Another Month Gone

Yet another month has passed by and the end is drawing closer.

During the month of November a few things occurred. I was allowed to go back to work after 2 weeks of being on crutches but not without restrictions so from November 10th until December 10th I am on a restriction that says I cannot stand for more than 1/3 of my work day. This meant that they could not deploy me which was amazing but what do they do right when my restrictions are up?...deploy me back to Old Key West where you are standing 2/3+ of your day. I hate that place and the people are not nice and its just a bunch of bulls**t.

About a week after I was allowed to return to work my grandma and grandpa Rute came to Florida to visit me. Unfortunately I had to work most of the days they were here but I was able to meet them for dinner after work a few days and then one day I was able to spend the day with them at Epcot which was a lot of fun. I am really glad I was able to see them when I did because my grandpa passed away a few days after they left.

Luckily I was able to go home for a week for the services and Thanksgiving. I was very grateful that I was able to be with my family because I don't think I would have been able to stay in Florida when everything was going on.

I am also officially a campus representative for the Walt Disney World College Program at Virginia Tech. So when I return in January I will be representing the program. This means that I will still be employed by Disney. I am very excited and can't wait to start.

Other than working the usual amount, going to in-services's and hanging out with friends not much else has really happened since the last update.

Crazy Past Month

Okay so it's been almost a month since I last updated. Lots of things have happened so lets recap:

~October 19th-October 21st~

Carl flew down to Florida for my 21st birthday. He arrived on the 19th and luckily I was able to get an ER from work and got to spend the whole time with him. We checked into our room at the Yacht Club and then went out to lunch with his friend Kelley who is also on the program and her friend Mary. After lunch we went back to the hotel and just hung around until people started to arrive for the festivities. We went to dinner at the Beach Club with Kelley and Mary along with my friend Alicia and Eric. After dinner we hung around the hotel room till it got close to midnight. We walked over to the Boardwalk to Jellyrolls which is a dueling pianos club and got there just as I turned 21. It was a ton of fun and my friends and Carl took every chance throughout the day to make sure they told people it was not only my birthday but my 21st birthday. On my actual birthday we went to Epcot for a few hours and then hung around the hotel. I went swimming and talked to some of the lifeguards I knew from when I was deployed over there. That night we went out to dinner at Bennihana's with Sean, Evan, Sammie, Alicia, Tyler, Carl and me. We had a blast there and they made sure to tell them it was my birthday as well to get more embarrassment in. After dinner Carl and I went back to the hotel and just chilled and then went to sleep. The next morning we packed our stuff up and checked out. I took Carl to the airport and said good-bye. After he left I spent the rest of the day hanging out in my apartment watching TV, doing laundry and relaxing.

~October 22nd~

I had to work at Contemporary this day. It was a usual day at work with nothing to exciting occurring. After work I picked my parents up from the airport, dropped them off at their hotel and then headed back home to sleep before picking John and Marcy up in the morning.

