It can be super scary to start something new, especially when that new thing is the Disney College Program and you're moving states away to work for the Walt Disney Company. It truthfully was the time of my life but what made it incredible were the friends that I made because of the program.
Upon being accepted into the DCP, I was VERY anxious at the thought of not really knowing anyone I was going to work with, live with, or hang out with. What helped me the most were these five tips I've put together in this post today. Instead of just going into it blindly, I made friends beforehand which truthfully made me even more excited to go down to Florida so I could finally meet them!
But even when I did get down to Florida, I made so many more friends on the program that I was honestly so blown away by the amount of incredible people I was meeting. Still to this day, my friends I made on my DCP are some of my closest friends that I talk to weekly. I want to share some of my best tips with you that I found to be the most helpful in making the best of friends on the Disney College Program!
Here are my 5 best tips for making friends on the DCP:
1. Use the DCP Facebook group. This is how I found my roommate and so many friends on my first DCP. I met my second DCP roommate on my first DCP but met her on the FB page as well. If there is only one thing you take away from this post, definitely join the Facebook group! For whatever program you're doing, just type in, "Disney College Program (Season) (Year)". The groups that I were in were "Disney College Program Spring/Spring Advantage 2019" and "Disney College Program Spring/Spring Advantage 2020".
2. Go on Instagram, search DCP hashtags. The hashtags #DCPSpring2019, #DCPSpring2020 and #disneycollegeprogram were so fun to follow and interact with because I found other people who were doing the program also. I started following/messaging them before the program even started so I highly recommend! This is how I found two of my closest friends from my first program and one of my closest friends from my second!
3. Make friends with the people in your work location. You will be hanging out with the other CP's alot, spending early mornings and late nights together so use that to your advantage! I made some of my best friends from work on both my programs and it just made work so much more enjoyable having friends by my side.
4. Go to housing events. I met a few friends by going to housing events! On my second DCP, one of my friend's boyfriends was also doing the program so at the housing event we met him and all his roommates. The first week is the perfect opportunity to meet people because after that, your schedule is super different from everyone else's and it can be a lot harder to meet people like this.
5. Hang out with your roommates! Unless you're living off property, you share an apartment with a few other girls. You do live with each other for the next few months and although you don't get to pick all of your roommates, it could lead to a super awesome unexpected friendship! I did get to choose my in-room roommate on both my programs, though, and both of them still are my absolute best friends!
These 5 things helped me immensely with making friendships so far away from home. If it does feel super scary still to move that far away from home, check out this blog post on how to not be homesick on your DCP. I'm truly so thankful for every friend I made on the DCP and I'm so excited for you to make so many amazing friends on your program! I will warn you, the goodbyes at the end of the program are ROUGH but the memories on the program are so worth it!!
Let me know in the comments if you liked this blog post and what other DCP blog posts you'd like to see!
See ya real soon,
Danielle
