ORLANDO, Fla. – Youth listened to inspirational speakers and got to experience their future careers on the second day of the Disney Dreamers Academy on Friday at Walt Disney World.
Along with hearing inspirational speeches, Dreamers participated in hands-on workshops in various career fields around Walt Disney World in “Living Laboratories”.
The day started with the teens engaging with the makers of “Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond” to learn about the creative careers involved in the production. They also heard from artist, author and former Walt Disney Imagineer Nikkolas Smith who the teens gave a message about finding the hero in themselves.
Meanwhile, the teens’ parents and guardians attended a session with Olympic Champion, reality TV star, and mother Sanya Richards-Ross along with her own mother.
One of the many speakers the teens heard from was actor Lance Gross. During a media interview, he said he hopes the teens were inspired by his message.
“I hope they leave here knowing that anything is possible,” he said. “My father told me ‘Don’t be afraid to follow your dreams.’ If it’s something you believe in then go after it.”
In the afternoon, the teens attended the “Living Laboratories” session where they were separated based on their career interests to hear from and network with Disney cast members and other professionals about a vast array of career opportunities. The labs included business and service, entertainment and storytelling and science and technology.
Sophia Halm, 16, from South Orange, NJ is one of the 100 teens selected to participate in this year’s Academy. She has dreams of becoming an aerospace engineer and participated in a session where she met representatives from NASA.
“This experience has been amazing,” she said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be here, for all the people I get to meet and all the connections I get to make.”
On Saturday, the Dreamers are participating in a session where they will learn about creating their personal brand and image. A collection of celebrities and other professionals will also share personal lessons about achieving success.
Disclosure: The Walt Disney Company paid for the travel and accommodations for several media outlets, including the AmNews, to cover the Disney Dreamers Academy. Disney did not review or approve any of our coverage.