#disneycollegeprogram

Did you know that if you listen to Ribs by Lorde when your plane takes off you unlock like five new emotions? It's absolutely true, I tried it today. As the plane not-so-gently lifted into the sky and Lorde's nostalgic lyrics bounced between my ears and my hometown grew smaller and smaller, I wondered how I even got here.

I sat between two strangers on the plane. A young father to my left, and a silent woman with a book to my right. At the beginning of the flight, the man to my left silently offered Clorox wipes to the lady next to me and myself. The moment, simple as it was, left me smiling beneath my mask as I thought about humans and their penchant for kindness. Like the couple, who I met at the baggage claim, that briefly spoke to me about the college I attended and helped to make sure I was in the right spot or the handful of Cast Members who congratulated me on my program and walked me to the right paths to get where I needed to go. I couldn't stop smiling all day, because there are so many people in this world who are just inherently kind to each other. Leaning out of the way so another can look out the window as if to silently say "I want to share this beauty with you," offering directional help without prompting because "I don't want you to get lost," offering sanitizer, masks, and wipes and kindly implying "I don't want you to be sick." My heart truly aches with the kindness of it all.

And the people around me, they're so happy. There is a child in the hotel room next to mine, who has been loudly laughing for the past thirty minutes. They sound old enough to know they're in Disney, but young enough to buy into the magic in its truest sense. Children on ferries and monorails smile shyly behind their masks, waving at the strangers around them. Couples and friends turn their shoulders into pillows, hands are held and foreheads kissed.

I had lunch at the Polynesian. The pulled pork nachos, one of my favorite meals on property. I had them once when I was fifteen, the last time my whole family went on vacation together. The monorail isn't in service at the Poly right now, because of construction, so I walked to the TTC to catch the monorail to Magic Kingdom. And as I crossed the entrance to get to the busses, Happily Ever After began. And, uh, wow. That's like all I can say. I'm not the kind of person to cry at the parks, I'm an emotional person but, like, seeing the castle for the first time in a while or the firework shows don't make me burst into tears (and if they do for you, that's chill! It's nice to love something so much it brings you to tears.). But when I heard the intro, saw the first fireworks, I felt a little misty. It felt like a congratulations, it felt like the culmination of years of planning and hoping and wishing to get here. I can only imagine how I'm gonna act when I see it in the parks for real.

I was planning on making a YouTube video today, an introduction and the DCP tag. But I was so tired that I didn't feel like getting to it. Not to mention I'm terrified of making and posting videos. I want to document this, I want to film and edit the videos and share them, but I'm so scared of putting myself out there like that. It's weird, I don't talk to many people from college, and even less from high school, and yet I'm afraid they will all converge on my videos and tear them apart. Even though none of them, or mostly none, watch DCP vlogs and there is a very low chance that mine will even get anywhere. Maybe I'll give it a shot tomorrow? I know people vlog at check-in, but I've also got like four suitcases and just me, so I'm not sure if I want to juggle that and a camera. Oh, who knows. I'm sure it'll all work out.

If you're reading this, thanks, pal :) I appreciate it. This is my little Disney diary, away from my name and face so I can be as candid as I'd like. If you're enjoying reading my posts, feel free to shoot me an email, and we can be penpals. I looooove letters haha.

I will move to Orlando on June 1st! I can’t wait to start my program 💞✨