Since 1981, the Walt Disney World College Program has been recruiting college students across the nation to work for a semester at their resorts and theme parks in Orlando, Fla.
About 200 students gathered Tuesday night in Coates Hall to listen to a presentation by Disney recruiters and hear some of the experiences of past program participants.
“It’s like people leave their brain at the gate,” one alumnus said to the crowd. “You have the most fun on the job just dealing with the people.”
Ashley Peyroux, an elementary education freshman, said she came to the presentation because her older sister participated in the program last spring, and she highly recommended it.
“I love Disney,” she said. “I’d love to work in such a fun and fabulous environment.”
The program began recruiting at the University 12 years ago, and since then an average of 40 LSU students per semester have participated in the program. An average of 5,000 students participate every semester from around the world. The jobs, which are classified as ‘paid internships’ are really basic, minimum wage jobs.
With low-cost housing and many other amenities available through Disney, the average student can afford to live comfortably. For a semester, students are paid $6 an hour to be tour guides, serve food, clerk at a hotel or even dress up as Mickey Mouse at Walt Disney World.
Richard Carbo, a marketing freshman, says he likes the idea of putting on a costume.
“I’d love to be a character, or maybe work in a hotel,” he said.
Peyroux said she’d like to dress up as well, “Probably as Chip or Dale, because of my height,” she said.
The other side of the coin is the connections students make with each other, said Latonya Johnson, the presentation’s leader. Johnson is an alumna of the program who now recruits for Disney’s College program in the Louisiana area.
“People can participate in various roles, from life guarding to merchandise sales,” she said. “But the most important aspect is the connections you make for later in life, both with Disney and the other participants.”
Johnson said students can take classes offered by Disney while they work, as well as correspondence courses from major universities in the area.
Elizabeth Himes, a marketing junior who participated in the program in fall 2002, said her experience was so wonderful she recommends it to everyone and would go back in a heartbeat.
“I worked for a Fortune 100 company; it’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” she said.
The presentation consisted of different clips of students participating in their jobs at Disney World and included a plug of all of Disney’s major holdings, such as ESPN, ABC and Miramax Films.
Chris Anderson, a construction management junior, appeared impressed with Disney in general.
“I had no idea how prestigious Disney’s partnerships were,” Anderson said.
More than 8,000 students have participated in the program since its inception, and many of them, like Latonya Johnson, continue on to work for the company. The Disney College Program will be back on campus in fall 2003. The Program’s Web site is www.wdwcollegeprogram.com.
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