a little background...

i think it would be a good idea to explain how i got involved in this whole disney world internship business before i leave, so here it goes...

my friend, megan, a physical therapy student at stony brook university has an undeniable, ridiculous, sick, psychotic, unnatural addiction to all things disney. since she was a fetus she knew that at some point in her life, she wanted to be a "cast member" (that's what we're called...?) in walt's grand "performance." she finally got her chance when recruiters came to her campus this past spring semester, and there was no looking back.

2 miles down the road from megan, i am a student at suffolk community college. never once have i thought about putting my education on the back-burner to do an internship. i always planned on staying on the straight and narrow, and getting things done as quickly as possible. i've always done well in school, but i have always, always hated every second of it. as megan told me about the opportunities she would have as a disney college intern, i smiled and said "that's great, you'll have a wonderful time." never did i consider going along for the experience.

my last 2 semesters at suffolk added up to be the hardest time of my life, so far. it had nothing to do with school, i actually really loved my professors, and the school itself. i'm glad to have chosen community college rather than go away right out of high school. what made it miserable for me was that i was going through an uphill battle with depression, the result of a series of traumatic, devastating losses of several friends as well as my uncle, who i can only describe as my other dad. To top it all off, i was a passenger in a terrible car accident the weekend before spring semester began. my body and my emotions could not handle the experiences, and sadly, i just shut down. truthfully, the only reason i was able to maintain an awesome GPA was because my professors knew me for the person i was, not just the student that did well in their classes. i was shown such compassion during that time, and they did not allow my grades to suffer, nor did they want me to be set back. i was on so much medication between the depression and my injuries from the car accident that i was barely able to comprehend what was going on. i was always feeling weird. by the beginning of may, i knew that i needed a break from school, and some time off from the classroom. that's when megan's disney world extravaganza started to look somewhat appealing. the rest is history.

in one day, megan had me read 3 hours worth of literature on the program, set up a virtual tour on the web-site, and do my phone interview with a disney recruiter. 2 weeks later i got my "congratulations, you're a disney cast member!" package in the mail. this was the perfect opportunity for me: i would be getting college credits, getting paid, maintaining full-time student status, as well as my health insurance benefits, and my summer would never end!

when i knew that i was secure for the fall program in disney world, my depression slowly began to get better. i was feeling better both physically and emotionally. i was able to come off my medication at the end of this past june, and i've been fine ever since. i feel as though not having the added pressures of school lingering over my head made a huge difference for me. i have time now to regroup and make decisions for the spring semester when i come home.

for all of you who are concerned, and i say all of you as if anyone but dr. peterson is reading this, i will not ever become the disney eccentric that megan is, so there should be no worry :)