see them that often anymore. Some of us went on a quick ride of Tower of Terror as we waited for Allie to show up and the wait was really short. We were going to head over to do single rider Rockin' RollerCoaster, but Allie said she was entering the park so we went to wait for her and a group of the Seas interns that said they only wanted to ride Tower once so had skipped the first time. This allowed us some time to shop around the store. Amber went and got the picture from the day before (Saturday) when a bunch of us had been on the ride and I got 2 ToT pressed quarters! When everyone met up we went on ToT and we were on a car with a bunch of first timers and there was so much screaming on that ride. Then we went and rode Rockin' and pretty much walked on in the regular standby line so we all got to ride together. A bunch of people left at this point, but Amber wanted to ride Star Tours to see how it was with a different scenario and Allie had never been on it (we barely made it on the last ride of the night. this was my 3rd time riding and it was a bit of a mix of the other 2 times I went on it). Then we headed home to get a good nights sleep (but apparently Allie got in an accident on her way home. eek!)

Monday

So today on the way to work I realized I forgot my name tag. Therefore, I got one of the extra presenter ones. One of my leaders, Josh, asked if I wanted to be from California or Connecticut and I didn't have too much of a preference, so he handed me Sandy from Vernon, CT. So all day we were joking around about me being Sandy. I confused Matt (the current Core Team intern) and Critter decided he was going to call me Sandy for the next 6 months. 

We started off with some info on the animal positions that we staff and then we headed out for a scavenger hunt to familiarize ourselves with the park (eg. nearest bathroom, smoking locations, break rooms, badge locations, animals, etc.). My group was one of the only ones to get done, pretty much since Tara had worked custodial at DAK before on a CP so she knew her way around. Afterward, we met at our trailer and split into our 3 tour groups again to tour our animal locations. We lost our leader Bethany today to another group, but got Matt. It was nice to get a different person's point of view and he even did a couple sample presentations. We got super sweaty and then broke for lunch.

After lunch we went back to the classroom and went over different emergency situations, met with a primate keeper (who was awesome!), did some practice conversations, and played a jeopardy review game for our assessment. Talking with the Primate Keeper made me think of how cool it would be to work with the SSP (Species Survival Plan) and make breeding recommendations based on a data and whatnot!

After work Allie, Amber, and I headed home. We chilled most of the night. Lexi, Dana and I watched some TV together and I made reservations for my family to visit next month (which ended up being a big mess). Tomorrow we have our assessment in the morning and were told to dress in "guest clothes" to go and do some stuff out in the park. Some of us have been guessing what we are doing (riding rides, earning non-Troop Leader badges, etc), but I am excited for tomorrow!

Training Schedule Part 2

Sorry that I haven't been good at updating! I have been making notes each day and I plan on writing more in depth about this past week or so. Today is on of my days off and the beginning of a new week. We got the rest of our schedules for the next two weeks yesterday. Today is the last day for the rest of the semester that all of the presenters have off together. We are planning on getting together tonight to go on Tower of Terror and trying to get a full elevator of animal programs interns and maybe make some signs or something.

This next week is still full of more training, including finally getting more in the park training. Then next week we start full time in the parks as the current presenters leave. Here is my work schedule for the rest of my training:

June 23-24: The last two days of classroom training, including our assessment (whatever than entails...)

June 25-26: Shadow days in the park in small groups with the current presenters.

June 27: Last day all of the Fall presenters will work all together. Time training in the park

June 28: Final day of On the Job training in the park!

In a little bit Amber, Dana, and I are planning on heading out to meet other Animal programs interns at Hollywood Studios. Hopefully, we will have a good turnout!

Post-DAKlimations Adventures

I decided to make a separate post for rest of the day after our DAKlimations class since the other post was getting a bit long.

We had already planned to go to the park, and since we got off early we got changed and headed to DAK as a guest (I changed in the car, because while everyone else was changing Amber had locked my stuff in her car. oops!). It was our first visit as guests to the park that we would be calling home for the next few months! We decided to get our wilderness explorer books from headquarters to check out our future job! We even went and got 2 badges at the Asia WE booth. We missed part of the lesson and were a little disappointed that we didn't do the whole activity.

Then we headed over to Everest. I was so excited! My family didn't get to go on it the last time we had come since it had been hit by lightning and closed down. We waited about 25 min as group to go on. It was so much fun! We went right again in single rider and was about 5 min. It was hot so we stopped by a blue ice cream truck thing. I didn't really want ice cream, but I did get my first glass of free ice water.

