Leggo.
Firstly, the dashboard is your friend. It knows everything that you need to know and more. Also, it keeps track of emails sent to you regarding the internship. So, if you're like me and you compulsively delete "read" items in your inbox, the dashboard has your back.
The dashboard also serves as a big conglomeration of links and URLs readily available for your viewing pleasure. There are numerous videos, packing tips, blurbs about different roles and procedures, lots of good stuff. It's OCDDCP heaven.
Second, try to very actively respond to any and all information/instructions you receive, ESPECIALLY your interviews. When I first began to contemplate the DCP, I was obviously nervous, but I was also horrendously indecisive. This resulted in my first application winding up in a sealed Hefty bag on the curb. Make sure that this is something you want to do. Consider school, work, and anything back home that you can't live 4 to 8 months without. Because once you decide, you need to be 100% sure, fill that bad boy out, and submit him ASAP. This, in my experience, eliminated much of the "waiting game" you commonly hear about from ex-CPs.
Disney doesn't mess around. They're going to interview you three times AND send you an onslaught of mail. When they contact you, always treat it like it's important, even if you have your doubts. The alternative (something similar to what I did) is to procrastinate and ignore them until, roughly a month from your check-in date, you are plunged into a state of panic. Don't be plunged into a state of panic.
And finally, the Disney College Program from what I've heard from several former and current CPs is not for the faint of heart. You're going to work way more than you'd ever care to at odd hours that you'd rather not be conscious with disregard to your sleeping and/or eating schedule, so don't think (as I foolishly thought) that there will be an even split between classes and work and free-time.
Because if the program were a pie, the classes and free-time would be the piece that your cousin's girlfriend eats because she's "watching" and the work portion would be the piece eaten by your redneck uncle who wears the same white cut-off every Christmas and owns more rebel flags than he has teeth.
At least, that's how I've come to understand it.
Anyway, I'm going through quite a bit of stress as my check-in date draws nearer, but it's offset by that childlike excitement that always takes over when I think of working for the Mouse. I'll miss my family and friends and my sweet Molly more dearly than I'd care to confess, but it's four months of my life that, I'm assured, will be well-spent. I've come to terms with leaving these past few weeks; you might even say I'm experiencing "a disquieting metamorphosis" as I mentally prepare for the journey ahead.
8 days and counting. Here we go.
