Michelle Santos: The End is Just the Beginning

As I sit here, at home, I look back at the experience of Studying Abroad and I cannot believe all the things I have learned about myself, my career, and about Disney. The experience of studying abroad was not even on my radar but thanks to one of my teachers, I became aware and ended up applying. Only 3 months later, I found out that I got into the program and at that moment I knew the rest of 2016 was going to be filled with a lot of firsts and an experience that was going to change my life forever. There were so many emotions going through me when I arrived in Florida, but I knew I had to have an open mind and an open heart to the people, the environment and the lifestyle I was about to enter.

My friends and I celebrating my friends birthday and saying farewell to her at the Magic Kingdom

It took some time but I finally found my grove working for Disney, taking courses through UCR and also my Disney course. I was blessed that I was able to make some very good friends while spending the first 2 weeks of the program in California. They became my family and before I met other people, I had friends that I would spend all my time with. At the beginning, 6 months felt like a super long time, but now looking back, it flew by to fast.

It’s graduation day!!! One final group picture.

As my time at Disney came to a close, I was left with so many emotions. I was super excited to go home and see my family for Christmas, but I wasn’t ready to leave the friends I had made behind. I was very blessed to have two of my coworkers become two of my best friends. To this day I am still in contact with them both and have plans to visit them in the future. They became my rocks during the program and I don’t think this experience would have been the same without them.

Mickey, Minnie and I on graduation day!

So, if you are considering being apart of any study abroad program, do it! Take that giant leap of faith and get out of your head and maybe your comfort zone and do something different. The main reason I decided to go to Disney was because I wanted to do something different and get out of my comfort zone. Although it is scary, it was definitely worth it. I have changed as a person and have a different outlook on life. This program is not just about Disney, it’s about so much more. The opportunities you will have after you complete the program will be endless. I want to leave you with one last thing … a quote from Walt himself.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

My roommate and fellow Cap student Gabby and I in front of our apartment door

Michelle Santos is a fourth year Bachelor of Business Administration student at Capilano University. Michelle took classes and completed an international co-op through the University of California Riverside Disney International Program in California and Florida, USA.