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Addy O'Rourke poses for a photograph in Baker Student Center with the ears she earned after completing a semester with the Disney College Program in the Fall of 2022.

Student Spotlight: Addy O’Rourke reflects on Disney College Program experience

Addy O’Rourke, a junior studying graphic design, is someone who has always had a passion for Disney, inspiring her to apply for the Disney College Program last January after hearing about it as a middle schooler.

The Disney College Program, according to its website, “spans four to seven months (with opportunities to extend up to one year), and allows participants to network with professionals throughout The Walt Disney Company, take part in Learning and Career Development Sessions, and live and work with people from all over the world.”

O’Rourke said they also set participants up in apartment complexes, creating a living-working community for people to get to know one another.

“They (Disney) also have just some networking opportunities, so they put on events that you can sign up for, and you can meet other people,” O’Rourke said. “It's a living working community and you're basically working for the company on the park’s end for that period of time.”

O’Rourke worked at Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida, in merchandise, not knowing what her role would be until two weeks before she left for the program.

“It was cool because everything I'd done extracurricular up to that point was very major-based,” O’Rouke said. “Like, ‘Oh, I'm going to do this on-campus job because it relates to my major, I'm going to do this club because it'll get me networking opportunities,’ and this was the first activity that I participated in that didn't necessarily directly relate to my job outside of college or university setting.”

While working in merchandise, O’Rourke even experienced celebrity encounters, making her role definitely a memorable one while at Disney Springs.

“One time I was working at the Christmas store and I was at the register, and I turned the corner and I see someone in an ECV scooter,” O’Rourke said. “I  didn't really think anything of it, and I had to go to the back for something, so I come back out and there's a ton of little girls surrounding the woman in the scooter. I take a closer look, and it's Abby Lee Miller.”

Making new friends from all over the world was also an aspect of the Disney College Program that O’Rourke enjoyed, still keeping in touch with many of the new friends she made in Florida.

“We built such a community,” O’Rourke said. “I still talk to a lot of the people I did my program with and since we were all living together, it (was) like living in a dorm, so you (could) see your friends after work.”

The only warning that O’Rourke mentions about the program is that it’s not offered through Ohio University, so students should take that into consideration before applying.

“It's not offered through OU,” O’Rourke said. “The hard thing about our school is because Ohio University is a public institution, if your major requires an internship, it won't take it as a credit because Disney is not an academic institution, but I do know people that go to private universities, and they were able to count it as an internship credit. It really just depends on your school.”

Yet, she says if you have a strong passion for Disney, then this program is the perfect starting point.

“I think if you have a passion for Disney, and Disney has always been something that you really love as a hobby or maybe even one day you want to work for them, it's a great starting point,” O’Rourke said. “It’s not going to be an internship where you get your foot in the door and get all these experiences related to your major, but I think it's definitely something you can put on your resume.”

Now that O’Rourke is back on campus, she’s had to learn how to readjust to college life again after taking a semester off for the Disney College Program.

“It was definitely a quick turnaround,” O’Rourke said. “My program ended January 5th, and we started the 17th, so I was home for a week and a half. I had to move all my stuff and then move all my stuff again, and because I'm a third year I'm out of the dorms now, so I had to buy furniture for my apartment and it was a whole thing.”

Overall, O’Rourke is grateful for the experience and the support system she had the last few months, always remembering her time with the Disney College Program.

“It was nice too to have that support system there where if one person was complaining about work, everyone was complaining about work,” O’Rourke said. 

grace_koe

gk011320@ohio.edu


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