Walt Disney World Gave the Chance for Me to Realize My Dream
  
 
By Bak Han-byeol, Senior, School of Business Administration
 
 
Park Han-byeol(right) at the Magic Kingdom with her Japanese friend
When I was a junior, I wanted to have a turning point in my life. I needed time to think about what I want to do with my life and I needed fresh stimulation. I accessed the official homepage of the Office of International Affairs (OIA) at CNU to look for opportunities and there I saw various notices about student exchange programs and international internship programs. One of them said the OIA recruited students who wanted to do an internship at Walt Disney World (WDW). I thought that doing something abroad would give me new stimulation and I applied for the WDW internship program. I have been interested in helping others since childhood and gained interest in theme parks after visiting Universal Studios Japan in 2010. After two English interviews I got a chance to go to the USA and work as an intern for WDW in Orlando.
My first role at WDW was to give Quick Service Food and Beverage. I worked at Sunset Ranch Market in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It is located in the center of four famous attractions of WDW. Therefore, it was always busy to work at the market which sells various quick service foods such as pizzas, burgers, turkey legs, and so on. I was assigned some work such as making pizzas, burgers, washing dishes, and cleaning dining places. For three months, it was a very hard time to work for me because I had difficulty with English and cultural differences. As I was not good at English, I could not communicate with my co-workers. I felt it was important to communicate with my co-workers but I did not socialize with them. Next, I worked at the Main Entrance of the same park. I helped guests’ enter and exit the park and explained about WDW parks and resorts. It was easier physically, but more difficult mentally. I had to explain the details of the park in English and smile all the time because I gave guests the first and last impressions of the park. As expected, I had a hard time because of speaking in English. Some people who came from English-speaking countries ignored me several times and it made me feel blue. I tried to be a valuable person in the work place and studied English passionately. And then I learned the knowledge needed to work for an entertainment business with my co-workers’ assistance such as dealing with various situations and treating people with disabilities kindly.

Walt Disney World in Florida is place of dream for Americans and other western people

My efforts were finally rewarded around the end of the internship program. In the summer, many South American students went to WDW with a school trip. One day many group guests went the park. I was at an exit of the park. When they passed through the exit, it was severely crowded. As safety accidents could occur at that time, I concentrated on the situation around me and let guests exit the park safely. After guests’ exiting ended like cats and dogs, a manager whom I had never seen came to me. He said my working met four keys that the cast members of WDW have to keep; Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency, and gave me a prize with a key holder. I could not adapt to the work place and English speaking well. I was an outsider at the last work place. However, one of my superiors gave a credit to me! “Your English has DEFINITELY improved since you got here. You're awesome!”, one of my American friends said to me. I was really happy that day.
I was shocked about the management system of the global entertainment company. It is a dramatically open company and has a manual of systematic management. I am happy that I had an experience there. The program fit me perfectly. It gave me a huge motivation to develop my own career. I think any internship program can give you excitement and bigger synergy more than just for another detail to your resume. If you do not have a specific career or you want to do an internship, find what you want to do with your life. Perhaps you will find that you are not the same person you used to be.
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