When am I Getting My Mittens?
March 8, 2021
Episode Notes
March 8, 2021
0:00 Rebecca Godderis, Associate Professor, Community Health and Social Justice & Community Engagement
11:56 Christine McKinlay, Associate Director of Development, Brantford Campus
22:07 Emma Furtney, student, Youth and Children’s Studies
One Market is hosted by Associate Professor Bruce Gillespie, Program Coordinator of Digital Media and Journalism.
Thank you to Serena Austin, One Market Research Assistant, Melissa Weaver for graphics, and Nicole Morgan for campus promotion. Music by Scott Holmes. We are grateful for the financial support from the Senior Executive Office.
Transcript
Bruce Gillespie 0:03
Welcome to One Market, keeping the Laurier Brantford community connected. I’m Bruce Gillespie. On this episode, we talked to a professor about the benefits of one of the pandemic’s most popular stay at home hobbies, sewing. Then, we get an update from our Development Office about how donors continue to support our students and campus projects despite the pandemic. And finally, we’re feeling nostalgic for those normal pre-pandemic times. So, we chat with a student about when she went on an international exchange, and worked at Walt Disney World, and got a sneak peek at one of the parks major new attractions. All that and more coming up on this episode of One Market.
Our first guest is Rebecca Godderis, a professor in the Community Health, Social and Environmental Justice and Social Justice and Community Engagement programs. She does a lot of interesting and valuable research on subjects such as gender based and sexual violence. But today, she’s here to talk about sewing, which, like all sorts of other crafts has become a really popular hobby as people stayed home during the past year. I started by asking her how she got her start in sewing.
Rebecca Godderis 1:18
I learned to sew from my mom. My mom was an amazing fiber artist. She had a studio when I was young, tons of fabrics and buttons and other fun things to play with. And so, I began at a very young age. And then, I actually took a pretty long break, because sewing takes quite a bit of space and quite a bit of time. And so, throughout my 20s and my 30s I didn’t sew quite as much. And then, I kind of picked it up again in my mid 30s and have been sewing more consistently for the past 7, 8, 9 years.
Bruce Gillespie 1:55
So, I feel like you’ve been sewing as long as I’ve known you certainly.
Rebecca 1:58
Yes, I think so. Yeah.
Bruce Gillespie 2:00
So, for those who don’t know, what kinds of things do you sew?
Rebecca Godderis 2:03
I sew all sorts of things. When I retook it up, I was, kind of, doing relatively basic things like skirts and bags.
Bruce Gillespie 2:14
You say basic, but I’m sure for most of us, that’s not basic at all.
Rebecca Godderis 2:18
Well, in the sewing world it’s relatively basic. I mean, skirts can take just two pieces, or two, kind of, pattern pieces. And then, a simple skirt anyway, and then you kind of sew it up at the side. And you can put elastic around the top and then boom, you have a skirt. So, that’s relatively simple. And bags too are fairly simple. And then, from there, I’ve moved on and I’ve been able to play with a whole bunch of different techniques. So, at this point, my closet is full of primarily, what we in the sewing world call “me made garments.” And so, I have jackets, tops, skirts, dresses, the only thing that I haven’t gotten around to really digging into yet for garment sewing are pants. Pants are trickier. There’s a lot of fitting issues with pants. So, I haven’t done a lot of pants, but that is next on my list.
Bruce Gillespie 3:15
So, are you predominantly then sewing for yourself or sewing for other people?
Rebecca Godderis 3:19
Haha, that’s a good question. This is a constant conversation in the sewing community. Because when folks sew for themselves, it’s often labeled as selfish sewing, which I don’t always agree with. I think one of the main things I often say myself, and lots of other people in the sewing community say is that, kind of, like sewing is my therapy, you know. It’s a way to engage in self care. It’s a way to engage your brain in, kind of, different types of activities outside of work. It’s very relaxing for me, it’s very enjoyable for me. So, I don’t find those things selfish at all, I find them just lovely and wonderful and fabulous. And so, I do primarily garment sew for myself. But, I do other types of sewing, like the bags, I do quilted pillow tops, I do little projects. Like, I made a bunch of little tiny hearts that I, kind of, stuffed with some stuffing and then gave them to folks to remind them that I was thinking about them when the pandemic started and was sending them care. So, I do other kinds of sewing that I tend to share with other people in my life.