First ever ride on Everest!!!
Amber and I in back row
Then Allie and Lauren, 
Then Anastasia and someone random person

Single Rider for my second adventure

Next we headed over to dinosaur and afterwards Anastasia left to go let out her dog. Everyone thought it was pretty scary, but I don't really get it. The scariest part for me is right at the end and the picture part never is, but whatever. It's fun to see peoples' reactions.

First time on Dinosaur as a PI.
Amber, me, and Allie in back row. 
Anastasia and Lauren in next row.

Next we went on Primeval whirl and we were all screaming as we went around the turns. The forecast said it was going to rain and looked dark out. So we headed over to It's Tough to be a Bug since we figured if it started raining everyone would rush there. Waited for next show and had fun. I think lauren left at this point since she was really hot since she still had dress pants on because she didn't bring clothes to change into.

After the rain we decided to hit up the triceratops ride since it was one of only ones we hadn't gotten to and had a bit of time before the Nemo show. We went to the 6pm Finding Nemo Musical show and had a blast. Was first time Amber and Allie had seen it so their reactions were great to see. It was just as great as I remembered it. Then we headed back to Everest for one last ride. We literally walked right up to ride!

One last Everest ride of the day

We decided to go on Kali since we were leaving and it was one of the last rides we hadn't gone on. Allie got us a locker and we waited only like 10 min. We didn't get AS wet as we thought we would and headed out for the night. We came home and ate dinner and watched Pretty Little Liars with the roommates. Then I took a shower since I was gross from being in the heat at Animal Kingdom all day. I called mom to give her an update and wrote all of this stuff down, before heading off to bed!!!


Note: was published on 11/3

DAKlimation

DAKlimations Day! aka our park orientation. Almost everyone in our class were Animal Programs PIs but there were a few other people too. First off our trainers did a Disney look check. We hadn't had them in our other two days of training, but they were pretty strict with this check. I wore a black and white dress that I had bought at Carson's and it had a little bit of a sheer top, so I decided to wear my blazer with it just in case. I am glad I did, not because I think I would have failed, but it was better to be safe than sorry. We spent some time in the classroom. Watched some videos including the VP of the park welcoming us to the team. Talked about how Walt took animals and the environment seriously. I think we talked about the 4 keys more, because who couldn't get enough of those things? lol. They had people read things, so I volunteered and got a DAK 15th anniversary button (AWESOME!!!) 

Probably my favorite thing was we went and took a private safari. It was still relatively early in the morning and the animals were all pretty active. Everyone was saying we were super lucky because almost all of the animals were out and visible.

We then split into two groups and walked over the park (besides Rafiki's) and went over the theming a bit (she said if she sees us in Discovery Island that we better say Viva Gaia since not many people use the themed greeting). One of the most interesting was the story of the new Festival of the Lion King area. Apparently no one knew the story when it re-opened recently, so they called over to the Imagineers who told everyone and we apparently were some of the first ones to know about it. Ends up it was an old Portuguese Fort and it wasn't being used so the people of Harambe came together and made it a place where they celebrate the native animals and use their talents to tell the story of the Lions. Our facilitator also went over Dino Land theming quite a bit too. There are two sections: the Dino Institute and Dino-rama People found some dinosaur bones. Paleontologists moved in and grad students turned the local dinner into a dorm (hence the chairs on the roof. It turned back into a dinner when the Dino Institute built their official area (where Dinosaur is). Then the locals Chester and Hester decided to make some road side attractions to profit including turning the gas station into a gift shop and having fun games. They even built a ride as a spoof of Dinosaur and one of Dumbo. 

After our class was over, everyone went their separate ways. The Conservation Education Presenter team had a 1 hour break at the cast cafeteria, Pride Rock. When we got there we saved a table so we could sit together which was right near cash registers. While everyone else immediately scattered, I got to see the VP of DAK buying food. Wasn't sure if it was him at first, but had just seen him in a video at DAKlimations and looked him up to confirm. So cool to see VP Josh D'Amaro my first day! I ended up buying a slice of pizza even though I had a lunch (it was delicious!!!)

After our break a few of our leaders met us over to costuming to get our costumes (It think it was Core Team Josh and Manager Erin). Nothing fit right and the sizes were limited because of the current group of presenters still being around. Can't wait to get better stuff when the Spring group returns their stuff. Got off early afterwards since our schedule said four. 


Note: was post published on 11/3  

Training Schedule

At our Animal Programs meeting on Wednesday, we went over our training schedule a little bit. So now we now when we are working over the course of the next week.

June 12-13: We have Thursday and Friday off to allow us to get settled in and for our background check to go through (or so the rumor is...). However, all of the AP interns that scuba dive as part of their job had to get a diving physical on Friday.

