My Learning Experience

The "Learning" portion of the Program was probably the least effective for me. However, I can't say I didn't get anything out of the seven seminars I attended throughout the spring. The Cast Members that ran the seminars were very energetic, which was necessary to keep most of us awake early on a Wednesday morning.

I was originally scheduled to have my seminars on Wednesday at 12:30. At first this seemed like an advantage, considering we got the day off. I laughed at my roommates who got the 8:30 am timeslot. But after attending my first seminar, I realized it was nicer to get it over with in the morning and then have the rest of the day off, even though it required waking up alot earlier.

When my second seminar came along, my roommates came back to the apartment when their seminar was over that morning. They decided they wanted to go to Blizzard Beach for the day. Of course I couldn't pass up this opportunity, so I skipped my seminar that day and planned on figuring out how to make it up later. We convinced Jeremy to do the same.

To earn the "Ducktorate," you had to attend all seven seminars as well as complete four one-hour electives at Disney University. So I called the education office, and after some begging, they allowed me and my roommate Jeremy to watch the video of the seminar we missed and write a "reflection" paper on it. Skipping that one was well worth it.

For the rest of my Program, I did my best to avoid my 12:30 seminar time. I would call the office and request being switched to the 8:30 that week and they usually agreed to do so. I only attended one other 12:30 near the end of the spring.

The four electives I had to complete were definitely the easiest part of the "Ducktorate." I took computer tutorials involving Disney trivia, learning sign language, the history of Walt Disney, and improving typing skills. The toughest part of this was taking the short drive over to Disney University.

Seminars were sometimes boring, but usually didn't even last the three hours they were scheduled for. They were all held in a building within a short walk across Vista Way, so they weren't an inconvenience either. In seminar they encouraged teamwork and often used small projects to get us to work together at our tables. I learned alot about Disney business principles, which can be used pretty much anywhere.

I achieved the requirements for the "Ducktorate." Graduation wrapped up the Learning program near the end of the spring. Once again I opted to attend the early morning seminar, mostly because my roommates and the girls down the hall were going then. There we received the traditional Mickey Ears complete with tassle. Diplomas couldn't be picked up until our last day, considering a requirement was that we completed the entire Program.

While the Learning Program format I went through had it's advantages, I can certainly see why Disney is now revamping it. The old program does not really deserve many academic credits, but it looks like the new courses may allow students to take a full-load of classes while on the Program. I think this is a very positive step, considering I only received two credits from my school for my participation in the Learning Program.