*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*
Hey there, pals!
There seems to be a label linked with life after the Disney College Program where everything is like a downward slop back to reality in a nutshell. While I was on the Disney Academic Exchange Program, I was living in this perfect Disney bubble which was filled with never-ending happiness and filled with, well, purely Disney! I lived in Disney housing, got the bus to my work locations within the Walt Disney World Resort and played in the Disney parks in between shifts… it was all Disney-related, with the exception of going to Universal and the dredded Walmart grocery shopping trips. And when I returned home, not only was my perfect Disney bubble burst, but I was hit with the realisation of wanting to be back at Disney where I was at my happiest. This phase is known as the ‘Disney College Program Depression’ or ‘Disney Blues’ for a better, less extreme term.
I am often described by friends and family as someone who has a refreshing energy, bubbly & cheeky personality with an infectious laugh and a great sense of humour - an all round little ray of sunshine. This is the side of me that I want people to see. As much as I spread positivity to those around me, the other side of me occasionally spirals into its own version of a hurricane full of negativity. I don’t want people to see me as weak or vulnerable. Not even to the people that know me best. Ray of sunshine or a dark grey rainy cloud, I’m human. And let me tell you, since my Disney Academic Exchange Program ended earlier than expected five months ago, it’s been incredibly hard! There are still days where I just want to curl up in a ball and just cry my eyes out or just want to give up with everything because my future is so uncertain… Reality is, I have a lot more of these days than positive, productive ones.
But, my Disney program ending early has actually been an AWESOME thing!!! To start with, my family and I have been gifted with more time to spend with each other (possibly more than we all bargained for)! Plus, I have been able to watch the remainder of the Premier League football (or soccer for my American friends) season with my dad and re-enjoy all the British things that I missed while I was away in Florida. Let’s face it, since arriving back in the UK after my program, my priorities have shifted and I have a newfound gratitude for life after Disney. And you can too!!!
Still not convinced? Hear me out:
1. EATING NUTRITIOUS, DELICIOUS FOODS
Disney blues or not, we still have access to the bare necessities including a roof over our heads, water and everyone’s favourite: FOOD!!!
It sounds beyond basic, but that’s a start where our situation at home is great too and sometimes we forget that we have these things! One thing that has definitely helped shape me to have a better body and mind when times seem tough is having a balanced diet, with the occasional cheat day of course.
During everyday life, it’s very easy to get caught up in work- and school-related stress and the various responsibilities that come with it, so we tend to cook anything that’s quick and easy that enables us to get straight back to any outstanding tasks that need to be completed for the day. I know I certainly had that on my Disney Academic Exchange Program! Now that you have returned home from Disney and been gifted with a lot more time to relax a little bit, why not experiment with flavours? Recently, I have been cooking up new recipes, as well as referring back to the nostalgic family favourites. Cooking for me is a distraction from any heavy thoughts that may be on my mind, plus another benefit is I have more meal varieties for when I go back to university. Inevitably, some recipes will be a success and some won’t… But you don’t know unless you try, right? You never know, you may find a new firm favourite and will be asking yourself ‘why did I not discover this before?”
2. GETTING SOME FRESH AIR
Following on from my previous tip, a lot of us have the privilege to go outside. I don’t know about you but I have seen a lot more families out walking, more people going out for a bike ride, and a lot more runners in recent months than before I departed for my program! If it weren’t for the coronavirus stay at home orders in full force as soon as I arrived back in the UK, with the exception of going outside for exercise, I think I, along with everyone else, would become a couch potato and slightly losing my mind with not much activity going on (if we haven’t done so already!).
The beauty of exercising has multiple benefits, not just physically! Recently, I have started running following the Couch to 5k podcasts (there’s even a Couch to 10k too) to help build up my fitness and stamina. But, I’ve been feeling the psychological benefits of running as well. If I am feeling down in the dumps or worried about my friends across the world, I know that I can channel my thoughts and feelings into my running, which is something that I am in complete control of. Ultimately, my Disney blues and long-distance worries are temporarily off my mind, plus I see and feel a huge improvement in my running performance too - a win-win situation!!!
