Work, Projects, & Easter

Happy Easter!!! Hope the Easter Bunny brought everyone lots of treats, I was worried he wouldn't be able to find me, but he sure did!

To catch you up on whats been going on, last weekend I picked up an Extra Hours Hotline shift, which means anyone can pick it up as long as you are trained. I had one at ESPN Wide World of Sports in the main gift shop, during a Braves Spring Training game. It was a lot of fun and so EASY!!! It was so different than working at World of Disney. 1. The costume was at least normal! It was a red polo dry fit shirt and black pants. I worked with 6 older couples who are "Snow Birds". They have all been working together since 2008 and from all over. They were so cute! I basically pin traded all day, worked the registers, and made the personalized leather bracelets. And the best part, I get paid overtime for the shift since I already worked 40 hours during the week for my internship. 

On Sunday, I ran errands and got caught at Joanns during a Hurricane warning. It was kind of scary but I made it home ok. I worked on Easter presents for my roommates and watched tv because I had a big work ahead of me. 

On Monday we were given our group internship project. We got split into 4 different teams of 5, were given an area on Disney Property and asked to analyze their Balance Sheet and Income Statement. Then on Friday we had to present it in front of our leaders, several Vice Presidents, and the Intern committee who pick who gets hired at the end of the internship. It was kind of a big deal and I was soooooo stressed out all week! It was an interesting project working with a very difficult person on my team, but I guess that is the whole point. In the end I got through it and made it work. I also bought my first suit too!

Friday came, I practiced all week long but was still sooooo nervous. I felt like I was going to vomit before the presentation. The first group went and then it was our turn. When it finally got to my point in the presentation I basically blacked out during it. I have no idea what I said but I made it through and my leader gave me a thumbs up in the audience so I was like great its over I did good. We then were asked questions from the audience. The first question was directed towards me, but I practiced that question in case it was asked so I did pretty good. Someone then asked the next question which was directed towards another girl in my group who presented on that topic. Originally I was the one who was supposed to present on it, but she complained that I had to much speaking time so we split it in half. She didn't know the answer and had a deer in the headlights look, and my entire team looked at me, so I stepped up and answered that question as well. We were finally finished and got to sit down, I was just so glad it was over. After all the presentations several people came up to me and said how great of a job I did, and that I was the best one who presented today. I was just worried about not being the worst, little did I think I would do the best. It was a good confidence booster because I have an individual presentation coming up in a few weeks. 

Afterward all the interns went out to lunch for drinks together. It was fun to celebrate all together to have this very stressful week over with. I will get more feedback from the judges about the presentation next week. 

Yesterday (Saturday) I went to the outlet mall to reward myself with some shopping! Its funny that I get most excited about buying new work clothes instead of casual clothes. I then got home and my roommates and I went to this dinner show called Al Capones. It was an all you can eat and drink buffet and mafia style dinner show. The show was ok, it was kind of corny and didn't make sense but it was still fun.

Today is Easter so we woke up exchanged presents and started cooking. Today's dinner theme was something you eat with your family for Holidays. My roommate and her best friend who is visiting are making Egglant Parmesan (the best thing I have ever eaten in my whole life!!! I am learning the recipe so I can make it at home) I am making my Dad's Best Ever Green Bean Casserole! and my other roommate is making Carrot Cake to go with the Easter Theme. My roommates friend who is visiting from New York also brought a real New York Cheesecake from a bakery called Eileen's and I heard its the best ever so I am so excited to try that!

I made these for my roommates, they were filled with edible grass, peeps, jelly beans, etc. 

My green beans!

Our dinner: green beans, egglant parmesan, carrot cake cupcakes, and cheesecake

 the cutest cupcakes!

Im back! I really am going to try to write in here at least once a week. Not much has been going on lately just have been very busy with work. I have been assigned my intern project so I have been working on that almost everyday. It deals with looking at Capital Authorization Requests, so anything that costs more than $200k. It is pretty interesting because I have to look at all projects from the present back to 1996. Its interesting but a little boring also.