June 14: On Saturday all the PIs that checked in June 11 have traditions. All of the Animal Programs interns have it in the morning, while everyone else I think is split up between the morning and afternoon seasons. I think all the AP interns have other training in the afternoon. I think we were told that Education Presenters have computer training after lunch, whereas my roommate that is in the Vet Hospital has to get a TB test and the first of the rabies vaccine shots. Our day is supposedly from 7:45 am-4:30 pm.

June 15: On Sunday we have Welcome to Ops at Disney University. I am in a different letter than my roommates Amber and Dana. Our day is supposedly from 7:30 am-5 pm. This is also the day we are planning to go to do an Animal Programs Tower of Terror event.

June 16: We have DAKlimations. Everyone who works at Animal Kingdom has to do this park orientation. I think we get our costumes this day, too. Our day is supposedly from 7:30 am-5pm.

June 17: First day of on the job training. 8 am-5 pm

June 18 and 19: Days off. The only time all the Ed Presenters will all have the same days off the entire 7 months

June 20-21: Second and third days of on the job training. 8 am-5 pm

Different areas all have different training schedules, even within AP. For example, the Living Seas people I spoke with have Friday and Saturday off (and our new MI friend, Josh). My roommate Dana (Vet Hospital Intern) has Tuesday and Wednesday off. Also, our days have typical work hours, as do those that work in offices, but not all do. One of the guys I met today (Patrick, who is doing a Guest Relations PI at MK) even has a training shift from 7pm-3:30am!

Check-In Day

Sorry that this is a SUPER LONG post, but a ton happened my first day at Disney! I will hopefully keep future posts shorter after the craziness of the first week. I just want to remember all the details myself! I will also try and post pictures later!!!!


Housing Meeting
So today began bright and early, well earlier than I am used to at least. I got up around 6:30ish to make sure that I had plenty of time to make myself look nice, check out of my hotel, and so I could get to the housing meeting a little early. I did my hair once, then I went outside to get some ice and my hair went crazy again. Luckily I got it to look presentable before I headed out. I wasn't very hungry and only ate a part of a muffin before heading over. I got to Vista Way around 8:15 and was lucky to get a parking spot right next to the building that we had our housing meeting in. When I got "in-line" (we were really more of a mob) I was right beyond Joey, a kid I went to high school with. It was a little awkward since I hadn't spoken to him since graduation, but it was nice to see a familiar face. We were given name tags and waited a bit longer before we were allowed to head inside. 

Once we got in we handed over our DORMS paperwork and got a housing packet (including out key) and got our picture taken for our housing IDs. We don't really use them much unless we want to go to housing events, from my understanding. This is also were I first met me roommate Amber. We had been talking on Facebook beforehand, but it was nice to meet her in person. We had a pretty quick 15-20 min talk over a few housing things, signed a sheet saying we understood the rules and we were on our way. Overall, Vista Way and the housing process was different than what I expected. I guess I had just read things from CP blogs, but it is WAY faster than I thought it would take. We also got free donuts!

Casting Check-In
So I was scheduled for a 10:15 check-in, but just decided to go straight to Casting after the housing meeting ended. I really didn't have enough time to drive Falcon and was already checked out of my hotel. I went in and no one said anything about me being early. First we passed through the doors, which have doorknobs like in Alice and Wonderland. Then you enter an atrium with tall white pillars with golden Disney characters on top. I didn't wait here long though.I then was led down this hallway were I waited some more, talked to a few people (including an Aquaculture intern named Brett) and met a managers at Liberty Inn who was super nice (she started as a CP, then did an MI, and she also managed the food trucks in DTD). Then we truly got started when we got handed a folder with two sheets of paper, one with our traditions time (I am in the morning) and the other with instructions on changing our address on the Hub once we get access. Then we signed some confidentiality agreements, went over our I9s (which we filled out before we arrived) and got fingerprinted. When I first tried to give my fingerprint on the computer thingy the guy didn't really give me instructions and I was putting my hand down too hard, but then didn't have a problem with getting my prints after that. He kept having a hard time entering y information into the computer system though. Near the end we were in a line and this lady told the guys that they were cooking dinner for the girls. I am waiting for my dinner Matt! lol. Lastly, we went over the Disney look and were sent on our way! I ended up getting out of Casting around the time I was supposed to start.

