Tag: education

All About My Disney Internship

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Hello Sunny Siders, I am so excited to finally talk all about my Disney Internship with everyone! Let’s start with a little background and for that we need to go back to January 2023 when this process all started.

So in January I reached out to one of my colleges alumni that I had met at a Women in Business event in November. She had come to give us a presentation about her career journey and growth at the Walt Disney Company. I decided to reach out to pick her brain about how I could work for Disney, and from this point on she has been my amazing mentor. Truly, this process would have never happened without her guidance, and I will forever be grateful for her kindness and support.

Once I started meeting with my mentor, she advised me to try and apply for a Professional Internship. We created a plan to have me start meeting people in various areas of the Walt Disney Company so I could start finding my passions.

I was meeting with at least 1 person a month from March to August of 2023, just learning and absorbing any and all information I could. I’d also meet with my mentor monthly to check in and tell her how the process was going.

Then, in August an internship opened up for a team I was very interested in. With the help of my mentor we strengthened my resume and tailored it to the job posting and I applied.

A few months later at the start of October, I got a notification from HR that I had made it to the first round of interviews. While I was preparing for that I also had an opportunity to go meet the leaders of the team I was applying for thanks to my mentor.

She had set up a super fun day for me to shadow at the office and thank all the people I had conversed with since March in person for their help and guidance.

After my interview, near the end of October I got a call saying I was chosen to be the Professional Intern and I’d be starting in January 2024!

Flash forward a few months from October to January and I had moved to Orlando to start my internship, so let’s dive in to what my internship is and how the past 5 months have been going!

My internship is in Consumer Franchise Strategy. Essentially my team works with global Disney parks to make strategy recommendations for which characters they should focus on depending on which audiences they want to attract.

I can’t say too much more than that about what I work on, as much of the projects have an element of confidentiality to them, but I do specialize in competitive franchise analysis.

I love my job so much and while the work is amazing I love my team even more so. They welcomed me in with open arms and each day I’m so happy I get to work alongside them to strategize about the franchises in the parks.

Throughout my internship I’ve continued to meet new people in other roles to learn more about the company, I have regular one on ones with my mentors to check in and work on my career development, and I am always learning something new on the job each and every day.

Alongside everything I’ve learned on the job, I’ve met so many amazing people. I am so excited that now that I’m officially done with school, I get to go experience all of the extra things my internship has to offer. Just yesterday I went to Magic Kingdom with a group of friends from work, and the weekend prior I went to Epcot to celebrate Mother’s Day.

I’m so excited to see where this journey takes me next! I can’t wait to share all the things I learn and do in the next 7 months of my internship.

Getting Out Of Your Comfort Zone

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Hey Sunny Siders, today I want to talk about getting out of your comfort zone since I’ve been doing this a lot lately.

I think as we grow older we find it easier and more comforting to stick with our usual routines, never venturing out to try something new. This is a stark contrast to when we are children, constantly trying any new sport, activity, or hobby as we determine what we like and don’t like.

This aspect of getting uncomfortable and pushing yourself to do something you normally wouldn’t try is really important for personal growth and development. Just because you’re no longer a child doesn’t mean you are stuck doing the same old same old for the rest of your life.

Here are some ways I’ve been getting out of my own personal comfort zone lately:

Fitness Classes

An area that I’ve been experimenting with a lot is group fitness classes. Just this semester I’ve started taking spin, pilates, and barre through my schools fitness center. I used to be intimidated by group classes because I was nervous about being compared to others. But, I’ve found that they are so great for pushing yourself and holding yourself accountable. I have been significantly more consistent with my workouts because I don’t want to let myself down by missing a class. It’s also been a great way to meet new people and make friends, after all the bond created over pain from a workout is like no other!

Cooking new recipes

As someone who doesn’t naturally enjoy cooking, I tend to stick to a few basic recipes that I feel comfortable I won’t ruin. But, I’ve been pushing myself to try new recipes to prove to myself that cooking isn’t as scary as I make it out to be. Some of my favorite recipes I’ve tried lately are sheet pan gnocchi, creamy cajun pasta, and homemade Cava bowls. Each time I make a new recipe it boosts my confidence in my ability to cook nourishing meals.

