{"id":1617,"date":"2026-01-29T15:44:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=1617"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:44:11","slug":"earning-her-ears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2026\/01\/29\/earning-her-ears\/","title":{"rendered":"Earning Her Ears: A Year in Walt Disney World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u201cAll our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.\u201d \u2013 Walt Disney<\/em><\/p>\n

It may be the quote in her Instagram bio, but for the past academic year, sophomore Kelci Armstead has been living her dream by serving in the Disney College Program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out about the Disney College Program when I was in middle school, and ever since then, I have always wanted to do the program,\u201d Kelci said.<\/p>\n

\"Kelci<\/p>\n

Sixteen years from her first visit, she found herself \u201cearning her ears\u201d in August 2025.<\/p>\n

Kelci works in food service at her favorite Disney resort, Art of Animation. As a College Program participant, she\u2019s also gaining valuable professional experience while meeting people from around the world and creating lasting friendships and memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy time at Marshall has shown me how to open up to other people,\u201d Kelci said. \u201cI learned how to create friendships with others at my workplace because of the friendships that I made at Marshall.\u201d<\/p>\n

And she\u2019s been opening up and chatting with guests including those from West Virginia and people who have heard of Marshall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most exciting part of my job is getting to talk to guests that share the same interests as me. I\u2019ve talked to many guests about the Disney parks and their favorite ride or park snack,\u201d Kelci said.<\/p>\n

\"Kelci<\/p>\n

Working for a large-scale operation like Walt Disney World Resort requires strong teamwork, constant communication and a deep commitment to customer service\u2014skills Kelci is already learning how to manage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have learned that communication is so important when it comes to my job. We always have to be communicating with one another, so we make sure that each guest is being helped and that we are doing our job safely,\u201d Kelci said.<\/p>\n

These are skills Kelci will use as a teacher, whether she\u2019s working with other educators, communicating with parents or making sure students feel supported in the classroom.<\/p>\n

Kelci is studying elementary education at Marshall, with hopes to teach third or fourth grade upon graduation. She\u2019s following in her mom\u2019s footsteps\u2014a Marshall alumna, elementary school teacher and Disney fanatic.<\/p>\n

While the program is a dream come true, balancing her online courses and work hasn\u2019t come without its challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most challenging part has been the long hours. As someone in the College Program, I am usually given closing shifts, which means that on some nights, I leave work after midnight,\u201d Kelci said.<\/p>\n

\"Kelci<\/p>\n

Despite the demanding hours, the program has brought Kelci new connections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat surprised me the most was that there are a lot of people my age that were doing the program. Usually, people do the program after they\u2019ve graduated college, so they don\u2019t have to worry about schoolwork. But I\u2019ve become friends with a lot of people my age,\u201d Kelci said.<\/p>\n

If she\u2019s not working or studying for class, Kelci\u2019s out exploring the four theme parks with her new friends.<\/p>\n

Her favorite ride in all the parks? You\u2019ll find it in Epcot, Guardians of the Galaxy. She says she\u2019s probably ridden it at least 50 times by now.<\/p>\n

When she realized she could complete her second semester of courses online, extending her time in the Disney College program was a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

And her hard work is being recognized\u2014at the beginning of the spring semester, Kelci was promoted to a trainer.<\/p>\n

While she\u2019d love to continue the program, she\u2019s excited to come home at the end of the semester and reconnect with friends and family.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope this experience helps me achieve my goals at Marshall. Doing the Disney College Program has shown me that if I work hard, I can do anything,\u201d Kelci said.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAll our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.\u201d \u2013 Walt Disney It may be the quote in her Instagram bio, but for the past academic year, sophomore Kelci Armstead has been living her dream by serving in the Disney College Program. \u201cI found out about the Disney College Program […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/198"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1617"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1628,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1617\/revisions\/1628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}