Falcon Square Apartment
After Casting I drove to check out the apartments. We actually were in the furthest building, which was actually the building my dad and I had driven by the day before. When I got upstairs Dana and her boyfriend were unpacking her stuff. We also did some creeping on our forth roommate since we only put 3 names down on the sheet. Her stuff was pretty much all set up, but there wasn't a lot of food. Therefore we thought she might have been there for a while but weren't sure. I tried taking some stuff up stairs, but it was really hot and humid and going up the 2 flights of stairs was tiring. I made it my goal to bring all of my stuff in from the main part of the car. Then I headed to Chick-Fil-A since I had only ever had it once at Cedar Point. It was super crowded and there were probably over 50 kids running around. I then headed back and had a little bit of time before we had to head to our Animal Programs meeting.

Animal Programs Meeting
Dana, Amber, and I jumped in Amber's car and drove back to casting for our Animal Programs meeting. We almost got lost, but made it just in time. We all waited in the atrium again, but it was SUPER crowded. Then all 68 Animal, Science, and Environment interns headed into a room where we confirmed our phone number at the door and were given a folder thing with a binder thing, a pen, a Disney Conservation button and a thing about the conservation fund. We were introduced to our leaders, played an icebreaker where we were supposed to organize ourselves alphabetically by last name (it didn't work and it was taking too long so we stopped), went around the room to introduce ourselves, and then split up into groups based on role to go over our training schedules. In all it probably took about an hour or so. It was fun to meet people we had been talking to on Facebook and Yammer and finally find out more about what we are doing. We were told to brush up on scientific names and I had read in the past they did an icebreaker involved them, and some people were nervous, but we didn't end up doing anything with scientific names at all.

Exploring
After we got done with casting, we decided to figure out how to get to Animal Kingdom and time how long it took to get back to our apartments. It was fun to drive around property. We went to the Animal Kingdom guest gate and met the CP I had talked to the day before and she said we could drive around the parking lot, so we did. She gave us some other instructions we didn't understand and ended up driving around the parking lot in circles. We decided to park and get a picture in front of the Animal Kingdom sign. It was funny that Amber and Dana had to get their bags checked, but we walked right back out 5 minutes later. We then exited the parking and tried to find the cast parking. Instead of turning where we were supposed to, we went straight and ended up at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. So we decided to park and explore the hotel a little. I loved it! I would love to be able to stay there someday. It was fun to just walk around and see animals so close. I really want to go back to explore the grounds, animal watch, and get a picture in front of the sign.

The rest of the night
Lastly, we timed our way home and drove to Publix to get some food. We found it to be super expensive so we decided t hold off on buying a lot. We finally headed home for the night and met our last roommate Lexi. She is an engineering intern from Texas who started a summer internship in May but will be extending till December. She said she might leave Falcon Square at the end of the summer. She was really nice even though we have barely seen her yet. She had also done a Project Management internship last fall and stayed at Falcon Square than as well. We all finally settled in. At this point I was past hungry and didn't feel like eating dinner. Lexi went to a friends to drink and invited us, but we all decided to stay and unpack some. 

It is amazing how much we did our first day and it was definitely better than the day before!!!!

Arrived!

So today has been super stressful. It was all good until we got around Disney. We ended up deciding to drive by the apartments the PIs live in. They are super nice, but we decided to get an idea how far they are from Animal Kingdom, and while we took a wrong turn or two, it seemed to take FOREVER! I am really wishing that the non-Disney housing I tried to line up had worked out. We did check to a CP at the gates to Animal Kingdom parking and she was super nice and helped us get re-directed and asked if I was starting a CP, too. Then we checked into my hotel. It is really nice and I am glad I stayed here over the Holiday Inn that a lot of people recommended since I saved $20. After checking out my room, we decided to find where I needed to go tomorrow, so it won't be as stressful. I luckily am pretty close to Vista (housing check-in) and Casting. Afterwards, we drove around property a bit more before heading toward Kissimmee. 

Tigger at breakfast at the Days Inn hotel (he is confused since it says that the Tiggers at Kansas City was postponed, when the Tiggers actually played the White Sox....)

I plan on it!

Since we had time before my dad had to go to the airport, we stopped to get my oil changed since I was due for it. It was looking good, until we got on the toll road and the check engine light came on. My dad got out and looked at the oil and it looked good. We were going to try and head back to where I got my oil changed, but didn't have time. So I dropped my dad off at the airport and headed back. Unfortunately, a big monsoon hit and I could barely see in front of me. Then my brakes started acting funny. I luckily somehow made it back to the oil change place right before they closed. They ran a diagnostic on it and said it should be safe to drive but I will need to get it checked out. After more stressful, rain filled driving, I finally made it back to the hotel and just didn't want to deal with the rain and decided to just make dinner out of the food in my car (potato chips, cookies, and muffins, ftw!). 

