Adios, Disney!

I move home tomorrow morning. I'll be in South Carolina by tomorrow night. It feels so weird to me that my program is over already. Three and a half months felt so incredibly long while I was living it, but looking back it was so short. Now I feel like I just got here yesterday. I went and watched my parade today and it was so sad. I feel so connected to it and the people in it that leaving feels so hard. I know that I was just one in a series of CP's that will come through MiSiCi, some will be better than me some will be worse. And the people might soon forget me as well. But I will never ever forget how working on that parade made me so happy and special. I can't explain what happened but I just fell head over heels in love. With a parade. I know it sounds silly, but anybody here who works on parades or shows will tell you the same thing. We fall in love with them, and they stay with us. MiSiCi will always me MY parade here. 

I'm ending this program in a really good place. It was such a bumpy road getting to where I am now, but all in all I completely loved my experience here. It started out really bad, and I had to get through some really crappy days at work. But my experience was all the stronger for it. I suffered through the bad stuff and the good stuff I got back was oh so worth it. I learned so much about how huge companies like Disney work and organize themselves. I learned that in a huge business like this people can seem disposable and unimportant, but the second that companies start treating people like that that's when they go down the tubes. Disney worked us CP's as borderline slave labor, but I don't think we were ever unimportant to them. They need us. Even if it is just for cheap labor, they need us CP's and the second they start treating us like they don't is when they'll be in trouble. Some days it felt really bad and I thought they were being ridiculous in how we were being treated, but I understand the big picture now. I've gotten such a large business mind from this experience that I don't think I could have gotten anywhere else and I know how much that will teach me in the future as well. 

Living with five girls from all different parts of the country and all different family lives was quite an experience as well. I learned how to respect people's differences even if I completely didn't understand them. I also learned just how different I am than others when it comes to little things such as dirty dishes or how loud the TV can be. It was a big adjustment having to learn how being from different parts of the country really do affect people in a certain way and the way I live at home is different from many others. Part of that is my family life as well, and I've never been more proud of where I come from and who I am. Learning to respect people's different personalities and opinions, that I didn't always agree with, was a huge thing for me. It's a lesson that I will use over and over and over. As hard as it was getting along with everyone in our apartment, it changed me and taught me a lot. 

One thing I really didn't expect was to make so many best friends down here. There are people in my life now that I can't imagine not knowing, even though we've only been friends for three and a half months. I legitimately can see these people being in my life for a long time. I never expected to get so attached to people down here and make so many deep and true friends. My friends here are nothing like my friends at home, here they catered to a different part of my personality that was opened up by the Disney experience. We bonded over simple CP things but had a lot more in common than I ever expected having with people from such incredibly different backgrounds than me. I am hoping against all hope that me going home doesn't suffocate our friendship and that we will be able to remain such close friends regardless of the distance. I think my heart would break if I ever saw the day that these friends weren't so close in my life.

All in all, looking back over the struggles and the good times, I can honestly say I lived this experience up to the fullest. I don't regret any decisions I made down here for they shaped the things I learned and the changes I've experienced. I've grown up a lot, seen a lot more of the world now. I've seen a lot about how people truly are and how you have to learn to get along with people that you can't really stand. I learned about large companies and how to remain personal with people in a business that has a whole heck of a lot of people. I've also learned some things that I don't even know I've learned yet. I know that this experience is going to continue to affect my life and my opportunities in the future and I'm glad to say that I've been here and conquered the CP experience. I don't think I could have picked a better time or place to have such a life changing experience and I hope that the lessons I've learned stay with me for a very long time.