Bruce Gillespie 4:33
That’s great. And I love this idea, and I think any of us who do these kinds of work, because as longtime listeners will know, I started the pandemic knitting and I’m still doing it. But, I think there’s something to be said for, sort of, for people like us who do a lot of work that seems pretty abstract a lot of the time. There’s no, sort of, concrete output of it, you know, a lot of the time. Sort of, doing something with your hands, creating something, watching something actually, sort of, grow literally in front of you. It’s actually really satisfying in a way that is very different from a lot of our work.
Rebecca Godderis 5:03
So incredibly satisfying. And I think so important as well. My mom always talked about creativity and how when you engage, like you said, with your hands, and when you think about things like color and design, it really does stimulate different parts of your brain, and also helps you to see the world in a different way. And so, I actually think it’s really important for us to not only be constantly thinking intellectually, and about ideas, and in the abstract, but also to engage in these creative endeavors, because I think it helps us actually look at the world in different ways.
Bruce Gillespie 5:40
For me too, and again, it may be different for you, because you’ve been doing this much longer than I have. It made me really think about the learning process. I started knitting mittens because my mother always made them for me, and I thought, she doesn’t always get them to me as quickly as I want. So I thought, you know, “I should learn how to do this myself, I don’t need her to do this for me.” And I ,kind of, thought just from having seen her do it for many years that they were a fairly straightforward kind of thing to do. But, sort of, learning the language of a pattern and what it means and is what is on the page, and what is, sort of, unspoken in terms of instructions. It really made me thoughtful about how I learn things, but also how I teach things, even though I don’t teach knitting. But it takes it back to my own, sort of, practice, but also made me, sort of, I think it was a nice chance to not be good at something, because like, yeah, my first mittens were, you know, they were recognizable mittens, but they weren’t great, and that was fine. Like, I learned something, I’d made it through, like, I feel like I really thought about the learning process differently.
Rebecca Godderis 6:39
I love that so much because I think it’s so true. And I think, you know, we talk a lot about too, about leveling up our skills. And so, I think the other piece is that even though I’ve been sewing for a while, there’s still so many opportunities to, kind of, level up and to push myself, and to learn new things. And you’re right, it absolutely feeds into how we think about teaching and learning, and working at new skills. And it does remind us too that, as you rightly pointed out at the start of the interview, you know, what I’m calling basic and relatively simple isn’t actually the case when you first start doing something new. And that’s so important for us to remember when we’re in the classroom as well, as instructors. Even though we’ve been thinking about the ideas that we teach for a very long time, they can be entirely new to folks who are in the classroom and that does mean that we need to give the space for people to grow into that learning, to take time with that learning, to practice the skill. And I think, as you’re saying, It’s such a great way to think about how doing our own creative practice and learning things in various parts of our lives actually feeds into and makes us better teachers.
Bruce Gillespie 7:50
Yeah, I agree. It’s made me much more thoughtful about, especially in terms of my earlier classes, my first and second-year classes when I’m introducing skills and techniques that are brand new to people. It’s made me much more thoughtful about, “I really need to walk people through this in a very particular way.” Because I understand how frustrating new things can be in a very fresh way.
Rebecca Godderis 8:07
Yeah, it’s such a good point. And by the way, when am I getting my set of mittens?
Bruce Gillespie 8:15
You just need to tell me a color choice and then we’ll go from there.
Rebecca Godderis 8:17
Oh my goodness, I’m so excited. This is so exciting. Okay.
Bruce Gillespie 8:22
Now the other thing we wanted to talk to you about was, you’ve recently become part of a “sewcialist” blog.
Rebecca Godderis 8:27
Yes, The Sewcialists, and because we’re on podcast and you can’t see how sewcialist is written out I should say that it is spelled S-E-W, sewcialist. So, I was finding in the pandemic that I was spending a lot of time sewing because we have so much more time at home. But, the organic ways that I would connect with folks by, for example, going into the fabric store, or I’d taken a couple of workshops, had obviously really disappeared in the pandemic. And so, I was trying to find new ways to connect with people. And I discovered The Sewcialist blog. Well, actually, I’d known about Sewcialists for a while. It’s a blog, I had been following it. And one of the reasons why I really like it is because the goal of The Sewcialist is really to build a sewing community that celebrates everyone, that celebrates unique identities and that understands crafting as an inclusive space. And so, I just loved following all of the different stories and things that they wrote about because they, kind of, really bring questions related to equity and inclusiveness, and social justice into conversations with sewing. And so, I reached out to the, actually to the founder of Sewcialist, she is a person who lives in Guelph. And The Sewcialist blog is international. They have editors and people who participate from around the world, but lucky me the person who started it all is actually very local. So, I reached out to her and I just, kind of, connected and said, “Do you want to have a conversation sometime? I really love the blog. I’d love to hear more about how you started it and what it all looks like behind the scenes.” And so, we had that conversation, and then she asked if I wanted to join as a copy editor. And so, I’m kind of working behind the scenes doing some copy editing. And will probably move into role of being an editor in the near future, I think.