We made it to Flordia!

I spent a chunk of the night super stressed trying to find a car place and all the Chevy dealerships are further away than I would like. My mom found a mechanic closer to my apartment that has good reviews so I might try to call there or the Chevy dealerships tomorrow to figure out where I will take my car. Hopefully they can figure out what is wrong on my two days off before training on Saturday! After a shower and listening to music I am much calmer, but still a little anxious with having to deal with so much in a new state when I already have everything else (casting, moving in, grocery shopping, etc) going on. Despite today, I am super excited for tomorrow!

The hotel pool

Some birds by the oil change place

Made it to Disney!!!

Our hotel for the night. Tigger gets one bed and I get the other

My future workplace!!!

My apartment complex 

The Journey Down with Tigger

Well, we have made it to our hotel for the night! We left around 6:30 and drove most of the day. I had a really hard time saying goodbye to my dogs, my mom, and my sister. I know I will see my family at the end of July and can talk to them, but it is hard knowing they are on the opposite side of the country. I have lived a by myself for the majority of the past 4 years, so I know I won't have to deal with how to cook, etc, but Florida will be very different from the Midwest and the comfort my parents were just a few hours away just in case. With my dogs, I won't see them until I come home in January, so it was almost harder saying bye to them than my family. Especially since my old dog, Bailey, isn't doing well so I am worried I won't see her before she has to be put down. I hope that I can see her again. :(

Currently we are about 4 hrs away from Disney! I slept for a large part of the day while my dad drove, but I took a little stint at the wheel. I took pictures with my Tigger stuffed animal throughout my journey. Pretty much all of the other animal programs interns were also taking pictures with stuffed animals as they traveled. It is kind of cool that we all ended up with different ones! 

Saying goodbye to my dogs. :(

Tigger and I are packed up and ready to go!

Tigger, dad and I ready to pull away!

Driving through Ohio

Lunch in Kentucky

Driving through Tennessee

Entering Georgia

Tigger with the Olympic Torch in Atlanta

Stopping for dinner in Georgia

All ready for a good nights sleep in Southern Georgia!

Last Days Living in Livonia

Friday 6th
So on Friday I woke up a lot later than I planned and chilled for a chunk of the day. I had to finish a few things up for my work for the Hope College Chemistry department, so I worked a few hours on that. I also got my information for housing check-in on Wednesday. Instead of checking in at The Commons, where Spring 2014 people did, we will be checking in at Vista Way. It will be an interesting, long day, since I will have to head right to Casting, then hopefully have a bit of time before the Animal Programs meeting, and then finally move into housing. Friday evening, my family went to a graduation party for one of my sister's friends. It was fun. They had pretty good food catered and even had a bartender. I ended up getting a margarita and tried a sip of my mom's Long Island Ice Tea (wasn't a big fan...) 

Then my best friends Mary and Ashley joined me at this restaurant at a local golf course called the Tin Cup for a last goodbye. My mom had been there a week or two ago and recommended it to us. Since I had just eaten at the grad party and Mary was coming from a dinner with her aunt who was in town, Ashley got a burger (which looked pretty good) and I ordered a side of sweet potato fries, which were good and had honey on them, which I never thought to try. The big highlight of the evening was out drink order. We split an 100oz Power Tower. Only Ashley and I were there when we ordered it and got some funny looks from the other people in the restaurant. 

The Power Tower

We had a great time hanging out, and they even bought me some Michigan themed gifts! We even tentatively planned them coming down the week after Ashley graduates in December! After finishing, we decided to call my parents to pick us up so they came and got us and drove my car home. Mary and Ashley left theirs overnight since we asked and they said they lock a gate. They decided to sleep over, so we played our favorite game, 1313 Deadend Drive, and slept on the couches in the basement (well Mary decided to sleep on a bunch of body pillows instead...)

1313 Deadend Drive...Our favorite game!

Saturday 7th
We woke up really early (6:30!) and talked for a few hours before I drove Mary and Ashley back to the golf course to pick up their cars. We hugged goodbye and drove separate ways. It was hard, but we are used to not seeing each other for months at a time, so I know that we will keep in touch and see each other sooner than we know!

I then spent part of the day doing errands with my mom. At night my family hopped to 3 different parties. The first one had the best food. It was catered and probably the best grad party food I have ever had. The second party we didn't spend a ton of time at and didn't eat much. The third we spent a ton of time at. They had catered greek food and stuff. It was pretty good. The best part was the deserts. I joked with the mom that she needs to send me care packages of her deserts (they are soooo good!). I only half jokingly said I wanted to come pick up some extras the next day (I really wanted those deserts!) Megan stayed longer, but my parents and I were tired and getting attacked by mosquitos, so we decided to head home.  I went through my clothes with my mom making sure I didn't forget anything important and then crashed since I was exhausted.