While running may not be everyone’s cup of tea, a change of scenery can simply give the brain a well-deserved break… For me, there is a seaside coastline on one side of my hometown and the New Forest National Park in the other direction. So, there has been that opportunity to explore new walking trails in my hometown that I did not even know existed! It really made me appreciate the natural wonders that I am lucky enough to call home, plus a change of scenery is always good for the mind.
That’s your challenge for today, find a new walking path/trail and have a little wanderlust moment in the area that you call home.
3. KEEPING THE MIND BUSY
As soon as I came home from my Disney program, my mind was very busy during the first month or so completing university assignments in relation to my internship (before I forgot the nitty-gritty details of my experience!). Now that I have completed all of my university assignments for this year, I have hit a brick wall with a lot of time on my hands. I don’t know about you but, when I have a lot of time on my hands and have nothing ‘essential’ to preoccupy myself with, this would usually be the time where I overthink & over-analyse everything. My anxiety, stress, frustration, and worries all erupt in my head and I would completely engulf myself into negativity, especially after scrolling for hours on social media. And I am sure I am not the only person who thinks and feels this way.
What’s most important to me is that I am cherishing this time during the summer to be myself, find a new routine and fill it with the things that I love and have pleasure doing or have always wanted to do! Trust me, research shows that a busier lifestyle is a more healthy one! There are many ways to keep yourself busy (productive or non-productive):
· Want to binge-watch your favourite Netflix show? Do it! And then do it again, and again, and again…
· Why not re-watch your favourite movies that you haven’t seen in a long time or finally watch those film sagas that your friends and family have been peer-pressuring you into for the longest time?
· Perhaps read a book? Or maybe two or three? (And maybe even write your own sequel to your favourite book)
· Have you always wanted to start writing a blog or start recording podcasts or start uploading videos to a YouTube channel? Now’s your chance, what’s there to lose!?
· If the above projects do not sound like your cup of tea, why not start a craft or grab some paint, chalk, pencils or felt tip pens or experiment with the click of a camera? Put on your (imaginary) French beret and let your creative flares shine!
Even if you are not a creative person, there are plenty of free adult colouring pages online. Why not print one off and let your mind do the rest?
· Why not learn a new language? Learn a new skill or develop an existing one through online courses? (Re)Learn a musical instrument?
· Challenge yourself to a jigsaw puzzle
· Play video games – I have cemented myself into a classic Mario Kart tournament and a good boogie to tracks on Just Dance with my sister
· Volunteer – there is nothing better than helping out the local community. It can benefit you as well as the community! During the Covid-19 pandemic, I have been learning how to sew face masks for my local community hospitals.
· You know your household to-do list? Start taking some chunks out of it! Re-organise a room layout (perhaps your bedroom with your Disney program memories), help paint some walls in the house or add a plant here and there to make your place that little bit more vibrant…
Whatever it is that’s going to keep you busy, focus on it and nothing else. I promise you, the thought of sadness will disappear for a little bit, even if you don’t think it has!
4. WRITE, WRITE WHATEVER IS ON YOUR MIND
Throughout my Disney program, I wrote down every single thing that happened in great detail. In fact, some of these things translated into my blog and my Disney Academic Exchange Program Update series! And, this was something that I continued even after my program ended. The first few months after my program ended really demonstrated how much I had grown and changed in a short amount of time, which is an awesome thing to admire - especially when it came from my Disney friends after I had departed the happiest place on Earth! Also, when the anniversaries of some Disney program highlights pop up, it is such a wonderful thing to look back on to see what you were doing at the time (e.g. ‘this time last year, I was…’ or ‘this time five years ago, I went…’) and to share these stories with friends and family at home to fill them in on absolutely everything.