~October 23rd-October 26th~

Woke up and headed over to my parents hotel to pick them up. Then drove to the airport to pick up John and Marcy. After a quick stop at the hotel so John and Marcy could change and see if they could check in we began our Disney adventure. We went to Animal Kingdom on the first day. We went on the Safari, Dinosaur and saw the Lion King Show. I also convinced my mom to go on Expedition Everest and thought she was going to kill me afterwards. We also did a few of the walking tours where you can see the different animals wandering around in their habitats. After Animal Kingdom we went to dinner and then I dropped everyone off at the hotel. I went back to my apartment for a short time to change into my lifeguarding clothes and then headed over to the Fort for Halloween night inservice. It was pretty interesting because they scenes we a little more outlandish and they had actual GIDs versus us switching between GID and rescuer. The only really creepy part was out general manager John Raper walking around with this freaky pumpkin mask on and a light saber. He'd randomly walk up to people and hit them with the light saber and go "you're unconscious" and then turn to the other person in the scene and go "you're on your own" and then run away. It was like uber freaky. After inservice I headed home to sleep before our double day. The next day we went to Hollywood Studios for a few hours and then spent the rest of the day at Magic Kingdom. At Studios we went on Star Tours, Tower of Terror and saw the Indian Jones shoes. I also somehow managed to get my mom on Rock n' Roller Coaster even after the whole Everest thing the day before. Rock n' Roller goes upside down and does cork screws and is in the dark so I thought I was really going to be dead this time. So the ride ends and I was like is mom still alive and she goes "that was kind of cool...I liked it." I'm pretty sure I was in total shock because I didn't expect that one. After that we headed over to Magic Kingdom for the day. We pretty much did every ride in all of MK. We started in Tomorrowland and the just walked through each land doing the rides that we wanted to do. After all the rides we ate dinner at Cosmic Rays and then waited for the "Wishes" to start. After the fireworks we headed back to the hotels once again. The next morning I had to drop my parents off at the airport to say good-bye and then headed to John and Marcy's hotel. We ate breakfast there and then headed over to Epcot. We first did the rides in Future World like Mission: Space, Test Track, Nemo and Spaceship Earth. Then we headed over to the World Showcase and began to make our way around the world stopping at each kiosk to see what they had. Some we bought from others we just kept walking. After a fun filled day around the world we sat down to watch "Illuminations: Reflections of Earth" and then headed home. Sadly the next morning I had to say good-bye to John and Marcy and sent them on their way back to MD. I spent the rest of the day again sitting around the apartment since I didn't have to work.

~October 27th-present~

On October 27th I worked at the lodge...it was uneventful. On the 28th I worked at the lodge but had to leave halfway through my shift because the pain in my left foot was so bad I was barely able to walk. I left work and headed straight to the doctors to get it checked out. There I found out I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot. So I have been out of work since the 29th and the first day I'm allowed to go back is the 11th of November. This being said I have been pretty much bored out of my mind just sitting at home watching TV since I was on crutches until just a few days ago. It really sucks I must say. I don't like not working because all my friends are working so I'm just plain bored .

Well thats all...you are now all caught up

Have a Magical Day

Oops...a month later

Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry...it has been a very long time since I last updated this because I have been very busy. Here's a recap of everything that has happened...

My friend Rachel got married back in September. I was home for a couple of days for her wedding and went to dinner with some family that came into D.C. before I left to fly back to Florida the next morning.

Right when I got back from Virginia I was deployed over to the Grand Floridian on Seven Seas Lagoon. I spent a week at the Floridian before I was deployed to yet another pool.

I have spent the last 2 1/2 weeks over at Old Key West and will be there for the next couple of days before they finally let me go back to Bay Lake.

Two days ago I participated in something called "mass casualty." This is a practice not only for lake patrol but also for Reedy Creek and Orange County. A bunch of the lifeguards were GIDs and were just floating in the lake with different injuries that had to be treated. Although they tried to save me I didn't make it and I was black tagged the second we got to the dock.

Next week is going to be filled with stuff going on. On Monday Carl flies in and will be staying until Wednesday with my 21st birthday being on Tuesday. Then my parents fly in Thursday night and will be here through Sunday with John and Marcy flying in on Friday morning and staying until Monday. So hopefully it will be a good week as long as the couple of issues occurring currently can be resolved.

Thats all for now...sorry its short but I have to get ready for work and nothing exciting really happened...just been bounced all over

Back and Forth

So this week has gone by very fast. Here is a recap of the week.

Sunday: I had sunday off and after the cleaning team came in to clean our apartment for the new roommate I went to Hollywood Studios with my friend K.K. where we just wandered around. It was so much fun and a great day just to hang out without having any set plans. We just did everything randomly. 

Monday: I worked at the Lodge this day. It was a pretty basic guarding day until 2 hours before the end of my shift. I ended up having to jump in and rescue a little girl who got scared and wasn't able to stand so she began to freak out which caused her to begin to drown. 

Tuesday: I had inservice in the morning and we went around to all the pool both on Bay Lake as well as Seven Seas Lagoon and just talked about the EAP's at all the pools and did a few practice drills at each. There were not many guards present and a lot of them were newer so the older guards were GIDs and they were the guards so they could learn. After inservice I headed over to the BLT and guarded over there for the day. 