Sunday 8th
My dad rotated my tires and made sure I knew how to change a flat. My mom and sister had to do a bunch of errands for her grad party next week. We went to yet another grad party (I am seriously going to miss getting all this free delicious food in Florida!) and finished going through my stuff. My dad and I even stopped by the storage unit and found my Tigger! I will be taking pictures of Tigger on my drive down. I went by my Grandma's house and picked up some cookies she made for me and said goodbye. It was really hard. I tried to hold back tears and put on my sunglasses before she could see. I just am worried that something will happen to her and it could be the last time that I see her. I didn't have time to stop by my other Grandma's assisted living. I feel bad, but she barely knows who I am anymore and wouldn't understand what was going on. I said goodbye to her on Thursday at my sister's birthday dinner, but I hope that nothing happens to her either since it will be probably harder to talk to her on the phone and everything. She has Alzheimer, but is otherwise really healthy, so I hope that I won't have to have more regrets about not being able to say a final goodbye to her. Lastly, I ended the night watching the Tigers game and making a no-sew blanket. My mom and sister gave me some material, but I ended up being the one to spend my last few hours making it! lol.

Well the car is all packed up and ready to go, so I should get a few hours of shut eye until I leave bright and early tomorrow morning!

Tigger has been rescued from the storage unit

The pictures weren't uploading right, so I put reminders in to put them up when I get a chance. I promise to finish my PI application posts soon! I had written a bunch up in advance since I knew how crazy these last few days would be, but I got to one that I needed to type up and haven't gotten a chance to. Well, almost set to begin my exciting journey to Florida bright and early tomorrow!

Background Checks

The Exciting Background Check
One of the last steps before getting an offer is receiving a background check. They do not guarantee that you are going to get a job offer, but it is doubtful that you are going to get an offer without one. I have heard that some people who are currently employed by the Disney company don't always need to get one. In the past it seems like a lot fewer people received background checks and it meant that you were on the short list of consideration for at least one position. However, for the Fall 2014 cycle, A LOT more people seemed to get one on the Facebook group that received offers. In the past it seemed like people generally got them shortly before they got the email to schedule their "brief phone call." This time around a lot of people (especially those who were Alumni only or had screening interviews) got them shortly after their screening interviews.

My Background Check When I got my background check I was on a cruise. I actually received a bunch of movement this week which was stressful. I had internet at our port in Key West since we were in the US and I got on Starbucks WiFi in Cozumel. I had set up an automatic reply just in case, but I filled out the background check email on my iPhone outside Starbucks. I didn't receive any other correspondence for a while so I was worried it didn't go through since you do not get a confirmation it was received after you submit it and if you go back to the email it opens a blank form. Don't worry! 

What it Looks Like When you get the email it asks you to fill out a form titled "Application DWS Pro Intern FL v2" and basically asks if you have applied to work for Disney before, if you have a record or any pending charges, you consent to giving Disney your fingerprints if hired, and if you give Disney consent to do a background check.

After this email, it can be a few days, weeks, or months before more movement, so the waiting game can continue!

I don't care if I never get back...

So the last few days have been super busy. I have had 3 doctors appointments to get all squared away with my medications and have nice teeth before going away to Florida for 7 months. Yesterday I also was able to fit in one last Tigers baseball game in before I leave. I hadn't been able to get to one this season and wasn't sure the next time I would be able to go. The game also doubled as a birthday game for my Dad (June 2) and my sister (June 5). Starting a few years ago we try to go to a game for our birthdays (works since all of us were born in the summer!)

Even though they lost (like the 4 games I went to last year...) it was still a lot of fun! My mom and I filled out over 100 All Star game ballots and we got some cool prizes. I got a Torii Hunter mini bat and a winter Tigers hat. My mom won a baseball hat (she wanted a new one!) and a cool mini-duffle bag. To fill out the ballots we had to punch all these holes out and we got them all over us! My sister, her boyfriend, and my dad didn't want to fill them out, but we did it for them so we could get more prizes! They all got boring stationary sets. My mom and I definitely got the best one! I even got a picture with my future boss! I guess Mickey is a Tigers fan! 

Today I worked a bit on reorganizing the things I am taking down to Florida. We also went out for my Dad's and Megan's birthday dinner. We just went to Red Robin since they both had free birthday dinners. I also got to say bye to my grandmothers since I don't know if I will have time to see them again this weekend before I leave. I also finally put my diplomas in their frames! Now I am the proud owner of two bachelors degrees!

