Kelly Heindl can't take the grin off her face while counting
down the days before she embarks on an experience of a lifetime
at one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.
The 21-year-old Sudburian has parlayed her great smile,
infectious enthusiasm, tremendous people skills and joie de
vivre by landing a job at Disneyworld in Florida. She's been
hired to work at the Epcot Centre Canadian Pavilion in Orlando.
Hundreds applied and only a couple dozen young Canadians
were selected during an intensive interview process.
Heindl starts her new job the first week of December. She will
be working at the Le Cellier Restaurant greeting customers.
She's signed a one-year contract.
"Some people have tried for years to get a job at the
Canadian Pavilion and I managed to get lucky my first time
through and I'm just so excited about it," she said. "I'll be
living in a condominium complex five minutes from Disneyworld
and staying with young people from all different countries from
around the world.
"I consider this basically the experience of a lifetime for
me. I know it's going to be a wonderful experience meeting
Canadians from coast and coast and people from all over the
world. I can't wait to get there."
Spend 15 minutes with Heindl and you can't help but be caught
up in her sheer enjoyment of life. Her enthusiasm and positive
attitude are infectious.
She's used her diverse people skills working part-time the
past two years at Newcap Radio, the parent company of Big Daddy
103.9. She spent this past summer doing promotions on Big
Daddy's Big Rig Special Event Cruiser.
She's attended charity events, volunteer picnics, concerts,
multicultural festivals and provided giveaways at dozens of
functions.
She just finished her third year studying communications at
Laurentian University and plans on finishing her degree
following her experience at Disneyworld.
Her long-term goal is to work as a broadcast journalist.
Her grandparents are "snowbirds" who have lived in Florida near
Disneyworld for many winters and she's visited them during
March Break on many occasions.
When she was only 12 or 13, she visited the world-famous
tourist attraction and talked to Canadian staff there. She was
impressed by how much they all loved their jobs, she said.
Last November, she decided to apply on-line and much to her
surprise she received a phone call in January. Heindl was
interviewed briefly over the phone and invited to attend a more
comprehensive interview in March in Toronto.
Several hundred people were applying for only a handful of
positions and a short list of applicants were eventually
selected for a long interview by Disneyworld staffers, said
Heindl.
She got a call in April telling her she had made the final
cut and was offered a job at the Canadian Pavilion.
She can't wait to start what she believes will be 12 months of
hard work, fun, relaxation and learning.
She remembers the phone call offering employment vividly.
"I was like 'yes, yes, yes I'll take the job'," she said
smiling. "I didn't have to think twice. I'm at the right age to
do something like this."
The man who offered her the job couldn't believe the amount
of snow and cold weather Greater Sudbury receives during the
winter months, said Heindl.
"I sent him a picture of me standing in a snowbank outside
my house and he asked me if we were anywhere near Antarctica,"
she said laughing. "He asked how do you survive in weather like
that. Obviously he didn't don't know a lot about Canada or
Sudbury."