Wednesday: I worked at the Lodge but not as a guard. All of our guards showed up and our kids activities person had called in. I was the only guard that day that was not a new guard and the only one that knew how to run kids activities so I spent the day playing games in the pool, running the pool party and playing bingo. 

Thursday: First I woke up bright and early this morning to take Sean to the airport. Then I was over at the BLT again today. So as soon as I walk into the office Sarah (the am CT coord) tells me that i am working in the Hall today and to head right over with the Rec 6 radio to give to Luis (the BLT am coord) and help him out. Today the girl that was to run Community Hall called in sick. So once again I was the only guard trained to on Community Hall and able to use the cash system so I spent the day in there working with the kids. 

Tomorrow Alicia and I plan on hanging out by the pool for the day relaxing. Hopefully I can fix my crazy tan lines so they aren't to bad when I head home in a week for a friend's wedding. 

The Hustle and Bustle Continues...

So work is crazy as usual. We have now switched over to 10 hour shifts so if the pool has 2 guards there are only 3 on duty the entire day, if it has 3 then there are 4 guards. These days are pretty grueling when the sun just beats down on you and there is no storms to cool you off. For the most part they are pretty calm because there is not many people staying in the hotels at this time.

It is also now September and Virginia Tech is back in full swing. Luckily I have the next 5 months free of school work before I return in January. The only thing I have to do is complete a few pieces of paper work for my Co-Op program so that I stay enrolled in the university for when I come back. I am also planning on rushing when I return to school so there may be some things to do for that while I am down here.

Not much has really been happening at work recently expect for some pretty crazy storms. Until yesterday that is...right as we were going through a bump I had to jump in to rescue a little boy that was no older than 3 but I'm guessing closer to 2. His family was there but they hadn't communicated efficiently with one another and so there was no one there to get the boy when he came down the slide.

I now have the next 3 days off so I've got to figure out what I am going to do. I think I might hang out by the pool today and try to fix the crazy tan lines I have gained due to being a lifeguard.

Deployment!

This week I was deployed to Yacht & Beach Club. So instead of working in Bay Lake I have been working there all week. Tomorrow is my last day there and it will actually be sad because they have a lot of cool guards over there and it is just fun.

One of the really entertaining things they do there is the changing of the guards. The AM guards work 8:00 till 16:30 and the PM guards work 15:30 till 23:30. At 16:00 all of the AM guards go off stand and the PM guards go on stand. Then at 16:15 the AM guards all line up and perform the "Cupid Shuffle" and sometimes "Cotton Eye Joe" depending on how the guards feel and if we want to do another one. Yacht & Beach is also a HUGE pool compared to mine.

The Contemporary stands are:
~Bottom
~Lap
~Rove

The Lodge stands are:
~Slide
~Point
~Cove

The Bay Lake Tower stands are:
~BLT Slide
~Gatekeeper

The Yacht & Beach stands are:
~Top Ship
~Ship
~Bubbles
~Quiet
~Deep
~Shallow
~Windmill
~Bottom
~Rising
~Active

Needless to say when I saw my first rotation there I looked a little shocked and everyone noticed but it is actually a lot of fun there. I really like working there and will not mind being sent back even though I love Bay Lake and the people there. The Y & B people are just as cool and so much fun to be around.

Off the topic of work friends are awesome. My friends and I had dinner together the other night and I cooked since I was the first one off work. I can't wait for my birthday to come around because it should be a blast. New CP's have arrived with one more batch arriving on Monday so there are a ton of baby CP's running around now and its very funny to think that was us months ago.

Back on the topic of work...I got to save a baby ducky today at work!!!!

I Realize It Has Been Forever

...and I am sorry. Everything has been very busy these past weeks. As my summer class drew to a close I spent most of my time not at work either doing homework, taking tests and doing projects or sleeping. Work has been great. The Bay Lake Towers officially opened their doors to guests on August 4th. On August 8th I guarded there for the first time. I have been guarding there all week and I love it! Working at that pool is a blast. The guests there are amazing and it is a beautiful pool. I also went home for a few day right before the opening of the BLT and went camping with my family which was lots of fun.

