Before recently, I was very undecided about what I wanted to do after I graduate. Not only was I already stressing about it, but the constant questions of “What are you going to do? Where are you going to work?” stressed me out that much more. Those questions were expected considering I graduate this semester, but it was still like a weight added on my shoulders each time I heard those questions.
I did what every college senior does and made a LinkedIn along with an Indeed and other job site profiles. I searched for hours on end to no avail, and whenever I would get contacted about a job by companies it was to be a telemarketer that badgers people to buy random products or insurance so they can get a little bit back for commission (PSA: If that’s your job, more power to you. Just not really up my ally!). I was feeling so hopeless because NOTHING was seeming to pan out for me.
I transferred in the Fall of 2016 after getting my Associate’s degree from a community college back home. When I first applied to App, I said I would major in Communications/Journalism. However, when I transferred, I’d put my major as Psychology because I took a lot of psych classes during community college and the subject really interested me. Within the first semester I was completely lost. I was able to sign up for one major class and it completely threw me off. I knew I should probably change majors, but I don’t give up easily, so I decided to try one more semester with psych. I had almost all psych classes in the following Spring semester and was completely devastated when I realized psychology was not AT ALL what I expected or hoped for it to be. Instead of learning more about disorders, development, and how the brain works, I was computing data and doing more math than I would’ve ever liked. After that, I KNEW I needed to change my major.
It took what felt like the longest time to decide what I wanted to major in. I decided to go back to Communications, which was my original major when I first applied, and tried to get myself on track to graduate. I had less than a year to fit in all the major Comm. classes and it honestly seemed impossible. I took all the possible summer classes I could, which required many overwrites, and did the same thing for the fall. When it came time to register for the spring semester, I was told I probably wouldn’t be able to graduate on time and I should just wait to take the required courses instead of taking them at the same time. There was no way I was going to let this happen after squeezing in so many classes in the past year, so I kept pushing. Like I said earlier, I don’t give up easily.
When the relief of getting my spring semester set up the way it needed to be for me to graduate on time set in, the panic of realizing I had NO post-graduation plans came right after. I started considering possible options, and the thought of this program I’d applied for my sophomore year of college (but didn’t get into) came to mind. This program being the Disney College Program. Basically, college/graduated college students go work and live at Disney for 5+ months. Being a part of the program is a HUGE honor and a big resume-enhancing experience. I decided to give it another shot, and if all else failed then that could serve as my “backup plan” if I got accepted. I did the application, moved onto online web-based interview, got asked to do a phone interview, and FINALLY GOT ACCEPTED!! I couldn’t believe I was actually chosen, considering out of 60,000 applications only a few thousand get in.
I accepted my offer and FINALLY know what I am going to do after I graduate! I’m going to go live in Florida and work for one of the largest companies in the world. I now not only have a purpose, but I also have answers to all the questions that have been stressing me out for the longest time.