I have spending a lot of time at the parks or resort hopping on the weekends. I recently went to Animal Kingdom Lodge which was amazing! Your room looks over the giraffes, zebras, and other animals.

I also went to a special event at Epcot for a pre screening of Oz the Great and Powerful. I really liked it and I recommend it to everyone! They had snacks, drinks, and gave away prizes. 

This past weekend was very fun. On Friday we had a Recognition Event at work which was at ESPN Wide World of Sports. We had a "Town Hall" first which was a speaking event by the CFO of Domestic Parks and Resorts and the EVP/CFO of all Domestic Parks and Resorts. It was really interesting to hear them talk and see a little bit of their personalities. After that we had a catered lunch and then went to a Braves vs. Mets Spring Training game. They had popcorn, peanuts, nachos, soda, and unlimited Disney Ice Cream!!! I was in heaven. It was a lot of fun and I realized I have met a lot of people in the finance department here. I also got a chance to meet the CFO who was here from California. 

This is a picture of my Best Friend in the Intern Program, Alicia. She is also a Kappa Delta from University of Central Florida. 

On Saturday, my Grandma and Denise came to visit me for the day. I had so much fun and it was really nice seeing someone from home. We went to lunch at Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney and then got ice cream sundaes at Ghiradelli. We then went to International Drive and got drinks at Bahama Breeze and then saw the famous ducks at the Peabody Hotel.

On Sunday, my friend Bridget from the College Program was here on Spring Break so I got to see her. We laid by the pool all day and I am extremely burnt so I have gotten my share of sun for awhile. 

Right now, I am really just focused on work and volunteering when I can. I also spend the majority of my time at home looking and applying for jobs online, so if you know of anything let me know!!! 

Sorry I haven't been blogging much. I have been extremely busy with work and volunteering. Work so far is going really well. I absolutely love my job and have made a lot of friends with the other interns. I have also been helping with the Five Year Annual Plan which has kept me very busy. I have been giving more responsibilities lately which has been really rewarding. Every Wednesday I have class at Disney University with all the other interns. It is our Finance Fundamentals class. The funny thing is that I took the class last semester on my college program so it has been kind of repetitive. We also have a project coming up where we have to work as a team going over a budget and then present our findings to the CFO and other VPs in the company which is pretty exciting. On Thursdays, we have classes together again which varies every week. So far we have had an Excel functions class and a systems database class. It has been enjoyable because we get a chance to meet up with the other interns who we normally don't see everyday.

This past week I had the opportunity to sit on a few meetings with the different segments to go over their budgets and plan for the next 10 years. I got to learn about every major project that is being planned which is really exciting.

I have also been volunteering almost every week. I had a really fun shift working the Cookie Cart. I drove around all night on a golf cart passing out cookies and drinks throughout the Give Kids the World Resort. I also helped work the Village Idol talent show. I am really enjoying my time volunteering and I have tried to do a different shift every week.

I am also really enjoying my roommates. We all get along really well and have a lot in common. Usually once a weekend we have a nice dinner together. We usually make some kind of theme. We had our cupcake night, we had a Superbowl snack dinner, and tonight we had a BBQ type night.

Hopefully I will be able to write more often than I have been but my schedule has been a bit crazy.

Sorry for the delay in posting I have been pretty busy and haven't had a lot of free time. I had a three day weekend which was really nice! On Saturday I went shopping with one of my roommates which was a lot of fun. Later that night we had a roommate night in. We made it cupcake themed and we all made some sort of item out of a cupcake pan. I made cupcake lasagnas, one roommate made cupcake calzones, and the other roommate made cupcake brownies. It was a lot of fun and we watched a movie together. We all have been getting along really great and have a lot in common which is nice.

On Sunday, I watched the Niner game and could not be anymore excited to finally watch them in the Superbowl since the last time they made it I was too young to watch football. The only thing to make it better would to be back in California but on the bright side if they win, the MVP will come to Disney World for a parade which would be really exciting.