Now that summer classes have ended I will finally be able to have fun...or not. We are now on 6 days a week and for those staying at Bay Lake next week they will be on 11 to 13 hour lines 4 to 5 days a week. For me I'm on 6 days a week with 8 hour lines still because I am deployed to the Yacht and Beach Club from August 17th till August 22nd so I'll get to find out about yet another pool. Hopefully I will be able to find time to hang out with friends. New CP's have begun to arrive and in about a week there will be a few other Hokie's joining me.

I'll try and update with at least a sentence or two whenever I have days off.

Crazy Times at the Toaster

So the past week I worked at the Toaster (the Contemporary) every day except for one. Two of those days some interesting things occurred.

~Wednesday, July 15th~
Sean and I both got VATed one after another about an hour before our shift ended. Sean was VATed first at BOTTOM and since I was on LAP with the radio I called it in. Then minutes later the same coordinator that VATed Sean VATed me as well. She had come into my zone and was playing basketball with the kids. I had no idea she even had the VAT on her since I saw our on duty coordinator and manager leave the pool deck. Both of us saw and retrieved our VATs in under 30 seconds, which is our time limit.

~Saturday, July 18th~
This was the fun day for me. I was only a few hours into my shift and I got audited for the first time. It was a full out live in-house audit. An audit is when Ellis or our coordinators and managers created a live scenario and we have to react as if it were real, this includes live whistles and everything. Needless to say it can freak out the guests. So onto the audit...

I was the guard at BOTTOM. I heard a bang on the slide and then one of our recreation members came down. She stood there for a second and then grabbed her neck and said "ow ow my neck my neck!" This was the point at which I realized I was being audited so I began procedure. As primary rescuer I blew my whistle sharply once to alert the other guards and entered the water. When I reached her I asked if she could walk to the side of the pool and she replied no. This activated the next step of the EAP. I then turned and blew 3 sharp whistles, held up my fist and shouted "lifeguard needs assistance, a trauma bag and a backboard. you in the red shorts call 911 and report back to me." I turned back around to begin to prepare my "guest" to be extracted but two guests had already grabbed her thinking it was real. I wasn't sure how to nicely tell them to f*** off so I just tried to gain control and get procedure back in line since everything we had ever been taught had not involved guest interference. This is the first time ever during an audit that a guest had interfered. We then began extraction procedures. During the extraction our "guest" went unconscious, which made us change procedure. Once she was removed from the pool another guard took over as primary rescuer since I was still in the pool. I then got out and began to set up the oxygen while the other guard began rescue breathing followed by CPR when we were told that our "guest" no longer had a pulse. We followed that by hooking up the AED and giving a shock followed by moving her to recovery position since we had regained a pulse and breathing.

During the entire audit we had managers and coordinators and extra guards all around. New guards took over the stands that were abandoned by the on-duty guards because we were the ones being audited since for audits we don't actually shut down the pool. Our manager stood with a sign that said "Lifeguard audit in progress" and our coordinator stood by telling us what we were or weren't seeing when it came to if the guest was breathing or had a pulse since we were on a perfectly healthy person. After we completed the audit they handed me towels since I was the totally soaked guard and we went into a grassy area to talk about the audit. We had a few minor mistakes that could be worked on but for the most part we did a good job. There was no doubt that we had passed the audit because none of our mistakes would change the outcome drastically. During this time I asked what to do if a guest interferes and was told that we are allowed to take charge and if we have to be rude to gain control that thats what we must do.

It was crazy because a lot of guests thought that the situation was real. Other guests were just so entranced by the fact that they were seeing the lifeguards in action. I have quite a few guests come up to me afterwards and ask me about what had happened and told me I had done a good job and that they were impressed at how quickly we all reacted to the situation handed to us.

Needless to say it was a hectic day. It was my first audit ever and I was the primary rescuer so to have done well is a nice feeling. Not even veteran guards always do well so it was nice to know that I seem to be good at my job.

Sorry For the Long Wait

Sorry it took me forever to update this. Work has been crazy busy and my next summer class starting has been pretty time consuming. Not much has really happened recently until yesterday and today.

Yesterday I was VATed for the first time to test my skills and I passed!