Bruce Gillespie 10:21
That’s really exciting. What a great way to bring together all sorts of your different interests in one place.
Rebecca Godderis 10:26
Exactly. It’s a great melding of all of the different pieces together.
Bruce Gillespie 10:31
That’s great. We will include a link on our website, so folks can find The Sewcialist blog and learn more about it.
Rebecca Godderis 10:36
Yay, that’s wonderful, some shownotes. And I might include a couple of others, too, if folks are really interested in the, sort of, connections between sewing and crafting. There’s another great organization down in the states called The Social Justice Sewing Academy. And they do amazing work in bringing sewing and the arts into underrepresented or marginalized communities, and particularly for youth and Black, Indigenous youth of color. And they just put out, like, an anti-racist guide in relation to sewing. So, it’s a really unique organization that focuses on the value of sewing for these different groups. And they also create these incredible quilts where the youth do, like, one small panel, and then it’s all sewn together by volunteers, and they speak about, for example, police brutality faced by Black communities. They’ve done an amazing quilt around trans remembrance. It’s just a really neat organization that is doing fantastic work.
Bruce Gillespie 11:40
That sounds amazing. I can’t wait to check it out. Becky, thank you so much for joining us today and talking sewing with us.
Rebecca Godderis 11:46
You’re so welcome, and I’m looking forward to my mittens.
Bruce Gillespie 11:50
Stay tuned. You can find the links to the sewing blogs Rebecca mentioned on our website. Our next guest is Christine McKinlay, Associate Director of Development in Brantford. She’s the frontline fundraiser for our campus. So, I started by asking her how the pandemic has affected philanthropy at the university.
Christine McKinlay 12:10
COVID has affected every aspect of our lives, including our philanthropy. And, you know, it’s changed the work that I do in many ways, in that a lot of my work before the pandemic was about getting out into the community meeting, with community groups or alumni, corporations, inviting people to come to campus to get them excited about what the university does, and all of the positive impacts that it has to our students and also to the Brantford community. Now, I can’t do that. So, I’m working primarily from home. But, the work continues and people are still giving. So, it just really depends. I mean, there’s some examples where corporations who have given to the university before are now saying, like, “Look, it’s just not really a good year for us. We’re struggling financially, we’ve had to lay people off, we have to cut back on our philanthropy as well.” And that’s unfortunate, but we understand. But, there’s also lots of examples where people know that the need is greater than ever, and they’re giving in really big ways. So, when the pandemic hit in March, Laurier’s Development Department decided to start up a COVID emergency fund. And we reached out to our donors, and our alumni, and our staff. And we were really surprised and delighted by the response. The COVID emergency fund has raised over $115,000 through 406 individual gifts. The money is used for investing in technology for Laurier. Laurier has had to shift to online learning, and so some of the funds have allowed us to do that. Some of the funds are used for health and wellness initiatives, additional counseling services, things like that, physical health programming. And then, there’s also funds available to students that are really in serious emergency financial situations. And funds can be used for things like paying for people’s rent or groceries and other survival needs.
Bruce Gillespie 14:07
That’s great to hear that folks in the community are still thinking about the needs that exist on our campus when we’re actually not physically on campus. That’s really reassuring to hear.
Christine McKinlay 14:15
Yes. So, we’ve had quite a few gifts that have come in in the last 12 months. Just to give you some examples, we have a an accountant firm in Brantford that has been very supportive to the university over the years. And right before the holidays, one of their senior leaders passed away really unexpectedly. And this person was very supportive of the university they were actually an alumni themselves from the Waterloo campus. And the firm decided that they wanted to honour this person by creating a memorial bursary for them. And so, that will be available starting this year for students studying at the Brantford campus with financial need. And I just think that that’s a lovely way, when somebody passes away that the family, or the friends continue to honor that person and remember them through a scholarship that gives back to somebody else.