Drop Downs

So drop downs cause a lot of excitement for everyone on the Facebook pages. The biggest thing that they are separate positions that come on the Dashboard drop down menu. 

Specific Position Drop Downs
These "drop downs" usually are specific jobs that come from a general posting. Two of the biggest categories that have drop downs are the Alumni Only positions and the General Marketing positions. For example, if you apply to the Alumni Only job posting you check off from a list of about 20 internships that you want to be considered for. Then after your screening interview and your application has been moved on, if you are considered a strong final candidate you will be given a separate position under the drop down menu. This is really exciting, since it means that you have been narrowed down and are on the short list of candidates for that position. It is by no means a guarantee that you have the job, but it is definitely a good sign!

Interview Drop Downs Another drop down you might get is for a specific interview. I didn't apply to any of the general applications that normally receive a drop down, but I did end up getting 2 drop downs throughout my interview process. The first one was for my montage interview for animal programs. I don't know of a lot of other positions that got these drop downs besides Animal Program Montage Interviews.

The second drop down is a REALLY good one! Everyone who gets an offer gets this one! This drop down was for my callback offer! If you get one of these there is a pretty good chance you are getting an offer. It isn't guaranteed, but ALMOST everyone who gets this drop down gets an offer.  

Montage Interview

Montage Video Interview
This cycle it seems like a lot more Professional Internships started using this video interview software called Montage. I had heard of past cycles a small handful of internships having to do a video interview, but it seems like a lot more positions have started to use this software. It is a lot like Skype, but for businesses. 

Interview Offer Originally when I got the email to schedule the interview, it said that I was having a phone interview. I then got a separate drop down saying Animal Programs Callback. This drop down was really only used for this interview. However, because of this I wasn't sure what position I was being interviewed for. Luckily, since I had been talking to people through Facebook I guessed it was for the Conservation Education Presenter position. If interested, there are other blogs that pretty much give the questions, but I don't feel comfortable sharing them here. However, two days before my interview I got an email describing the video interview process with Montage. It seemed a little confusing, but it really does walk you right through it. I recommend going to the room and getting familiar with it before your interview.

The Actual Interview My interview was with two of the managers of the Animal Programs team and was specifically for my Conservation Education Presenter Role. They asked questions that I felt prepared for. Unfortunately, I had some bad things happen for my interview. I was at home for spring break and our internet isn't the best. Since my connection was slow and the video was lagging, they called my cell phone for the audio. THEN, my phone dropped the call. I was like, SERIOUSLY! My phone never drops calls! Luckily they used the messaging system and called me right back. The one interviewer (who was also from Michigan and knew someone who was a full-timer in my department at the zoo) said she had her call dropped during her interview when she had first applied for her internship. 

The complications really threw me off and I thought I spoke too fast and did awful. Luckily, I must have done better than I thought I did since I got the offer!!!

Second Interview

Other News First
Went to Hope College (my alma mater!) today to meet up with one of my professors about the work I have been doing for the Chem Department from home. I thought I would be done, but I still have a few more hours of work I'll have to do on Thursday. It was really hard to say goodbye to a bunch of my professors. This is the first time in 4 years that I don't know the next time I will be in Holland. While there were times that I really didn't want to be there, I had a lot of good times on campus. I will really miss it. I am really sad I didn't get to see the professor I did research for since he is moving to Spokane, WA in 2-3 weeks. It is really hard since it is one of the first times that I feel like I possibly won't ever see someone again. I keep telling myself my family used to live in Spokane and since that is were I was born there is a chance that I could be back there someday. I am still glad I got to back, but for the first time in forever (cue Frozen music) I am I looking forward to the next time I can go back.


Onto the Purpose of this Post...Second Interviews!
So I already mentioned the screening interview that most of the Professional Internships have to do with one of the Disney Recruiters. After your screening interview (or right after you have submitted your application) the recruiters will pass on applications that they think could be a good fit to the managers in the Line of Business for your position. This is often where the waiting comes into play. These managers are often have a full time job to complete before they can even look at intern applications. 

Possible Next Steps After Screening Interview After the managers look at your application, there are a few different things that can happen: you can get a supplemental application, you can get a second interview, or you could potentially not hear anything. Don't fret! Not hearing anything isn't necessarily bad. Some positions, especially Alumni Only ones, don't even have a second interview. However, positions like MIs (Management Internships), pretty much have a set number of interviews from year to year. MIs often have two or three interviews (including the screening one) so if you don't hear about a second interview and other people are getting thirds, it might be a sign that you not get the position. However, until your position goes NLIC you don't have to lose all hope. 

