Kennesaw State student will use technology to create magic during Disney internship

KENNESAW, Ga.
(Might 3, 2022) — April Breedlove’s enthusiasm for desktops and coding, combined with her fierce perseverance,
has earned her a prestigious internship at Disney Earth this summer time.

Breedlove, a junior computer system science major in the College of Computing and Software package Engineering (CCSE), will dwell in Orlando for three months and function as a software program engineering intern with
Walt Disney Points of interest Technology.

“I’m likely to be living out my dream,” claimed Breedlove, who transferred to Kennesaw
State this drop after graduating high university early. An working experience in Disney Globe
3 a long time in the past shaped that aspiration and transformed the trajectory of her lifetime.

In 2019, Breedlove was one of 100 large university college students nationwide accepted into the
exclusive Disney Dreamers Academy (DDA). The 4-day, all-expenses-paid out journey introduces
pupils from underrepresented communities to all the chances Disney supplies
by way of job workshops and mentoring classes.

“I believed there was no way I would get in,” Breedlove explained, just after her 1st application
was denied. “But rising up, my mother always stated, ‘Never permit dread stop you from carrying out
what you want, mainly because you do not know what you could be missing.’ I’m so glad I adopted
that tips and applied once again.”

At DDA, Breedlove joined the technological know-how Deep Dive, a personalised tiny group based mostly
on participants’ vocation pursuits, in which she labored on Disney’s Magic Bands. The waterproof wristbands allow guests to unlock their hotel home, enter topic parks, pay out
for foodstuff and a lot extra by tapping the band to a contact position sensor. 

“Prior to my experience in the Disney Dreamers Academy, I didn’t know that Disney
wanted software program engineers,” she additional. “I remaining that Deep Dive figuring out I desired to return.”

Two decades right after DDA, Breedlove was rushing to course on Kennesaw State’s Marietta campus
when she observed a booth established up for the scholar group Girls Who Code. College students
at the booth claimed they were being web hosting a vocation truthful and a recruiter from Disney was
going to be there. Breedlove attended the profession fair and eagerly set jointly her Disney Skilled
Internship software. A couple months afterwards, she gained a call from a recruiter.

“She explained to me they wanted me to sign up for the staff as a computer software engineering intern and
I began crying,” Breedlove remembers. “This has been my aspiration considering the fact that significant school, but
small did I know there would be more.” 

As she wrapped her thoughts close to starting off her desire internship, Breedlove was shocked
to get an e-mail from DDA workers inquiring her to return to the Academy and mentor the
newest team of high college pupils.

“I desired to have an personal affect on just about every student in my team,” Breedlove mentioned
right after she returned to campus. “I seriously concentrated on making those people connections, due to the fact
connections at DDA and KSU are what helped get me to this point.” 

When she returns to Orlando this summer season, she will intern with the same team that inspired
her 3 years in the past. 

“That Deep Dive in substantial faculty sparked all the things for me,” she stated. “One of the speakers
identified as it a ‘destiny moment’ where you understand what you want to do and what you want
to be. I’m searching forward to far more of those moments this summer season.” 

– Abbey O’Brien Barrows

Pictures by Judy Pishnery

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A chief in impressive teaching and finding out, Kennesaw Condition College presents undergraduate, graduate and doctoral levels to its just about 43,000 pupils. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw Point out is a member of the College Process of Ga. The university’s vivid campus culture, varied populace, potent world-wide ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw learners from through the country and the earth. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-selected doctoral investigate institution (R2), inserting it among an elite team of only 6 percent of U.S. faculties and universities with an R1 or R2 standing. For much more details, pay a visit to kennesaw.edu.