This morning the lifeguards had to be up bright and early for BLT OJT and I am now officially a trained lifeguard for Disney's newest vacation club property...the Bay Lake Tower.

Later today I am heading to Animal Kingdom with a bunch of other lifeguards...wahoooo

Finally...a break

So after 12 days straight of working with no break I finally had a day off of Friday, July 3rd. So with my day off first I had to take my final exam for my online class which failed on me and it took forever for my teacher to be able to reset my exam and I ended up not taking it till 11:30 at night. Because it took so long to hear a response I ended up going to Magic Kingdom with my friend Eric and his friend Bekka from work. We watching the July 4th fireworks on the 3rd. They were really cool. After fireworks we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain and road that before heading back home totally exhausted only for me to them have to take my test.

Other than that nothing really special has happened. We have had some crazy storms recently that close our pools down for hours at a time. We also had the pump in one of our pools basically explode and were closed down for two days. One of those days I was sent to another resort to guard and the other day I was kept to be the shuttle driver to get guests from our pool to other pools in the area.

I had yesterday and today off so yesterday I spent the day just hanging out and went out with some friends last night. Today I did my laundry and then I am about to head over to the pool for a little bit with my friend Alicia and then head off to Animal Kingdom for a few hours.

Around And Around We Go

So it has been 10 days since i last updated...sorry about that. We are so short lifeguards in my region that we are all working 6 days a week and my day off usually consists of me doing homework for my online Virginia Tech summer class. The week went by pretty much the same as usual with me moving around between my 3 different pools. This time instead of telling about each day I'll just highlight the days that things happened other than going to work.

Sunday June 21st was my day off. I spent the morning hanging out with my friend's Alicia and Eric and then once Alicia left for work Eric and I hung out since we were the only one's with the day off. We also made dinner and dessert for Eric's roommates.

Monday June 22nd I worked at the Lodge. About 30 minutes before the lifeguards went off duty I had to jump in after a little boy who jumped into the deep end and couldn't swim and wasn't able to grab the wall. Weird thing was the parents were nowhere to be seen and the boy wasn't older than maybe 5.

Thursday June 25th I worked at the Lodge again and after work went to Magic Kingdom with Alicia and her friend Jessica. While there it started to poor like crazy and we got totally soaked. We also met up with Eric and his roommate Tim while there and just went on the rides since there was like no line due to everyone running away the second the rain started coming down.

There...those are the highlights of the week. Every other day I basically just worked and then after work hung out with Alicia and the boys. And then a couple of the days I had school assignments so I was working on those when I wasn't at work.

Next week I work another 6 day week. So my last day off was Sunday the 21st and my next day off isn't until Friday...July 3rd. I think they might be trying to kill me but it is still pretty fun plus my coordinators are pretty awesome!

Oh and here is the crew...

Me, Eric, Sean and Alicia at Blizzard Beach like the first week

Eric, Me and Alicia at Magic Kingdom just this week
Tim, Sean, Me, Alicia, Eric and Evan at Epcot
Well...Thats All For Now...Have a Magical Day!

The Craziness Continues

So once again it took me a long time to update. It has been over a week and this past week has been totally ridiculous. Here is a recap of the past days

Monday: This was my second day of on the job training and it was at the Contemporary which we refer to as the Toaster. Sean and me, along with out trainer Heather, were actually put into rotation so we could actually see how everything we were learning works. It was a pretty fun day.

Tuesday: I was to be trained on the dock this day but the new trainer didn't show up so they pulled a girl off of the stand that was working a double and put her on the dock and put me into her rotation on the stand. Then right around noon we get a call from the Toaster asking for a lifeguard because something happened to one of theirs so they pulled the other girl back off the dock, put her back on her stand and then rushed me over to the Toaster to take the other girls place on stand over there. So in short my training was cut short and I was put on stand and in rotation a day earlier than expected but it was okay because luckily we had already learned stands the days before.

Wednesday: This is the day that I worked from 9:30 until 22:30, a 13 hour shift. Needless to say this day was extremely long and I was honestly ready to fall over dead by the end.