I had Monday off due to Martin Luther King day. I did a few errands and chores and just relaxed at home.

Tuesday, I had my second day of Orientation with the Finance interns at Hollywood Studios. I met my mentor, Dawn, who works at Downtown Disney as a Finance Manager. Your mentor is someone that gives you advice and helps you with your career goals. Afterward all the interns had a luncheon with 3 Finance Executives with the company. They talked about their career path and answered any questions we had. It was really cool that they set things up like this for us. Afterwards we went into the park and did a scavenger hunt.

Wednesday and Today have just been a regular work day. Currently, I don't have my internship project yet so I just shadow people on my team and watch what they are doing.

There is also a big charity event Disney does across their entire company called the Junior Achievement Bowl-A-Thon. Every department has a team, so I decided to sign up on mine. Its a good opportunity to meet other people and a good way to get involved. I have to raise $100 so if anyone is interested in donating, let me know. Its not until March 3rd and the money raised goes towards having business classes taught in school.

First Week

I have officially made it through my first week! All I have to say is that is surpassed my expectations by a long shot. I seriously love my job and I look forward to going to work everyday. In these few short days I have learned so much and I am so excited to see what is going to happen in the future.

Tuesday: It was my first full day at the office so I was a little nervous about what I would be doing all day. The majority of the day I was in meetings which was interesting. I had no idea what they were talking about and it honestly sounded like a foreign language which made me a little nervous, but they all just made jokes about how confusing it is in the beginning and in no way did they expect me to understand everything that was going on. This week was extremely hectic and busy with a lot of deadlines for my team so I just kind of watched everything that was going on. But by the end of the day I was definitely starting to understand what was going on. The other half of the day I spent on my computer doing mandatory online training about various things. I have my own disney.com email which is pretty cool and there is a program called Communicator which is basically like instant messaging that you can talk to anyone who works at Disney. I was even able to talk to my sorority sister who has an internship at Disneyland. I went to lunch with my friend I made at orientation which was nice to make a new friend. We met up with 2 other interns also. But the best part of the day was finding the STARBUCKS thats located in the building.

For the rest of the week I basically just did random projects they gave me to do or shadowed others while they were working so I could see what they were doing. Overall I am having a great time and its definitely a huge change when you don't want to leave work at the end of the day. On thursday, I even asked to stay later to finish up what I was working on.

Next week should be a little bit more relaxed and they are going to start training me on my individual project I will be working on.

This is the outside of the building where I work, the large cylinder thing is a sundial

This is by the front entrance

This is my cube 

First day

Well I had my first day today! It was really exciting but slightly overwhelming at the same time. It started at Hollywood Studios in the backstage area in a conference type room. They had a full breakfast spread out and I felt like VIP compared to how hey treat you when you are in the college program!!! I grabbed something to eat and sat at a table with 2 girls who seemed very friendly... More like obnoxious and wanted the center of attention but I tried to just keep nice. More people came in and some more girls sat at our table thank goodness! I felt a little out of place because all the finance interns had already met earlier in the week for check in day. Since I just did my college program I didn't have to go through the check in day or traditions class. Overall everyone was really nice but I soon realized I was one of the youngest people to get the internship. Most of them were getting their MBAs, getting married, or both. I couldn't really relate to any of that but oh well. Beggars can't be choosers right? Haha I guess I have high expectations since my friends from my college program were AMAZING!

Anyways we finally started and they gave a rundown of what our internship would be like. Every department is different in how they do their program but I think the Finance department really puts in a huge effort to help you succeed. There are 13 finance interns and we will meet about once a week for a class together and do a group project. In addition we also have small get togethers every now and then. For example next week we will meet again at Hollywood Studios and have a lunch at a nice restaurant with executives in finance then get paid to go play in the parks! I could definitely get used to this.

The program is also set up so you have a coach, a leader (both who work with you on a daily basis) and a mentor who is someone unrelated to your department but helps guide you in your career. They set up meet and greets for you every week to get to know other executives in the company. I think this is really cool and such a huge improvement from how they run the college program!

