Go With the Promise of Possibility

Tonight at midnight, we can all say that another year has passed, and we inevitably survived it. When that ball drops in Times Square, are you going to be satisfied with what you have done this year?

As we grow up, most of us will say that every year was a “growing year,” but usually, there is that one year that sticks out to us as the REAL growing year. For me, that will forever be 2013, when for 7 out of 12 months I was in Orlando participating in the Disney College Program. That was the year I learned a lot about myself and also got the taste of what life after college can be like for some. With that being said, 2014 is not too far behind on the learning curve. In 2014, I finally discovered what I want to be when I grow up, made some of the best friends that have completely changed my life, and also went back to Disney for the summer.

2014 is the year that reignited my love for the theatre and New York City, a love that had faded away right after high school. I got to see my first Broadway show, go to NYC twice for the first time since I was in the 8^th grade, and had one of my tweets featured in a Broadway.com article (probably one of my favorite highlights). So what do I want to be when I grow up? Ultimately something with social media marketing, but the goal is for a theatre or Broadway show, or maybe even Broadway.com.

2014 is the year that I met some of the greatest people you’ll ever meet, which is thanks in part to going back to Disney for the summer, and another part is the wonderful world of Twitter. You know how you (should) have always been taught to be careful of people on the internet? Well, that rule still most definitely applies. But sometimes if you take a chance, you get to meet a person who shares your love for Newsies and is starting her DCP, and also meet four others who are willing to stand in line for five hours to meet Flynn Rider and also stay at Magic Kingdom all night because of Disney 24-hour day. Going back to Disney also allowed me to change locations from Liberty Square to Frontierland (which isn’t a drastic change), and get to work with and make friends with some amazing people who came to Disney right as I had left the year before. It was another year where I was able to say “I work for Disney.” I also lost some ties with friends in 2014, but when one door closes, another one usually opens with someone who shows what it really means to stick by your side and how to stand up for what’s right.

I tried to be creative in 2014 by opening up an online bow shop, which was basically jumping on a bandwagon. I got pretty good, but because the bandwagon was so big everyone starting making their own bows instead of buying and that market plummeted faster than the last drop on Splash Mountain. I think the new thing is making your own Mickey ears? Nope, I’ll let the true creative experts run that market.

So what am I looking forward to in 2015? Do I have a bucket list yet? Well, sort of. The main thing that is happening in 2015 is that I will have finished my bachelor’s degree and will be walking across the commencement stage. That does not feel real to me yet. I still vividly remember my high school graduation day, and also how the principal almost forgot to call my name, again. Anyway, I’m also seeing Newsies on Tour in January, going to Disney for spring break in March, taking my last four classes and one fun class, and figuring out where I will be working after May 9.

If you told me back in 2011 that by 2015 I would spend two years working for Disney, get to go to NYC twice, see a Broadway show, change my major, become junior class vice president and senior class vice president, be a student worker for Liberty’s marketing department, and more, I probably wouldn’t believe half of that. But yet here I am, and I’ve been a part of that. So when the countdown reaches “1” at midnight tonight, don’t say you can’t accomplish something in 2015. Just go with the promise of possibility! And remember that anything can happen if you let it.