At times, writing can seem sceptical in the sense that we have to keep these thoughts and feelings forever… we may want to look back on them, but, if we are feeling super emotional or stressed out, do we really want to look back on that? I think the answer for most of us would be a big fat no. Instead of cramming negative thoughts in your mind, write them down on a piece of paper and then rip it up. If you’re worried about your handwriting not being neat, no problem! Type your feelings out on a Word Document and then don’t save the file. Writing is a way of clearing your head without actually having to talk to someone about how you feel. I know whenever I write something down, particularly if I do have a day where I do feel very vulnerable and have cried into my pillows multiple times, I feel like the extra weight that I’ve been carrying has been lifted off my shoulders.
On the flip side, what you write down doesn’t have to be negative either! You may have accomplished something that you never thought was possible. If you have, write about it and display it somewhere loud and proud. You may have done something out of the ordinary, write about it. To give you an example, many people in the UK celebrated VE Day on May 8th 2020 to mark the anniversary of the end of the Second World War. In my neighbourhood, we celebrated with a socially-distanced street party with everyone baking their own sweet treats, catching up with one another and soaking up the sunshine with traditional wartime music in the background – we wouldn’t have done that if we did not have a coronavirus outbreak. You could have created the ultimate recipe for spaghetti bolognese, write it down!
Whatever you have done today, write it down!
Believe me, every day since your Disney program ended is a success and has made you much stronger than you were last year. So, give yourself a pat on the back!
5. REVISIT THE MEMORIES TO KEEP THE MAGIC ALIVE
I must admit, I did need a solid break from all of the Disney things, except my Disney pals! All across my social media at the time, there were posts about people sharing their favourite last memories of playing in the parks before the Covid-19 shutdown and not so much about new attraction developments that I could ride, or new merchandise to purchase or new Disney treats to try. But I do know that seeing photos/posts about new Disney releases that were literally on the doorstep can be quite triggering to some people. My advice to start off with is to take a break from social media - particularly Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Log out of those social media platforms and maybe even delete the apps off your phone, so you’re not tempted to scroll through your feeds, for at least a few days. During this ‘detox’ period, you could spend time with your family and those closest around you and enjoying hobbies that I mentioned in Tip 3.
Then when you’re ready to revisit the magic, my advice would be to do it in a creative way. Like most other Disney program alumni, you probably have a lot of tangible memories and photos. If you are into scrapbooking, why not make a scrapbook of your Disney program? I personally didn’t make a scrapbook, although a couple of my well wishes gifts from friends and family at home before I adventured off to the United States were scrapbooks so I may end up making one in the near future. But what I did decide to do was create a photo montage of some of my favourite and magical photos that I got a snapshot of for my desktop background on my computer.
So now, whenever I log into my computer, I will always be reminded of the magical memories that I’ve obtained over the nine months that I spent in the United States.
Along with the photos, I also recorded a lot of videos! And so, I decided to create a video compilation for myself that I could watch back at any moment when I needed something to give me joy.
And sometimes curiosity just gets the better of me and I would want to know exactly what I was doing/saying in the moment, if you get what I mean. For instance, one of my tangible memories is linked with a series of text messages from a particular week on my program. And so, I would go back through my text messages to that exact moment and re-read it as if I was living the moment all over again. In addition, throughout my Disney Academic Exchange Program, I wrote out a diary of every single thing that happened on each day of my program. Now that it has been over a year/almost a year since these events have happened, I have re-read those diary entries to remind myself of and rediscover some of the great times I had on my program.
Initially, I thought that going back through my memories would make me sad about not being at Disney anymore. But for me, I have done nothing but smile and laugh at the memories that I gathered during my time in the United States. And I’m sure your days will brightened with joy and happiness too by reliving your Disney memories again. 😊
6. KEEP IN TOUCH WITH YOUR BEST FRIENDS ACROSS THE WORLD
Just because the magic of your Disney program is over doesn’t actually symbolise the end of your Disney friendships… In actual fact, it’s only the beginning. Trust me, I met some of my bestest friends on my Disney program and we want to stay in touch and follow each others’ journeys for years to come! Admittedly, breaking the long distance has been a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be. But let me tell you, since I returned home from the United States, social media and video calls have literally become a LIFESAVER!! It has been a lovely way to break the distance and catch up with my long distance best friends from across the world.