After we talked about all the different parts of the internship, our leaders then came and picked us up. My leader took me to a restaurant called Konas in the Polynesian Hotel. It was amazing and overall a good way to get to know eachother. Afterward we went to the office where we will be working. I get my very own cubicle which is pretty cool. She took me around to meet everyone and showed me around the building. The best part ever is that they have free candy, snacks, and soda! Seriously! Why do they treat college programmers like slaves?! After that I went to my desk and did these required training classes online until it was time to go.

One of the girls I met earlier in the day works in the building too and we plan on getting lunch together tomorrow. She was also a Kappa Delta at University Central Florida! I was so excited and she seems really nice.

Getting used to this job is definitely going to be different. So wish me luck!

Waiting for my job to start

So not too much has been going on this week while I am waiting for my job to start. I have adjusted well and have finally gotten my room unpacked. The hardest part was trying to not get lost while driving around!

Tuesday: On Tuesday I had my volunteer orientation for Give Kids the World. Even though I have already volunteered there before with the Disney College Program, I had to go through the orientation to be an individual volunteer. We basically just walked around and learned about all the different areas. It was a random Tuesday at 1:00pm and there were over 30 people there for the orientation. They have about 100 people on their payroll and 1500 volunteer shifts that get filled a week!!! Now that I am an individual volunteer I can go online and pick up shifts for the various areas that I want to work.

Wednesday: Today I had my first volunteer shift by myself. I was working in the "La Ti Da Spa" it was a lot of fun!!! I worked with 2 other high school kids, who upon meeting me asked me what grade I was in and if I went to their High School. They were amazed when I told them I am almost 23 and have already graduated from college (in the future I guess my young looks will be to my advantage) In the Spa they have airbrush tattoos, face painting, makeup, and manicures. I basically got stuck with the manicures which was fun. The best part of the night was when this little girl Ally came in. I met her and her family on the airplane last week when I was coming back to Orlando. I noticed she had a Make a Wish shirt on so I asked if she was going to Give Kids the World, which she was. I basically just told the mom a little more about it and gave her some advice for navigating around the parks. She was really shy on the airplane but when I painted her nails she completely opened up to me. She was such a little chatterbox and so cute! She ended up leaving and coming back about 5 minutes later asking if she could have a picture with me to remember me. I thought it was so cute and felt so honored that she really liked me. She is 6 years old with a twin brother. She had leukemia but is currently in remission.

Thursday: I hung out with one of my old roommates and went to Epcot. It was good to be back in the parks and actually feel like I'm at Disney, but then I quickly remembered how annoying tourists can be. We got to ride Soarin' without having to wait because my roommate used to work there which was awesome. We then walked around the World Showcase and by then we were exhausted. Its still 85 degrees here in January! I went home did a quick change and went back to Give Kids the World for another volunteer shift. This shift is what I have been waiting to do since the first day, working in the Ice Cream palace! It was so so so much fun! The Ice Cream Palace is open everyday from 7:30 in the morning until 9:30 at night. There are over 10 different flavors, all types of toppings, cherries, strawberries, pineapple, marshmallow creme, chocolate syrup, fudge, hot caramel, whipped cream, and of course bananas from a banana split. In addition to all of that you can also get a milkshake. And the best part... all of this is free to all of the families. When they go to Give Kids the World they dont pay for a thing! Everything is free for them so its really fun when parents let their kids just get the works on their ice cream. I had the best time and I hope I will be able to get another shift there!

Friday: Today I just relaxed and got some errands done. I decided to explore the area around where I am living. I did a little shopping and came across a Target that was closing down. Everything was on clearance so of course I bought a ton of stuff I really didnt need at all. I also went to Ross because I have had a gift card from there for almost 2 years. BEST DECISION EVER! I got the worlds coolest cupcake carrier. Its called a cupcake carousel and is bright pink and holds 24 cupcakes! It looks like a giant cupcake and inside are trays that stack on top of each other and spin. Its really neat so of course now I need to bake some cupcakes to fill it!