Thank You and Mahalo

1 year ago at this time, May 16 at about 10ish, I was in tears. I was crying because I had just clocked out from being a Polynesian Cast Member for the last time. I had just finished my last breads shift, my last time mixing Kona bread, my last time making pans of Ohana Breakfast Bread, my last time helping out on Graveyard. My last shift at work with the ohana.

I can tell you it was pouring rain in Florida that night because I remember sitting on the little benches outside waiting for the bus and it just kept pouring and pouring. I was sitting there crying on the phone with my mom talking about how I didn't want to go (although she couldn't wait for me to leave because it meant seeing her again after 3 months) but I just cried. I had smuggled a cup of the Ohana Bread Pudding in cup, but even that didn't make me feel better.

That night didn't just mark the end of my chapter at the Polynesian, it marked the end of a chapter where amongst those pages, I learned a lot about myself. I learned what kind of environment I want to work for, I want to work in the places with high expectations and morals, I want to work in a place where you make people happy, I realized that I didn't just want to do an internship but that I wanted to work here for the rest of my life. I opened up more, I actually talked to a guy (what? I know) and I let my personality shine. It is a lot easier to showcase your Disney obsession in Disney World than college. Wearing mouse ears on campus may cause a few head turns...

Yes, I learned how to make bread but I learned how to make A LOT of bread and how to do it right. My first rack of bread wasn't perfect but overtime I got the hang of it. On dessert bar I was so scared of it the first day because I always said I was not made for tickets and made to order dishes, but I conquered even the busiest of my shifts. I learned a lot about the industry in the kitchen, and a lot about myself outside of it. Even though Peter Pan would be upset to hear it, I grew up even more.

At the end of the night, I cried because I didn't want to leave. but I told myself it would not be the last time I stepped inside of a Disney kitchen and put the culinary costume back on. ad here I am, with a countdown to my second internship and a dream of making it my career.

The Disney Culinary Program, any program, will change your live. Yes you will work and you will play, but you will also learn and grow. Maybe your role won't relate to your major, but you will learn about yourself. and this internship can open so many doors, I got my job through this, Disney on a resume just screams 'wow'. So go for it, dream, work for it and learn from it and I promise, you won't regret it.