Thursday and Friday: My two days off couldn't have come at a better time considering the long shift the day before. Thursday I did my homework assignment for my online communication class and then I went to the gym and the pool with my friend Alicia over at Chatham, which is the apartment complex she lives in. On Friday Alicia and I went to the gym and pool again but this time we went to the gym at Patterson where I live. At the gym we ran into our friend Sean and Eric who happen to live in the same building as me. After the gym we showered and got dressed and then Alicia, Eric and me all went shopping at the Orlando Premium Outlets for most of the day. Afterwards we went back to Eric's apartment and hung out watching TV, talking and just being ourselves.

Saturday: Just a regular day at work. As far as a can recall nothing really happened this day. I had work from 14:00 until 22:30 and then I went home, had dinner, watched TV and just chilled with my roommates

Sunday: Oh lord this day was not fun at all. It was no doubt the scariest day I have had so far while in Florida. It was my first day working at Fort Wilderness Campground, my 3rd pool. I had never worked the pool before so I didn't know where things were or how certain things worked. Closing in on the end of the night and the end of my shift, the worst thing for a lifeguard happened. We had a 3 whistle which translates to dire emergency, call 911 and get an ambulance on site. I am not going to go into detail about what happened but just know it is never a good thing to get 3 whistles. Needless to say this was a very scary moment especially for a new lifeguard but somehow we made it through and as far as we know the guest is alright. After work I went home and just chilled again still slightly shocked from the day.

Monday: I got to work at the Toaster again. Luckily nothing like the day before happened and it was a pretty relaxed day while at work. After work I headed home to make some dinner and the crash because I had to be up at 5:00 the next morning.

Tuesday: Sadly I had to wake up at 5:00 this day because of in-service. In-service is something we are required to do as Walt Disney World Lifeguards 2 times a month for 2 hours each for a total of 4 hours a month. They do this in order to keep out skills fresh and ready. We practice our skills and try to have a little fun at the same time. The coordinators try to make it fun since it does occur so early in the morning since we have to open our pools at 10:00. The only real bad thing was that to make sure we practiced as we did all the practices we actually had to blow 3 whistles so our ears were ringing by the end. Since we were at Fort I do feel kind of bad for all the campground since we probably woke a lot of people up...oops! After in-service I went home, went back out to get some papers for school dealt with and then went shopping with Alicia. After shopping we went to the boys place for dinner and had a crazy storm that caused our power to surge 3 times. We had a river running through our parking lot, it was pretty sweet.

Wednesday: Well this is today and it is only 11:40 so not much has happened yet. I also have today off so I know I have some homework to day and then I don't know what else I will do.

So that is everything that has happened since I last posted. I've been so busy and just finally unearthed my camera that the pictures I have are from my friends cameras but hopefully I can get some pictures up soon.

Have a Magical Day!
Micki

Another Week Gone By

So another week has gone by since I last updated. Once again I have been very busy. Here is a recap of the week

Monday: First day of lifeguard training with Ellis and Associates. Half the day was spent out of water learned the basics. The second half of the day was spent in water learning the different types of saves depending on the water depth and if the person is conscious or unconscious

Tuesday: Second day of lifeguard training. Once again half the day was spent out of water and half in water. During the out of water time we learned and practices how to perform adult, child and infant CPR, along with how to use an AED. For in water we learned how to use the backboard for both unconscious extrications and spinal injuries. We also learned how to check for breathing while waiting for someone to come help.

Wednesday: Third and final day of lifeguard training. The first part of the day was spent in water practicing everything we had learned over the last two days. The second half of the day was spent taking tests. First we had the group save test, then we had the CPR tests, and finally the written test. Afterwards we signed some papers and officially became licensed lifeguards for Walt Disney World.

Thursday and Friday I was off from work. I spent my time relaxing and going to the parks and pool as well as hanging just out with the boys and Alicia being our usual selves. We went to Hollywood studios and had tons of fun riding the rides and just having fun and not worrying about work.

Saturday I had my first day of work on location. It was mainly just a tour of the facilities and making sure that we knew where certain things were.

Sunday: This was my first day of On The Job Training. It was another day where we learned the basics of the location. We learned how to check the Trauma bags as well as set up the stands to open. I worked from 7:30 until 18:00 and moved between two of my 3 different pools.