Walking around a city at night

I recently took a trip to Boston to visit my cousin and was asked if I wanted to join on a night walk around the city. Before, I would have immediately said no, as the fear from “what ifs” would have run rampant in my mind. This time however, I wanted to take a chance and had confidence that if my cousin could do this every day, I could give it a try. I ended up really loving that night, as it was so fun to experience the city at night with my cousin.

Trying new foods

Latlely, I haven’t just been cooking new recipes, I’ve been trying new foods too. Sometimes we let the fear of something tasting bad hold us back from finding something we really enjoy. For me, there were a few foods that I had always perceived to be “gross” that I actually really liked: oysters and fried clams. Another food that I had always wanted to try but never had the opportunity was authentic sushi, you know the rice topped with raw fish and nothing else. I was so excited to try it and wow I’m so glad I did because it was amazing!

Networking with people

The last area I’m going to share has to do with networking. I am more introverted in nature, so going out and talking to strangers isn’t high on my priority list. However, going into business connections are critical for career advancement and success. So I’ve started pushing myself to talk with people who are established and talented in their fields to learn and grow myself. At first it was scary, I was worried people would think I was dumb or not worthy of their time. I’m actuality, people are so open to helping the incoming workforce, and they can provide such integral support and encouragement for success. I have so many business professionals cheering me on and providing with with tips and ways to improve and it’s all because I took a chance and didn’t let fear hold me back.

Why Hobbies Are Just as Important as Work Experience

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Hey Sunny Siders, today I want to delve into a topic that I believe most of us are familiar with: Resumes. I’m sure that everyone here has crafted a resume at some point in their life, but I bet only a handful of you have ever considered including your hobbies on a resume. I’m here to share why you might want to reconsider adding your hobbies to your resume; it could very well be the reason you secure an interview in the first place.

This summer, I applied to become a Graduate Assistant at my university. The process is quite straightforward: basic information, a checkbox of your current skills, and submission of a resume. I decided to include “Canva Design Tool and WordPress Web Design” in the “Skills” section of my resume. These are skills that I didn’t acquire through work or school, but rather skills I picked up when I started running this blog back in 2019!

I had wanted to initiate a blog to document my college experience for friends and family, allowing them to share in my journey. I invested time in learning how to create drop-down tabs on the Homepage, incorporate photos and banners, design a logo that encapsulates the essence of the blog, and much more. For those of you who have been long-time readers, you probably remember the @/sunnysidewithsiri Instagram account that supported this page. I employed Canva to craft graphics to complement posts and enhance the overall content engagement. These skills were cultivated not due to a job or school, but rather because of my passion and interest in managing a blog.

Fast forward and I recently received a call to interview for the position of Webmaster at my business school. I didn’t land this interview solely because of my prior work experience or education. The interview came my way because I listed WordPress as a skill in my toolkit. This blog not only secured me an interview but also clinched me the job – something I never could have imagined in a million years!

The takeaway here is that just because something is a hobby doesn’t mean it isn’t equipping you with valuable skills that can be applied elsewhere. Even if your hobby doesn’t yield concrete skills to add to a resume, it might still be cultivating intangible skills that prove invaluable during the interview process. A great example is someone who engages in ceramics as a hobby, like me. Ceramics has taught me patience and the importance of meticulous planning from the initial design phase to execution. It has also honed my problem-solving abilities and encouraged me to discover fresh, creative solutions when a project encounters setbacks. Although I didn’t learn these skills on the job, they are still transferable and set me apart from others.

So, the next time you’re updating your resume to apply for a job, take a moment to consider the skills you’ve gained just by indulging in the activities you love on a day-to-day basis. Who knows, you might just end up securing a job due to a hobby, just like I did!

Lastly, I’d like to express my gratitude to every one of you for following and supporting this blog over the years. As I mentioned, I wouldn’t have landed my new job if it weren’t for every Sunny Sider! You all are truly amazing, and I hope you realize just how thankful I am for sticking around as this blog has evolved. To the new Sunny Siders, welcome aboard. I sincerely hope you derive as much enjoyment from the content as I do from creating it!