Leaving for college can be an experience in itself with many unsure of what career path to choose when they start their college journey.

But for some, that spark of interest and passion hits at the right moment.

For Rachal Crouse, her spark came when she took a Christmas trip with her family to Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
During her visit, Crouse met a Disney World employee who was from St. Joseph, Mo., and told her about the Disney College Program.

A sophomore double majoring in fine arts and graphic design, Crouse’s ambition has been to work for Disney, ever since her trip to Disney World.

Crouse has always been into arts and said she would dress up as an artist on Career Day when she was a child.

She is very familiar with the arts, as her uncle was her art teacher from elementary to high school and her father was an art major when he went to college.

“I always knew that that was my passion and I always wanted to do it as a profession,” Crouse said, “but I never knew exactly where I wanted to go from there.”

After visiting with the Disney employee, Crouse wondered if she could use her art to work for a company such as Disney and was able to find the contact information of someone who works at the Disney Imagineering program.
During this time, Crouse was able to make a strong connection and learned about the designs for the park the person did.

“I was, ‘Wow, this is what I want to do,’” she said.

Later, Crouse came to Park University to begin her college career and choose graphic design as her major.

Crouse was starting her first weeks of classes of her freshman year when she applied for the Disney College Program, which would be a great first step for her to get started into working for Disney.

But even though she was accepted, Crouse decided it was not the right opportunity and wanted to complete a full year at Park first.

Now into her sophomore year, she applied again and was accepted into the program and decided to take this opportunity.

Crouse will start her internship with the Disney College Program in January 2015, where she will work to expand her art skills.

“I hope the Disney College Program is the first step of the long road to becoming what I want to do [being in the Disney Imagineering Program],” she said.

From January to May, Crouse will be taking classes at Disney University, as well as working in the Disney parks.
While she is still at Park for the Fall 2014 semester, she is currently working on a design project she could show in the future.

During her time here, Crouse has been involved in many on-campus organizations, including being vice president of the Park Student Government Association, a member of the softball team, Honors Academy and Residential Hall Council.

“I like to be very involved on campus,” she said. “I feel incredibly blessed for what the campus has given me and I want to do a good job of being able to give back.”

Crouse also said she hopes to come back to Park and share her experience with the Disney Program with incoming students.

“I want to be somebody who can help other future students,” she said.

Crouse also said she is thankful to Park University, especially to Matt LaRose, art department chair, who helped her enroll in a study abroad program in Italy last summer taking art classes.

“I was very lucky to have so much experience in such a short time,” she said. “I feel more than prepared to go down to Disney. I am very lucky I have found a place [Park University] that really helped me achieve my dream.”