We were at Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness today. Tomorrow I will be at the Contemporary which is the last of my 3 locations. Hopefully everything goes well and I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am. My hours are ridiculously crazy this week so I probably will not update for another week.

HAVE A MAGICAL DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Extra Extra Read All About It...Micki is settled in!

Hey Everyone!

So the past days have been extremely hectic. Move-in was on Wednesday and it was crazy. I checked in at Vista Way where we received our housing ID's that get us into the different apartment complexes as well as allow us to ride the bus. After the initial check-in I headed over to my apartment and we started to move in. Then we had to leave to catch a bus at Chatham Square to Casting where we handed in paperwork, got fingerprinted and for all other jobs received schedule's for the first days of work. Being a lifeguard though I did not receive mine. After Casting we took a bus back to the apartment to continue unpacking. Then we had the welcome meeting at The Commons. After that I had to get ready for my swim test and headed over to Mickey's Retreat. There the lifeguards met up and we took our test. Once we all passed the deep water test we received our schedules for the first few days...I am a Bay Lake Region lifeguard.

Thursday was a day filled with shopping and more unpacking as everyone got settled in. Then that night we had the welcome pool party at Patterson Court where I live.

Friday I had to wake up bright and early for Traditions. After spending four hours there we headed back to the apartments. That afternoon I went to Magic Kingdom with some WDWCP friends. We came back from the park and I was home for a little time before my roommates and I headed back to Magic Kingdom to go on some rides and watch "Wishes"

On Saturday I spent the day at Blizzard Beach with some friends and then after taking showers we all headed to Epcot for dinner and to watch Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.

Now today (Sunday) I have orientation where I will find out more about what I will be doing in my job and then tomorrow (Monday) I start my lifeguard training.

5 States and 13 1/2 hours Later

And welcomed by flashes of lightning, booming thunder and flooded roads.

My mom and me traded off driving every 3 to 3 1/2 hours to allow us both time to relax. The trip itself was fairly easy with bits of rain here and there until we entered Lake Buena Vista. Then the thunder crashed and the rain began to pound on the car. After 13 hours our butts and legs were sore, but all and all a fairly easy drive surprisingly.

After a relaxing dinner in the hotel restaurant we headed off to bed and proceeded to sleep in. This morning after waking up and showering we explored the local area before going shopping shopping SHOPPING! We purchased some nicer clothes in lighter weights perfect for the warmer Florida weather. So sorry Virginia but you won't see me until January.

So the wait is really over. On Wednesday I check into the program and then my Disney experience begins.

It Is Finally Here

So the time has finally come. Tomorrow morning at 6am my mom and I are leaving for Florida. We will be driving the 13 1/3 hour drive in one day and hope to arrive Saturday night. I am so excited to get down there and I can't believe the waiting is over.

Update to come soon and I can't wait to see my fellow WDWCP CM's in Florida!  

FINALLY!!!

So school is finally finally finally over! The semester finally ended this morning but not before throwing me into a complete frenzy because one of my exams got all messed up. Now it is time to start packing. First I have to pack up my entire apartment and get ready to move out and then I have to move everything back home and THEN get ready to move to Florida. Only 9 days until my mom and me begin our drive to Florida. Once we arrive we will spend a few days in Florida before the Meet and Greet dinner on the 26th and check-in on the 27th. So excited! And so happy to be done with my first year at Virginia Tech and my second year of college. Have A Magical Day everybody!

Classes done, Exams to come

I know I said I wouldn't update again but I had some time before a meeting so I decided to write a little bit before I leave.

So classes are finally over. All that is left now is to take my finals and write my feature story. I have my final meeting for my Co-Op today and then it is official. If I take my poetry final over the weekend then I will be done by Tuesday afternoon with my first year at Virginia Tech. Then it is time to pack up my entire life and head home and then head to Florida. So good-bye until then!

Almost There!!!

Hey Guys! 

So its almost time! Less than 3 weeks until I leave for Florida. It's crazy to think that this thing I have been waiting for since January is finally just around the corner. I can barely wrap my mind around everything at this point. 

