On Thursday, Feb. 25 from 11:00 a.m. to noon the Disney College Program held a workshop in BE 109.

The Disney College Program recruits students and all majors for a semester-long paid internship program working at the Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort.

The speaker of the event, Jennifer Arenas, a Cerritos College alum stated, “This event was half workshop and part a sharing of my experience to the applicants.

I am here to show them that there is an opportunity with the Disney College Program and it is paid. I am here to show them what the experience is like.”

Arenas said she was at the workshop to guide students through the application and interview process.

She described the living conditions and opportunities offered.

The Disney College Program is a U.S. national internship program operated by The Walt Disney Company, located at the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort.

Arenas described the program as a way to gain work experience, to get away from home and experience dorm-life (and thus a change of environment a community college student), and a way to network and meet new people.

These natural benefits of this paid internship attracted a large crowd of prospective applicants, such that the ideal occupancy was exceeded and a number of students had to stand in the back of the room.

Arenas went on to speak of her personal experiences, particularly delving into what she took out of the internship such as valuable tests of work ethic, attendance of business seminars, and fun outings on days off such as beach days, trips across the East coast, and being able to purchase heavily discounted sporting events.

Those who came to see the presentation seemed to hope for the same positive takeaways from such an opportunity, such as Jose Manuel Fraire, commercial music major, who stated, “I wanted to see if I could get an internship to work audio in Disneyland. I’m pretty sure they require a lot of technical staff on board because of all the rides and live events they have everyday.

“It would be cool to eventually get into their movies to work their dialogues or anything that has to do with audio. I just want experience and fun.”

Leanne Ramirez, history major said, “A pro of the program would be meeting new people. A con that comes to mind right now is that [the management might not] care about you.”

She explained how the college program does not have any power over the managers.

Ramirez has been working at Jolly Holiday, a bakery cafe for a year and had insight because of her experiences.

She gave a comprehensive summary of her personal outlook “If you want a lot of hours they give them to you. For sure you will work get forty hours a week. For the quality of work (my co-workers and I) achieve we should be paid more.

“Overtime isn’t worth it. Balancing school and work is the most difficult part. It’s hard to balance them because you want to prioritize both but you can’t.

Ramirez continued, “If you have free time you have to do homework. It’s not a good idea to do school and the college program at the same time. The way they treat us is not that bad.”

Arenas mentioned that there were people who had to leave because they decided the work was too much.

One other alum gave a summary of their outlook on the program, David Gonzales, art major, provided a more hopeful opinion.

“I applied because I really wanted to be a part of the company and I did my research and I decided that it would be beneficial for my career path and it would yield many opportunities for my future.

“I’m still confident in these expectations. I’ve learned a lot from the internship and I know that I have indeed benefitted.”

Gonzales went on, “I would recommend someone willing to learn about hard work and developing professional skills for this internship; someone who wouldn’t mind dedicating their time to the program, It’s difficult to balance school, work, and personal life , If you’ll dedicate your time and effort to the program it will prove beneficial in the long run. ”