Sophomore Alex McGovern accepted a position to work for Disney World. She will be employed as a lifeguard beginning in August.
Photo by H. Smith
Hayley Smith
Editor-in-Chief
College students seem to be notorious for finding jobs to just get by and be able to afford a pizza every once in a while. Some college students, however, are able to score jobs that are so out of the ordinary. Take sophomore Alex McGovern for an example.
Starting in August, McGovern will be employed by Disney World in Orlando, Fla., working as a lifeguard. For someone who has been a fan of both swimming and Disney for as long as she can remember, this seems like the perfect fit.
“I swam competitively in high school for three years, and my mom always had us in the pool,” McGovern said. “I grew up being in the water and swimming.”
McGovern applied and interviewed for the position about two months ago, so she explained how she was starting to feel antsy about her fate. She was seeing other people she knows show excitement for receiving positions. However, on Wednesday, March 1, McGovern received an email from Disney with the subject line involving the word “congratulations,” and she claims she did not even read the remainder of the email.
“I saw the email, and I did a double take,” McGovern said. “I was like ‘what?’ and I opened it, and read the congratulations and immediately called my mom.”
McGovern heard about the Disney college program when some friends at Butler had applied, and the second she heard about it, she was intrigued. When she went to visit her father in Orlando, Fla. over winter break, she applied on a whim just to see where it would go.
According to the Disney Careers website, “participants have the incredible opportunity to advance their strengths and interests, meet guests and cast members from around the country and take part in educational opportunities students can’t get anywhere else.” This truly is a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity.
McGovern has many hopes for this opportunity, both for professional and personal reasons.
“I’m hoping it will really help me in my career as a teacher, because it is a really big resume builder,” McGovern said. “I’m hoping I can make some really good friends and have a lot of really fun experiences. I want to see backstage Disney and get to experience Disney in a totally different way.”
McGovern will work as a lifeguard for Disney World from August to January. For someone who has visited the park four times, this will make her next semester a real dream come true.