Types of Second Interviews A lot of positions have phone interviews for second interviews and some do an internet video interview. Very, very few will even give you the option to interview in person, but MIs are the only ones that I know of that typically do have the option to do an in person second interview (but you don't have to!). Second interviews vary a ton between positions; a lot last about 20-40min, but it isn't unheard of for some people to have ones that are HOURS long. If you ask me, if you get an interview a couple of hours long, I think there is generally a pretty good change you will get the position because I don't foresee many people having a lot of time to do more than a handful of interviews of that length.

If you want to know about a specific position, feel free to ask, but a good place to go is to join past Professional Internships group pages on Facebook and search to see if there is anything about it. Since I did a Montage Interview, I can post about my experience with that next.

Supplemental Applications

At some point after you submit your application you might be contacted to submit additional materials or fill out a supplemental application. Some positions that do this are graphic design, journalist, etc internships that ask to submit a portfolio. Obviously if you have read my other posts you know that I didn't apply to those internships, so I will briefly talk about the Animal Programs and Agriculture Sciences Supplemental Applications. I got both of these shortly after I submitted my application. 

Animal Programs The Animal Programs limits that a person can only apply to 3, so people on the Facebook page that applied to more had to say which 3 they wanted to stay in consideration for through this email. I already knew this, so I had only applied to 3 (Education Conservation Presenter, Chemistry, and Reproductive Biology). The Animal Programs application had a set of standardized questions for each of the positions that I applied for through their department. The questionnaires for each position pretty much wanted to know that I did in fact have the qualifications list, list experiences and such. I then had to email those back and a cover letter that covered all 3 positions. They also ended up asking me for another copy of my transcript since they had had difficulty opening the one I had uploaded on my dashboard.

Agricultural Sciences The Agricultural Sciences one (for the Biotechnology position I applied for) asked for a cover letter, transcript, and letter of recommendation. They didn't have any extra questions. I, however, decided to withdraw my application for this position at this point in time.



OTHER UPDATES: 1 week until I leave for Florida! Oh, and how can I forget?!?! One week from today I will be leaving for Florida (well hopefully by this time we will be in Georgia for the night). I can't believe it is getting so close! I felt like I was doing well on packing, but now I feel like I have so much to do and no time to do it in! Tomorrow I am heading over to my college to finish up my work there and then Wednesday I have 2 doctors appointments and my family is going to the Tigers game for my dad's/sister's birthdays, so I will pretty much have zero time to get stuff organized. Also, with my OCDness I pretty much planned my sister's college class list today so she will be ready to register tomorrow. Well, off to make sure I have everything ready for my day trip tomorrow! 

Screening Interview

One thing that is pretty common across Professional Internships is a screening interview. However, since I only applied to Science Positions (Animals, Science and Environment and EPCOT Agricultural Science) I did not have to undergo a screening interview. As far as I know, pretty much everyone besides people only applying to Animal Programs or Agriculture internships undergo the screening interview. I think that pretty much everyone that isn't automatically NLIC gets a screening interview.

From my understanding it is a lot like the College Program Interviews. They ask things like why are you applying to do a Professional Internship, make sure you are eligible, which are your top choices, your experience, and various other situational and position specific questions. If you are applying to Management Internships they will ask you leadership type questions, as well. Like I said, since I didn't do one of these interviews, I am not the direct source of this information, but this is what I have come across on other blogs and Facebook. I might apply for some other non-Animal Programs internships for next spring and if I do I will have to have a screening interview for that. 

Hitting Home

Today I went to my cousins confirmation. As we were leaving she came up to me and asked when I was leaving. When I responded with "a week from tomorrow" I couldn't believe what I was saying. She then gave me a big hug and said she probably wouldn't see me before I left and wanted to wish me luck. I think that was the moment that I would realized how long it will be before I see my cousins and everyone from home again. I a super excited and can't wait to be done in Disney, but I am a little sad since I can't stop thinking about the people that I haven't been able to say goodbye to. I just keep trying to hang out with my family and see as many people as I can in this crazy last week I have left. I am glad that I have a good deal packed, but I know that I will still be stressed that I will forget something. 

On a happier note, last night I asked my future roommates to give me their favorite Disney character and I am going to make them a surprise. I started making one of them last night and it started off really well, but then I messed it up and was going to take too long to fix so I decided to start over. I don't want to say what I am making yet, but I will post pictures once I finish and give them to my roommates!