With that being said I only have 10 days left until the semester is officially over, including weekends. I have 3 days left of classes this week, then exams Monday-Wednesday next week. My first exam is actually on Tuesday of this week during the regular class so I'm studying for that already. Once May 13th hits I am officially done with my 2nd year of college and my 1st year at Virginia Tech. It's crazy to even think that I have made it halfway through college already. 

This is going to be my last blog until then because from here on out I am going to be studying my ass off to make sure that I pass all my classes. After Wednesday I will have three days to pack up my entire apartment to move out on Saturday when my family comes with my uncle's truck and the moving trailer. Then I will have exactly seven days at home before my mom and me begin out 13 1/2 hour drive to Orlando on the 23rd where we will spend three days before check-in on the 27th. During that one week I have so much to do. I have a doctor's appointment on Monday, I have my hair appointment on Wednesday, I have to take my car in for service at some point (need to make that appointment) and I have to pack everything for Florida. Hopefully I will also get to go shopping to get some new clothes especially for things like Traditions and any other meetings. 

So thats all for now. I have to get back to studying so that I do really well on my first exam. Feel free to check out my other blogs and follow me so that you will know when I update. 

Micki 

The Countdown Drags On

Only 30 more days till my mom and I drive down to Florida!
Only 34 days until I check-in at Vista Way for the program!

So as the days drag on classes begin to draw to a close. Last minute assignments become a part of my daily routine. Preparing for finals exams has begun even though they are still about two weeks away. Only three weeks until I take my last exam and begin to pack up my apartment.

I am getting so psyched for Disney but I have told myself I can't start packing yet so that I don't make the wait worse on myself. Once that last exam is taken that's when I can start to pack and freak out as everything comes full circle. And once I get my hair cut on May 20th thats when things will truly become official. From that point on I will be packing up the car and preparing for the 13 hour drive down to Orlando.



BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!

A Little More Information

Okay so this is a blog I created so that people can follow my adventures while working at Walt Disney World as part of the Disney College Program. I will try and write at least a little bit everyday. Some days you may get more information than others. Here is a little background of what has happened so far and what is planned.

So I have been planning on doing this for a while so when they opened up the application for Fall I jumped right on it. I watched the e-presentation on January 16th and called to schedule my interview. I had my interview on January 29th after classes. After my interview I waited until February 20th when I received my b-e-a-utiful purple folder in the mail at my apartment. I proceeded to call my family freaking out that I was actually going to Disney.

Job: Lifeguard
Check-In Date: May 27th
Check-Out Date: January 2nd

Arrival Date: May 23rd/24th

Me and my amazing purple folder!!!!!

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Here is a little more about me for all the members of DCP that might check this out:

Name: Michelle Kaczmarek

Age: 20

Birthday: October 20th

Major: Communication with a concentration in Public Relations
Cognate (basically a minor) in Tourism Management

What role will you have during your CP? Lifeguard

Is that the role you wanted? it is one of them

Where would you like to work? I like to work in a water park but anywhere is fine by me...its Disney after all

Is this your first CP? yes it is

Will this be the first time you’ll be living away from home? no...I live 4 hours away from home now at college

What building [Vista, Chatham, Patterson] do you want to live in? Chatham or Patterson

Will you have a car during your DCP stay? yes my parents decided to allow me to

Are you or your family Disney Vacation Club members? If so, what is your home resort? no we are not

Do you have a DIS Boards account? I'm not sure...I might

Favorite park in WDW: it's been so long since I've been I'm not really sure

Favorite time to vacation in WDW: Summer or Fall

Are you interested in having movie nights or group dinners? totally...and dance parties

What are you planning on doing during your free time in WDW? going to the parks, meeting new people and just having a good time

Anything you’d like to say to your fellow cast members? I can't wait to meet all of you. We are going to have so much fun while in Disney

The Waiting Game Continues

The semester is beginning to draw to a close. There are only 4 weeks left until the end. It seems as if professors are just realizing how close it is and suddenly they have all these things we need to do. Most days I feel like ripping my hair out but I just think that once it ends I'll only have 1 week left until I leave.

So in 37 days I leave for Florida for 8 months. And 41 days until I check in to the Disney College Program. I will be a lifeguard there and am very excited to see where I will be working.