Now that Christmas has passed, the full blown excitement of knowing I’m going to Disney World in THREE WEEKS is fully starting to kick in! It’s crazy to think that three months have passed since my acceptance. Since then I’ve dedicated a lot of time to learning about the program and what might lie ahead for me in the upcoming months. One of the many things that I’ve done to prepare is joined the Facebook groups. You’d be surprised how many groups there are for all different aspects of the program. Joining these groups are a great way of meeting fellow participants and possibly even future roommates!
I didn’t want to make a post specifically about roommates until I had a better piece of mind that we were all going to be placed together (I’ll get into more detail on that process later). Since housing information was just sent to us the other day and everything is filled out accordingly it’s time to talk about roommates!
First off, I started meeting new people after I joined the main Disney College Program Spring 2017 Facebook page. I posted on the page with a short bio about myself, my role in the upcoming program, and what I’m most looking forward to. (Roommate bios are a great way of seeing other people’s interests and finding out if you may be compatible) Soon the replies and friend requests started flooding in, LITERALLY; this is where things can get a little crazy. At first it will be very overwhelming, you will get requests from the eager people who want to be roommates as soon as you accept and others who want to get to know you a little first. My suggestion? Definitely talk first, you’re going to be living with this person for the next five months! It’s important to ask questions and get to know them better before diving into things. When I first got accepted I was so nervous that I wouldn’t find any roommates because I was accepted later than others, but you can’t think like that; everything will fall into place. The last thing you want is to room with someone who might put a damper on your experience because you’re not compatible.
After a few days on the page and talking to a few people, I didn’t feel as if I found anyone I really matched well with. This is completely okay! The main thing you have to realize is you have MONTHS to meet people online and find roommates. It’s going to feel like you need to rush through everything at first but you don’t! People are still roommate hunting right now and it’s almost January!
Soon enough I got an inbox from Kara and we got along right away! After a few days of constant Facebook messaging we decided to be roommates for the program! Then came the time to track down other roommates to fill an apartment of six. After some searching we found Sabrina and Emily, two roommates who were looking for more! We slightly knew each other from activity on the Facebook page, but after talking for a while we all really clicked. Then it was time to find two more! Soon enough we found Miranda and then McKenzie, thus the Wilderness Explorers were born! Since then we’ve video chatted, texted, snapchatted, and talked with every type of social media possible. We discussed which complex we wanted to try to live in, some basic apartment rules we should follow, and most importantly all the exciting things we plan on doing in Disney! Over the past few months I can say I have already made five awesome new friends (can’t wait to finally meet you guys soon!) before the program has even started! The Disney College Program is a great way to meet new people before your experience even begins.
The main thing I hope you can get out of this post is that you shouldn’t rush to make friends once accepted! Take the time to get to know people a little before jumping into roommate details. Had I rushed myself I wouldn’t have met my future roommates! Everything will work out and fall into place with time, there is no need to get overwhelmed.
In my next post I will go into more detail on how you link up with your roommates and the housing selection process!
P.S.- Check out Sabrina’s Vlog !
Toria's Tales 