Bruce Gillespie 15:08
And I love those ideas and having been able to talk to lots of students over the years who’ve received these kinds of memorial bursaries or scholarships, they’re really so touched that that this has, you know, been a choice by a person or their family to memorialize them. And the students are always really interested to, sort of, learn about the person, their history and their connection to the university, it’s really special.
Christine McKinlay 15:27
It is a really special way to remember somebody. So, we’re pleased when those sorts of opportunities come by. And I have met with lots of students over the years too, and they have sometimes shared stories, like, they were really struggling in school, or they didn’t know how they were going to pay their rent. And then, they get an email from the Student Awards Office that says, oh, they’ve received this award. And it just gives them, like, the motivation that they need just to keep going. We have so many people who just want to help our students. So, that’s lovely. And that’s one of the best things about my job is when I can help make those connections happen.
Bruce Gillespie 16:04
I bet, and I’m sure for students those are some of the best university emails they ever receive.
Christine McKinlay 16:09
Yes, I think so. Yeah, another gift that has come in recently was from the Samuel W. Steadman Foundation, and they gave $15,000 to support some of the renovations that are happening in the Center for Research and Security Practices. So, the Steadman family has been very supportive of the Brantford campus over the years and we’re really, really pleased to have a very good relationship with them. Another example of ways that people give back to to our students is, there’s a couple that has ties to Brantford, a man and a wife. They have a very successful business in Toronto. The man he actually grew up in Brantford and still has family in Brantford and they just wanted to, kind of, give back to their communities. So, they decided to give a $200,000 donation to support the Indigenous Students’ Center. And renovations for that facility are now underway, and I understand they’re close to completion. And when we get back on campus, there’s going to be just a beautiful new facility for Indigenous students to use that will really enhance the services that are offered to them.
Bruce Gillespie 17:14
And that’s such an important donation. I remember hearing about that when it came through. I feel like it was just before we had to leave campus. But, we’re all really excited to see that the transformation of that space. And again, like you, I’ve heard that it’s almost done. So, I’m really excited to go back and actually see what it looks like, and even more excited for students and staff to be able to get back in that space and really use it. And what a lovely, kind donation to, sort of, spend money and invest money in this way. It’s just so nice.
Christine McKinlay 17:41
Mhmm. Yeah, it is lovely when people just choose to, people who have done very well from themselves, and now they’re choosing to give back. And people all have different financial situations. Some people are able to give in major ways, and those gifts are absolutely transformative. But, even people who give $100 a year, we are still so grateful for those donations too. Every dollar is used to the best that it can be used to and to have the most impact. Another major gift that you’ve probably heard about. This came in about two years ago, but the gift continues to be used, it’s from from Scotiabank. So, Scotiabank gave $852,000 to Laurier Brantford’s User Experience Design program. And those funds have been used for things like experimental learning for UX designers, sponsoring design sprints, sending students to conferences, helping to pay for students that are doing internships at nonprofit organizations in the community. And that gift has been so transformative and has really enhanced the UX program.
Bruce Gillespie 18:45
That’s amazing. As you say, that’s completely transformative. And I think it’s a great example of sort of seeing both sides of the coin, right? Here’s the example, like what $800,000 could do. But, to your point earlier, I think those small donations help a lot too. Because, I mean, I’ve often heard from students who take advantage of the student emergency fund to cover groceries or pay rent when they’re when they’re struggling. And so, the small donations really make a big difference, too. So, it’s nice to see the range of effects those gifts can have. So, Christine, these are great gifts, and it’s just making me think that, again, I think a lot of us don’t understand how the development process works. Can you, sort of, walk us through what it takes to, sort of, create these relationships, and find these people, and sort of, make this philanthropy actually happen? Like, what goes on behind the scenes?
