This post is dedicated to the classes and workshops I have attended on my program so far! I am enrolled in Creativity and Innovation on Mondays from 1:30-5:30pm and Disney Heritage on Thursdays from 4-6pm. It is possible to get college credit for the classes offered on the program, but for my school it was sort of a complicated process and I would have had to pay tuition. However my roommates Cat and Emily are each getting 8 and 12 credits respectively for their universities! But I am still taking courses for fun and the experience, which is part of the reason why I chose Creativity and Heritage over something like Corporate Analysis or Finance.
I am also in the process of attending Career Development Workshops on Tuesdays from 10-12am. So far I have taken Acing the Interview, Personal Branding, and Professionalism. I just have Presentation Skills and Resume Writing left before I earn my Certificate of Completion for the workshops! The workshops I attend are taught by my same Disney Heritage facilitator. They are really helpful because the information we learn is geared towards what Disney looks for in a strong candidate seeking a job.
Creativity and Innovation
Where else can you take a class called Creativity and Innovation?? (Okay maybe if you are an art or design major but still...) It is such a fun and interesting class and I am really happy I am taking it! We learn all about how to enhance our creativity while avoiding barriers. Our teacher even leaves things on our tables such as rubik's cubes, magnet puzzles, magazines, play dough, colored pencils, etc. to play with while we listen to her lecture.
Our first project was to pick a famous creative person and interview them. Obviously we can't just pick up the phone and call famous people, so the assignment was to research our person and creatively come up with how they would answer the questions. And then of course typing it out on a piece of paper wouldn't be creative at all, so we had to creatively construct a way to present our answers that had to do with our creative person. I naturally picked J.K. Rowling, and I made a train out of Tupperware containers and construction paper. (because that's where the idea of Harry Potter "simply fell into her head")
One of my favorite class activities so far has been inventing a new board game. Our teacher left random board game pieces on each of our tables, and we had to use those pieces to create a new game. Our group had dominoes, a checker board, a pair of dice, and monkeys in a barrel. We created a game where you take turns rolling the dice, and had to successfully stack the corresponding amount of monkeys to the number rolled, which then you could play a domino on the checker board. There were also rules if you rolled doubles, snake eyes, etc.
Our teacher shows us a lot of interesting videos that feature different elements of creativity. These are two of my favorites we've seen! The first video is a creative, very different, and challenging version of Swan Lake. The second is how Google brings out creativity in an incredible work environment.
Disney Exploration Series- Disney Heritage
This is one of the most popular education offerings on the program! And I am not surprised with all of the interesting facts that we learn about the history of Walt & Roy Disney and everything they have done. Like how Timex would have gone out of business during the Great Depression if Walt Disney had never allowed them to start selling watches with Mickey Mouse on them. We also learn about things that never came to be at Disney such as a Herbie the Lovebug ride or a Lewis and Clark Adventure indoor Disneyland theme park in St. Louis.
We had a model monorail activity where we were split up into teams and had 10 minutes to construct a small-scale monorail system with the parts we were given from a set, and balance as many little characters on top as possible while it moved around the track. The more gateways it traveled through with a high number of characters on staying on top, the more points you received. We were given money to buy things like tape, sticky notes, and pipe cleaners, paper clips etc. to help build or make the characters stay.
My team ended up winning with a total of 300 points! I felt like I was doing a reward challenge on Survivor or something. Don't ask me about the time I felt like I was on Amazing Race when I slept through my alarm clock one early morning before work...(don't worry, I made it!)
Next week our class is meeting at Magic Kingdom and I can't wait to see what we are going to be doing! And the week after that we have a scavenger hunt in Hollywood Studios.
Our facilitator for the series, David Horvath, started his career with Disney as a Park Greeter at Hollywood Studios during his Disney College Program. He has now been with the company for 18 years, and was a part of the Resort Operations opening team for Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, became a Traditions leader for new cast members, then traveled around the world recruiting for Disney, and now works for Disney Internships & Programs. I scheduled a one-on-one meeting with him last week to hear more about his experiences and he gave me advice on how to network and told me about different internship opportunities with the company.
With his advice to schedule as many one-on-ones as possible while I am here, I am meeting with my Area Manager (of all of World Showcase) this week! He started out as a Custodial cast member during his college program too. My managers who got off of their college program within the past few years offered to meet with me too! I love how willing our leaders are here to help us with any questions and advice on how to grow here at Disney. And so many of them started out on the college program!
