My whole life I’ve loved the Walt Disney Company, so getting to do the Disney College Program was truly a dream come true. The opportunity to live in the happiest place on Earth was the most exciting thing to me because

I knew I was the perfect candidate. I was meant to be a cast member.

Overall, this has been the most incredible experience. I made friends that will last forever in both my roommates and fellow cirkies. I love making cake pops in the Magic Kingdom and watching fireworks every single night. It’s a crazy, unbelievably magical life.

But sometimes it feels like you can’t find any more magic in that tragic kingdom. Guests yell, or disrespect you, or you are running short on caramel apples and there just isn’t enough time in the world to fix it. But that’s just how life goes.

That is what makes this company, this world, so special. We pursue that type of life changing magic every day and hope to share it with every single person who walks through our gates.  That is why I am staying on as a part time cast member.  Because I believe in the power of that magic, and I am not ready to stop making it.

However, I’d be lying if I said this journey was total magic.  The decision to stay has been one of the hardest of my life because though I love the company, there are so many outside factors that have become my own personal villain to battle.  My dragon has not been slayed yet. It continues to breathe fire down my neck but I’m not ready to stop fighting because I know that good always wins.  I think something I’ve learned down here is that we will never fully slay the dragon, either.  I mean, Mickey fights one every single night.  But the important thing is, he keeps fighting and so will I.  No matter what form that villain takes – rejection, loneliness, sea witch – I’m ready to continue searching for the magic this company has to offer.

So I’m starting my blog with no promises of consistent posts, but to capture all these beautiful experiences and challenges, the tragic ones and the magical.

This experience has caused so much growth and challenged me so much, and I’d like to engage with those topics. I want to reflect about my time here. I want to be transparent about my DCP so maybe someone else is more prepared. I want to engage with both incredible stories that make my life sound so freaking cool (because it is), but also don’t want to shy away from the times that aren’t so magical. I want to preserve the present and prepare for the future. I want to share my curiosities, and open new doors like the Boss told me to. I want to keep dreaming, whether at Disney or beyond, and I want to write all about it. So read and follow along if you want, and welcome to The Tragic & The Magic.