Christine McKinlay 19:29
Yeah, it can take quite a long time and quite a lot of work to get to a point where somebody feels invested enough in the university that they want to make a gift at a very big level. So, it’s about building relationships with our donors, and alumni, and corporations. So, we do have a lot of people that work in the development department. We have people in various roles. We have people behind the scenes that do research to find granting opportunities, or corporations in which their values aligned very well with the values and the priorities of the university. We have people who, kind of, manage the gifts that do come in and they do all of the charitable gift receipting and documentation. And then, we have people like me who are the frontline fundraisers. So, my job involves getting people interested in what we’re doing, and just to see the value that the university brings to the community. Once we have a conversation with somebody and they decide that they want to make a gift, then we, it’s also really important that we do something, what we call stewarding the gift. So, showing that the gift has had an impact, that the money is being used in the way that we say we are going to use it, and thanking the donor. That’s actually my favorite part of the job is just thanking people and showing them what kind of impact that their donation has had.
Bruce Gillespie 20:47
That’s so interesting. So, what’s it been like to do this work from home for the past 12 months? Like you said before, you’re usually the person who’s out in the community meeting, people bring them back. So, what’s it been like doing this from, you know, a bedroom, or your house?
Christine McKinlay 21:00
Well, I think that the best relationship building really happens when you’re in person with somebody, and unfortunately, I cannot bring people to campus to show, to give them a tour. Because when people do come on campus, and they see our beautiful buildings, they see the life that we have in the downtown core, I think that’s when people really get excited about it. So, I’m working from home, but I’m still connecting with people. Primarily, I’m doing it through video meetings now instead of in person meetings. And in some ways, that’s okay, too. And it works because people sometimes are finding themselves that they have more time on their hands right now. And they’re willing to have a meeting with me. And also, we’re not bound by geography like we used to be. So, regardless of where the alumni, or the donor is physically located, we can still connect. The work has definitely changed over the last year. So, it’s just virtually from home most of the time, and I do look forward to the time that we can kind of get back in person to meet all of our donors again.
Bruce Gillespie 22:01
Absolutely. Christine, this has been really interesting. Thank you so much for telling us about what’s going on in the Development Office. Our final guest is Emma Furtney, a fourth-year Youth and Children’s Studies student. In the summer of 2019, she realized a lifelong dream by getting a summer job at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. As part of an International Cultural Exchange Program. She worked at Blizzard Beach, one of the resorts, waterparks, but had lots of other time to explore the rest of the park. Here’s our conversation.
Emma Furtney 22:31
Working at Disney was always a dream for me, my family’s always been obsessed, I’ve always been obsessed. And then, my sister and a couple of her friends who’ve been in my life for as long as I can remember, applied and got the position of a year long program known as the Cultural Representative Program. So, they went and they worked there. And then, they came back and told me how I could make my dream reality. So, I decided to go with the International College Program, or the Cultural Exchange Program. And it started, it was a long application progress, so it started about eight to nine months before the actual start date. And it honestly started out as any other job, sent in an application with a cover letter, emailed a few official people. And then, you would hear back within two months of that initial contact, and be offered an in person interview that either would take place in Toronto or Vancouver. So, there’s only two spots for the entirety of Canada. So, that was unfortunate for some of my friends that are farther away. But, after you have your in person interview, about a month goes by and you’ll hear back whether you got a role or not. And after that, it’s just about making sure you have work visas, paying insurance, all that kind of stuff to work in the States.
Bruce Gillespie 23:48
So, what was your day to day work like?
Emma Furtney 23:50
Yeah, so my day to day work, so there’s multiple positions that you could be put in. One of them is merchandise, attractions, housekeeping, food and beverage, so I was in food and beverage quick service. So, a lot of outdoor carts, a lot of ice cream vending, drink vending, things like that. So, there was a lot of outside in the heat, but it was fun. It was a long, hard day of work, but it was good, serving people food, helping guests, a lot of communication with kids, helping anyone that’s lost, walking them to rides, kind of, you never know what you’re gonna get because you’re outside and there wasn’t much supervision in the sense of you weren’t stuck in a restaurant all day. So, a lot of freedom and a lot of fun.
Bruce Gillespie 24:38
So, presumably the point of Disney hiring international folks as opposed just Americans to work at these places is that you’re there as some sort of, de facto cultural ambassador. Did you have to talk to people about Canada? Did they ask you questions about being Canadian? Like, how does that work?
Emma Furtney 24:53
Yeah, for sure. So, on your actual Disney name tag, it says where you are from in Canada, It’ll mention that you’re there on the college program, or if you’re there on the year long program. So, you do walk around the park and you always make sure your nametag’s visible so that you can have conversations with fellow Canadians, or with people from all over the world. Actually realizing what a small world it is, I ran into people in Disney that knew my parents that I had never met.
