On January 9th, I officially started the Disney College Program. It was a very interesting experience. I did it all on my own, no parents, friends, or anyone I knew. I took an Uber from my hotel to the apartment complex. I checked in with my ID and gave them my luggage.

Once I did that, I went on a bus and went to the other apartment complex. I followed a line of other people who also visibly were brand new like me and we went onto a grassy field. We then all filled out a form on our phone and had someone check that we completed it. From there we went into a room for a 15 minute presentation talking about the general rules for the program. Basic things like don’t have drugs in your room, don’t have guests past 1AM, paying your electricity bill, etc. It was very helpful and answered many of my questions. After that they took our photo for our ID and then we left. At first I was honestly a bit lost and confused as it only took up about 3 hours of the day. I had nothing else planned to do that day. I understand a lot of people had their parents there so they all went out with their families but I was completely alone so I just walked to my apartment.

Right when I walked in there was one of my roommates in the living room. I have 3 roommates, 2 live on one side of the apartment and the other 1 lives a door away from me and we share a bathroom together. The roommate I met was 1 of the 2 from the other side. She’s been in the program since November and is leaving in February. She works at Animal Kingdom and she has really enjoyed the program. Both the other two roommates from the other side are from Brazil which is super cool! I then walked into my room which I loved!!!!! It is my own private room with a big window, a perfect size closet with mirror doors, a queen bed, and a dresser. It is the perfect room I am so happy and I can’t wait to decorate it more!!! Then you walk out the room into my shared bathroom with my roommate. It is two sinks with a huge mirror and lots of under cabinet space. There is also another door connecting to the bathroom with a toilet and shower. I also forgot to mention there is a full kitchen and living room!!!!! The kitchen has everything you could think of and the living room is perfect. It is a major upgrade from my dorm room!! I love the space so much and I couldn’t be more grateful.

I spent a lot of time enjoying this brand new addition to my life then I started to unpack. I realized I needed a few more things so I walked 15 minutes to the target across the street. I got bed sheets and some groceries. I felt like a grown up getting my own groceries for my apartment. Then I came back, took a nap, then did some more unpacking. My roommate came in later that night and she was so nice!! Her and I have gotten along very well. The first day, while being a bit stressful, was overall a super fun and great experience.

The next day went by extremely quick. I woke up, got background checked/finger printed, did my online class, then I went to a welcome event, got boba with my roommate, and went back to the apartment. It wasn’t super eventful but still a good day.

Today as I am writing this blog post it is my third day. All I’ve done today is get up and do some online work. I have an important event in about 2 hours that I am going too. I will write more about that later.

So far this experience has been really interesting as I am learning so much more and more about what it is like to be alone in the real world. More to come!