One of my other favourite ways to keep in contact with my long distance best friends is by going old school and writing letters and sending gift boxes! Everyone loves to receive something in the mail and it is a great way to show that you care about your closest friends from afar. The best thing about writing letters and sending gifts is that you can make it personal to the person you are sending the package to. You can write down your life updates in the letter that you may have missed on a video call, send a card if it’s their birthday or for a holiday celebration or simply writing down how much that person means to you. Sending and/or receiving mail can:
· maintain communication
· make you feel that little bit closer to your long distance best friends, even though you are separated by thousands of miles
· remind you of how cool and unique it is to have these special bonds with people from across the world
As much as it’s important to keep in touch with friends for life from across the world, it’s equally important to keep in touch with friends from home too! Arrange to meet up with your best buds from your pre-Disney days and fill them in on exactly everything that has happened since they last saw you. Or better still, have a nightout with your friends, grab a coffee, go out on a shopping spree… Whatever you and your friends like to do, just have fun and enjoy being in each others’ company! Hanging out with friends from home allows you to embrace the life you had before going to the Walt Disney World Resort for 12 months and can take away the emptiness feeling of not creating magic.
7. LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE AND NOT DWELLING IN THE PAST
One of the biggest struggles that I’ve had since I came home has been dwelling on the past… For sure, this has had a negative impact on my overall happiness since I received the heartbreaking news that my program had ended early. Occasionally, my mind would go back and relive some program moments for the wrong reasons and that would make me worry about and incredibly miss my long distance best friends even more.
As the mouse would say, “it’s not a goodbye, it’s a see you real soon!”
The Disney parks and your Disney friends will always be there with open arms and an open heart to welcome you back to the happiest place on Earth and/or their home. So, why not start gathering inspiration for your next vacation to go and visit your friends from across the world? It’s a motive for you to travel more and for your friends to come and visit your home too!!
Looking ahead into the future doesn’t have to be all about travelling in the long-term, especially as that can be quite difficult to visualise during times of uncertainty. For those of you reading this post who have recently completed the Disney Academic Exchange Program or are thinking about doing the program, one thing that is certainly going to happen in the short-term is working towards completing your university degree. Plus, you can begin to consider what your plans might be for the future once you have finished your studies. This could be participating in another Disney program as the Cultural Exchange Program and Cultural Representative Program, amongst other international internships, are options after graduation or doing something completely different based in the UK. As you have already learnt in this post from me, now is the perfect opportunity to focus on YOU and your career, which can ultimately fund you for your future travels back to the Walt Disney World Resort or visiting your long distance best friends.
8. IT’S OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY
At the end of the day, it’s okay not to be okay. It’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be confused. It’s okay to want to go back to Disney. I get it, quite often in fact! If I find that I’m feeling sad on a particular day, typically in the morning, I would allocate time to go off the beaten track and be overwhelmed with fear, sadness, stress and confusion to my stuffed animals – a large proportion of them are gifts from my Disney friends. Take some time out of your day just to let it all out; sometimes that’s the best therapy. It’s completely normal and human to do that!
However, the important thing is to not let the sadness that is the Disney blues consume you. Your days of making Disney magic may be over; but, like in the Happily Ever After fireworks show, you are the key to unlocking your own magic. Remember, each day is filled with faith, trust and pixie dust and a chance to accomplish something you never thought was possible.
“Now go, let your dreams guide you. Reach out to find your happily ever after”
You’ve got this!
-Hannah
*Unfortunately my advice is not a one-size fits all and I am not a professional in the psychological field, these tips are what worked best for me. If you are really struggling, please reach out for professional help.*
DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program (DAEP) 2019-2020 and may not reflect everyone’s experience. Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments to their programs that may not be featured in any of my blog posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best as I possibly can 😊
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