Jordyn Holka
Reverb Editor
For those of you who know me, I am not ashamed to admit that you are probably able to accurately answer the question, “What would Jordyn write about if given basically no restrictions?” Yep, like I said, it’s an easy one. Well, for those of you who do not know me, though, allow me to fill you in. The answer is to the question is … DISNEY.
I spent the spring semester of my junior year participating in the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about my time spent working there, having the time of my life. I met wonderfully amazing people and generally just had a blast living and working in the happiest place on earth; the place that has been home to my heart for as long as I can remember.
But, in addition to the many experiences and memories that are constantly running through my head each and every day, there are also many subtle life lessons I learned while on my DCP — what we Disney nerds call our Disney College Program — that have stuck with me, willing me to apply them to my life here in Fredonia as I navigate the scary yet exhilarating ride that is my senior year. Allow me to share a few of them with you now.
• True friendship isn’t about the amount of time you’ve known a person or spent together, but rather about the bond you share.
Ever since I was little, navigating the world of friendships has been an interesting journey for me. I have always had a lot of good friends rather than one best friend, and while I didn’t particularly like this when I was younger, I grew to love it throughout high school and into college. Being down in Disney, I made so many friends that I know I will keep forever due to the intense emotional bond we share. A friend is someone you can count on and someone you care about. I met some amazing individuals while on my DCP who I know will always be my friends.
• The ability to speak another language — even minimally — is pretty darn imperative.
I can understand Spanish very well and speak it fairly well, and these skills definitely came to my aid daily while I was on my DCP. Being able to connect with an individual from another country because I could even vaguely speak his or her language made me and that individual so much more comfortable, which ultimately lead to a more successful overall interaction and a boosted sense of self esteem for both of us. The way I look at it, there is absolutely no harm in taking a few foreign language lessons, right?
• Networking is all about listening.
I learned this in my Marketing You class down in Disney, and it was something that initially surprised me; but the more I thought about it, it made sense. If I could work up the courage and expertise to approach a professional and tactfully initiate a conversation, the rest of my networking session could be spent soaking in all of the invaluable information that individual was giving me. I obviously had to be able to keep the conversation going, but if I was really listening to the person, then it was no trouble to find the appropriate responses and questions to keep up the conversation.
• Positivity is immensely more effective than negativity.
This is my favorite lesson I learned while on my Program, and it is a lesson I am still in the process of fully understanding and implementing. There were more than a few days during my DCP when I was stressed out about something while I was at work, a place where I was expected to be a smiling robot for 12 hours straight. Normally, I would have gone over and over in my head why I was upset and complained to my friends whenever possible … but one day I had an epiphany: what is the point of that? All that did was perpetuate my feelings of anger or annoyance, so there was no benefit to stewing in my negativity. Instead, I chose to project positivity to the guests and all those around me, even if I wasn’t particularly feeling it — fake it ’till you make it. And you know what? Once I started smiling and acting like a bubbly Disney robot, I honestly began feeling immensely better! Attitude is all about perspective, and I am working on constantly monitoring my perspective so as to maintain an ever-positive attitude.
I have to say that Disney World was the perfect place for me to spend my time learning these lessons and growing up; growing up in Disney World seems kind of paradoxical, considering Peter Pan’s life mantra, but I daresay that that is what I did!
In the words of Walt Disney, himself, “Around here, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious … and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”
So here’s to senior year and to applying lessons learned … oh, and to making sure I never fail to find that spark of magic in my day.