What did you learn yesterday? - September Posts

So I have changed the initial title of this post, which was "What did you learn today", purely because I really wanted to write about what happened yesterday but I was unsure if I would have time to do it and post it on the same day. If you are unaware, yesterday I travelled down to Essex to have my initial interview for the Disney CEP program, and this post was perfect for it! However, I spent so much time travelling yesterday and I was so tired when I got home, that it would have been nearly impossible for me to write something that was even a little bit creative. So I hope that you do not mind that I changed the title of the post, and switched it so that I could write about it today. Without further ado, here is what happened yesterday and what I learned from it!

1) It is nearly impossible for me to sleep on a bus 

Getting the bus to London was definitely a lot cheaper than getting the train down, the downside was that it would take 9 hours to get there rather than 3 hours. In my mind, I didn't think that this would really be a bad idea, since that meant I could just sleep on the bus and I would be bright, happy and ready for my interview the next morning. How wrong I was. 

The bus did turn out all of their lights and it was relatively easy to fall asleep, but every time the bus stopped, they turned on the bright lights (obviously so that people getting on/off wouldn't fall over or hurt themselves when travelling down the bus) which woke me up every time i went to sleep and we stopped off quite often, which meant getting off the bus to walk around, which definitely didn't help with the sleeping thing. Nevertheless, the bus journey was not bad ans I would use it again, but maybe I would stay in a hotel next time to make sure that I get a good nights sleep before the biggest interview of my life. 

2) Wetherspoons is a very good place to get ready 

Obviously I did not want to travel in my interview outfit for 9 hours, so we decided we would stop off somewhere to get changed. We arrived in London at about 6:20am, and there was a Wetherspoons a few minuets away from the bus station that was open. We walked there and got some food and a drink, and thought it would be a good place to freshen up. It was quiet, nobody bothered us while we were putting our make-up on (although it was very quiet at this time) and we took 5 minuets to get changed in the bathrooms. It was not the best situation, but if you are only in London for a few hours and you need to get changed, consider dropping into Wetherspoons. Of course, you will probably need to order something. 

3) But they also don't serve chicken nuggets at 7am 

I know what you're thinking, who actually wants to eat chicken nuggets at 7am anyway! But my thought behind this was that the breakfast items on the menu wouldn't be filling enough to get us through to tea time, so I wanted to get an actual meal. The thing is, the items that I tried to order were not available at that time. It wasn't the end of the world, I could always buy more food if I get hungry later, but it would just mean spending more money, and as a student that is the last thing I wanted to do.

4) Oxford street is a good place to go if you are in London really early 

We were planning to visit Oxford Street anyway, but there is so much down that street that it is a really good place to go if you are in London at the time when places aren't really open. By the time we were finished at Wetherspoons, which was at 8am, places were beginning to open on Oxford Street. We started off our day wandering around Primark, then going to Starbucks, Lush and the Disney Shop before going off to our interview. There is so much down that street that you could stay there for hours, which is why I found it a really good place to kill time before we needed to travel to Essex.

5)London doesn't wait for you

London is one of those cities that seems like it never stops. People are constantly on the move, trying to get from one place to another. There is always people there who want to try and push past you to get to somewhere else and it can feel rather confusing to someone who has never been there before. Going to London means that you will have to be prepared in advance and know exactly where you are going, or be prepared to find a corner to adjust your bearings since London is definitely not the place you want to stop in the middle of the street. It will end up like that scene from the Lion King. Yes, that scene. 

I committed the awful crime of my google pay app not working on the underground, so I needed to step to the side and find my card to pay to travel. I really ruined the guys day who was waiting behind me, because I slowed him down by 2 minuets. Such an inconvenience. Sounds like it shouldn't mean a lot, but every second counts to Londoners. Don't shout at them, just let them exist and try not to get in their way otherwise you will ruin their day. 

6) The most amazing people apply for Disney Jobs

I met the most amazing people at my Disney Interview. It started on the tube, when one girl recognized me from the group chat because of my hair. There was also a guy sat in front of us who was attending the interview, it was so coincidental that we were all sat in the same tube carriage. We all bonded on the journey and sat in Starbucks outside the office for a couple of hours, or group gradually growing until we were practically taking up the shop. 

There were so many lovely people there that they are going to have a really had time deciding who should go through to the final interviews!

 

7) No matter what the outcome of this interview is, I had a fantastic time!

Anyone who knows me knows that ever since I was a little girl it has been my dream to work at Disney, and I feel so privilaged to have been offered an interview. Although this interview is no guarentee that I have actually gotten the job, it is so prestigious that I am amazed that I have even made this cut! Thousands of people applied to be a part of the Disney CEP progam and only a few hundred got through to the pre-screening interviews. I may not get to the final interviews, but I have definitley learned a lot about this and I am excited to share my experiences when the time comes round to it. As weird as it sounds, part of me is hoping that I do not get the job this time around, so that I can share my experiences of not getting into the program. There are so many success stories around the internet, but I have not read or watched one thing that talks about not getting onto the program, so if all else fails, I would like to be that person who offers some comforting thoughts to those who have not passed this time around. 

Like I said, it was still a valuable experience to have, it was my first interview for a Disney Job, my first interview in London, my first time in London "on my own" (I did have a friend with me, but it was my first time without a qualified adult to supervise me in London) and I met some amazing people as I have said before. 

I would hate for this to be the last I speak about my Disney CEP application process, so I a prepared to create more content to educate more hopefuls looking for a Disney Career and to create things that I can look back on and be proud of. I will wait and see what the outcome of this interview is first as there is no point in me advising "How to be successful at the Disney CEP Pre-screening interview" if I get rejected. But I have been documenting my thoughts and feelings of the whole process which I will be posting at some point, depending on how much further I get into the process, and I will talk about the application process and interview process. 

And that is all I really have to say about what I learned yesterday. As mentioned before, it was such a valuable experience that it would not be the end of the world if I did not get through tot the final interviews this time. I hope that you enjoyed reading about my experiences, and as mentioned I will try to put out some content speaking about my experiences as soon as I can.