Class

When you think of Disney World you might think of Mickey Mouse, fireworks and little girls wearing tiaras. Now try to think of Disney World as class, professors and homework. It puts it in perspective.

https://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its/mimes/zh_wdwcp/students/education/edu_collegiate.html

Some students worry if they go on the College Program they will fall behind at school. This could be true. If a student goes on the CP and just works at their assigned job they will miss out on college credit. But if a student goes on the CP and registers for collegiate courses through the program (s)he will stay on track for graduation.

The DCP education department is certified by the American Council on Education (ACE) and offers around eight collegiate courses for college credit. Although some do not, many campuses accept ACE for credit.

I was attending Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., when I enrolled and was accepted into the CP. They require their students to maintain a full time student course load (12 hours) while doing the program. Luckily the College Program counts as six credit hours so I only needed to take two three hour classes. Disney offers classes that are great for anyone majoring in business, communication or hospitality. The Education department employees teachers who have worked a number of years for the Disney Corporation and can offer real world experience to the students.

The classes I enrolled in were Corporate Communication and Marketing You. I was scheduled two days off from work and each of those days I attended a three hour lecture. Corporate Communication was a fun and challenging class that dealt mostly with public relations and inter-company relations using Disney as the model. Marketing You sought to build a personal marketing plan and improve our resume. Both courses were similar to a typical college class. There was homework, papers, projects, group discussions and other stuff. The main difference was we had to dress in business casual and wear our nametags. (This sucked because nobody wants to spend three hours of their day dressed up while the beach is calling their name.)

These courses not only added to the number of college credit hours I already had but also added knowledge to the experience I gained at work. I remember both teachers and even some of the stuff they taught me. I strongly recommend enrolling in at least one class and sticking it out until the end. It will feel like time wasted until you are in a professional setting and put to use some of the things you learned.