Career Fair: Then & Now

Fall 2010, my first ever trimester here at Johnson & Wales. I was in academics, things were just getting started for me. I was 18, had just graduated high school a few months earlier and was still running on some leftover pixie dust from my Disney vacation from back in July where being a baker in Disney was just starting to creep into my mind.

It all seems so long ago. Even from that point, I'm a different person. But, I still get sunburn, that's never going to change!

I had seen flyers about the Disney presentation on campus. I had just started school, I didn't need to start looking for my sophomore internship yet but I wanted to go. I wanted to learn about the program, I wanted to be surrounded by something Disney.

I sat in the chairs. I watched Chef Pauli, a man I didn't know yet, give the presentation on apartments I never lived in, talk about a job I've never experienced, talk about a program I had never been a part of. I saw Campus Reps, faces that were new but would evolve into familiar faces, talk about their experience. They were just like me, students at this school who needed to do an internship. I was asking the questions, I was dreaming of wow, what and opportunity this would be. Those people up there are so lucky.

I want to do this.

Now, it's 2014. My last trimester at Johnson & Wales. I'm 22 and I'm closer to my college graduation in May than I am my high school graduation all those years ago. And I've done not one, but two Disney Culinary Programs as a Pastry Cook II.

And that's what this blog has mostly been about, my experience in Florida on the DCP. But my journey has also been continuing up here in RI since the end of my first program. For the past 2 years, I have been a Disney Campus Rep. We serve as a connection between Disney and JWU, we are here to educate others about the program, answer questions, host information sessions, and recruit applicants for when Chef Pauli and the Disney crew come to our school for our 2 career fairs every year. It's not a paid job but we are still employed by Disney, we still get the perks, we're still Cast Members. The magic follows us from Florida back to school.

My last career fair and DCP presentation was this past Thursday. Do you know where I was? I was up there, talking about my past experience. I was answering questions and representing Disney.  I was up there with people who were strangers to me at one point and now where friends. I was up there with Chef Pauli who once gave me the most intimidating job interview and now he's helping to shape my career.

I had a really tough time coming back from my first program. and I'm still having a tough time. The months of July-November were when it was easiest to make it through because I was back in Disney. There have been days where I have not wanted to get out of bed. Where I literally do sleep the day away because I don't want to face it. But I always got out of bed for rep work, I was always excited to help with interviews when one might have seen it as boring. I don't like talking in front of people but I love talking about Disney and sharing what I know about it with others.

Being a rep was a key element about my last 2 years at JWU. I encourage DCP alumni, no matter where you go to school, to look into it. It's been a fun and magical journey working for Disney and I'm glad the pixie dust has been able to follow me wherever I go.

If you have any questions on what it's like to be, or become a Campus Rep, please leave them in the comments bellow!