It's Not Goodbye Forever, It's Just Goodbye For Now

Oh hai there castle.

Hello and welcome to my personal blog!!  For the lucky few who manage to stumble across my slice of the Internet, I thank you now and in advance for giving your precious time and attention to the thoughts of a teenager.

I apologize in advance for the length of this post.  I think it's necessary to get all introductions and background information out of the way so later on we can skip formalities and get to the bottom line.

I consider the bottom line to be Disney.

Disney is the reason I sat in my comfy chair (which really isn't so comfy after 20 minutes) and dusted off the keyboard to begin blogging.  Disney is behind many of my wishes and dreams.  Disney is probably responsible for me having a happy childhood.  Disney is the reason for the season...wait.  Before I get ahead of myself I should probably explain a little about myself. 

My name is Lauren Hinkle and I am currently a sophomore at Vanderbilt University (GO DORES!) majoring in Economics and Sociology.  Yeah I know, it's a mouthful.  When I'm not at college, I live in East Tennessee with my parents, younger brother, and slightly crazy dog Kona.  I haven't always lived in the South.  I was born in California and spent most of my elementary and middle school years living there as well as Washington state.  Because of this, I have had the opportunity to travel to both Disneyland and Disney World more times than I can count. In this way and many others I consider myself blessed.

The Magic Begins Here.

Now back to Disney.  Growing up I was immersed in the Disney culture.  From movies to action figures and even costumes--I was an adorable Belle--I  experienced it all.  Then came the day last year when I discovered the Disney College Program.  It showed up on a scholarship search for college and I immediately knew I HAD to do this; all that was lacking was the correct time to apply.  With the pressures of college and work I wasn't sure if I would even be able to allow myself a semester off to devote to something deemed "worthless" and a "waste of time" to some.  This summer I took time to really do some self searching about what I wanted to do with my life.  Unsurprisingly, Disney would always *pop* up.  It became inevitable to me that I needed to pursue something I enjoyed in order to umm....ermm... enjoy(?) life.  My research began.

After reading the entire Walt Disney World College Program website from A to Z, I scoured the Internet for more information.  THERE MUST BE MORE!  I was telling myself (in a very finale Planet of the Apes sounding yell).  Once again the love for Disney prevailed.  I discovered a blog by a former college program attendee describing the entire application process and even her experiences in the park!  It was too good to be true.  As a thank you to all the numerous blogs I read, I made the decision to start my own blog to hopefully help (and entertain) future college program applicants.

(imagine epic battle music) duh nuh nuh nuh

Then came the internal commentary over what website would be best for my external commentary. See what I did there? I already had a tumblr so why make another blog...I don't like the interface of tumblr compared to blogger...It's just another media site too many.  The list goes on.  Ultimately you are now reading the outcome.  I plan on keeping up my tumblr for funsies throughout the year, but this blog will specifically be about my Disney College Program and nothing else!  Mark my typed words.  *UPDATE* Yeah that didn't happen.  woops!  This blog will mostly be about all things Disney though!

So there you have it.  My (very short and definitely abridged) life story. Next Wednesday I move back to Vandy to start my second year of college.  I am both excited and nervous about the course load, my job, and internship.  Let's see what happens, come what may.  Oh and one more thing.  I plan to apply for the Fall 2012 term of the Walt Disney World College Program.  That tidbit of information seems a little important.  So if any of you are planning on doing the same, give me a shout out!  Or, if you have any questions or comments just leave them below and I will get back to you when my hectic college schedule allows.  Now I know I am starting this blog early, but I wanted to give myself time to document my thoughts on every step in my process.

So it's not goodbye to summer fun forever, it's just goodbye for now.