Milane D. 

Girl Reporter

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Disney is known for the catchphrase… “the happiest place on earth” and on this previous Thursday, I got the privilege to experience the magic myself. Now, I know that Thursday is a school day, but I went to Disneyland and California Adventure with my ASB class for a leadership training and it was an amazing experience.

When we first arrived at Disneyland, the park was not crowded so we enjoyed going on many fun rides. When we were waiting in line for the different rides, such as the Matterhorn, we would read different facts about each ride. I learned so many new things about the rides at both parks. It was very interesting to find out secrets and behind the scene stuff at the park itself. One very interesting fact I learned was that there is an actual basketball hoop in the Matterhorn ride because Walt Disney wanted to create the mountain to be very tall and the only way to create it to be that size is by making it a community sports pub.

For our leadership training, we were taken around Disney by the Y.E.S program, that stands for “Youth Educational Series”. Our leader, Adam provided us with a great time that I enjoyed very much. When we first started our training, Adam asked us for our names so he can learn a little bit about all of us. I was super excited because he would give us different tasks and teach us all about how Disney shows leadership in everything they do. For example, he showed us the “5 C’s”. The 5 C’s stand for “Curious, courage, confidence, capability, and constancy”. These words were very carefully picked out by the members at Disney. He would tell us to always achieve our dreams no matter how high they may be, and that we should always enjoy what we do. Also, one activity he made us do was to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean and to memorize our partner’s answers that we had to ask on a card sheet. It was very challenging but it was also very fun and the importance of the game was that leaders will always remember their colleague’s weaknesses and strengths.

All throughout our training we learned about leaders and what their importance was to help our community and our world. The definition of a leader is, “The person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country”. I believe that anyone can be a leader as long as they have a passion for it. I also learned that leaders don’t always have to be at the front of the pack, as long as they have an open mindset and are driven. Leaders can be anywhere in the pack as long as they stand out to others.

This Disneyland trip was definitely a trip to remember for years to come. I learned so much about becoming a leader and a lot about the park itself. I hope someday everyone can get the chance to partake in this program and experience the great memories I have experienced.