Bruce Gillespie 25:19
Oh wow
Emma Furtney 25:19
And they’re, like, “Oh, well, you’re from Canada. So we know you.” And I was, like, “Do you?” And they’re, like, “Yeah, your parents are so and so.” And it turned out I did know them. Yeah, so like, okay, can never escape anything, but that’s alright with me. And then, the actual cultural representative side of it. When you’re living with all the different people, and engaging with all those different people, they would put on cultural events at the apartment complexes that you would take part in and get to represent your country in that way. And I was even in Epcot for Canada Day, which was an amazing experience. Hung out in the Canadian pavilion with hundreds of Canadian exchange students and it was very cool.
Bruce Gillespie 25:59
I didn’t even think about that, that something would happen there during Canada Day. That’s really neat.
Emma Furtney 26:04
Yeah, it was very much fun. There was, I want to say, around 250 of us. And that was just college kids and kids that were there for other summer programs. And we all met, we all tried to get the day off. We met at the Canadian pavilion in Epcot. And we were loud, and we walked through that park with Canadian flags, and red and white face paint. And we made it very known that we were celebrating Canada Day.
Bruce Gillespie 26:29
I love that, that’s so great. And presumably, you got a great chance to work with lots of other international students as well. I mean, it seems like a great opportunity to actually meet other students from all around the world.
Christine McKinlay 26:41
Yeah, it was, it was an amazing experience in that sense. I have friends from Mexico City now, Paris, Germany, Italy, all over. And it’s such a unique relationship, because you’re thrown into something with these people, that you have no idea what you’re doing, you’re working for a huge corporation, it’s, kind of, scary. And they just, kind of, throw you in, and you’re working weird hours that no one else wants, but you’re happy that you’re there. So, you make these relationships that are really cemented in each other. And I still talk to most of my Disney friends bi-weekly, we set up Zoom calls. And you get to learn so much of other people’s culture. We had many dinners where it was bring, you know, a plate from your culture, and lots of movies, lots of dances, anything like that, just to, kind of, see into each other’s worlds.
Bruce Gillespie 27:29
Disney culture is obviously something people talk about and certainly study. There’s a Disney University where, you know, people can go in and learn about Disney culture. From the outside, what’s it like to work for a company like that?
Christine McKinlay 27:40
Yeah, it is very intimidating. The first couple of days, we actually went to Disney University to get the background and the history, and to be cemented in our training. And you realize how big the Walt Disney Company actually is. And you realize how intense it is in a way. They give you a big presentation on all the different companies they own and through affiliation, what you’re a part of. But, the people that train you and the people that help you figure out your first few days know that you’re there as someone who loves Disney, usually, and you are scared. And it is such a short time that you will be with them that they make it so wonderful. And they try to take some of the pressure off of you, and everyone you work with as well is just so open to questions and all of that. And then, you get to walk away being a part of something very big. Every time I saw a movie after in the theater that was Disney and the logo would come on, I’m like, “Huh, I was a part of that for however short of time,” but still a part of the Disney family. So, it’s a very, very cool feeling. And you feel very connected to people that you’ve never even met.
Bruce Gillespie 28:50
So, when you’re living in Orlando and working at Disney, when you do get some time off, do you actually, we’re you going to the parks? Were you doing the rides? Or, were you, sort of, finding other stuff to do in Orlando?
Christine McKinlay 28:59
Yeah, absolutely. So, the way the living situation works is really great and really customed to making sure you get to go to Disney a lot. There was four apartment complexes. And throughout those four, they each had a pool, a clubhouse, a courtroom and had bus services to every Disney property you could think of in Orlando. So, as cast members, we were gifted free entrance to the park and cast discounts, which we took very much, we took, we used a lot. So, we would go to the parks on every off day, even if you got off work early. The mantra for the work period was, “You can sleep later. It’s all play right now.” So, we’d hop on the bus, head to the park. So, we did a lot of Disney property items. There were buses that would take you out, or organized trips that would go to beaches and such in Florida if you wanted to experience that. But, I can say for me, most of it was definitely Disney property exploring.
Bruce Gillespie 30:01
So, do you have a favorite ride? Was there a favorite ride you discovered while you were there?
Christine McKinlay 30:04
Oh boy, a favorite ride. I loved Big Thunder Mountain in Magic Kingdom. And then, actually one of the perks of being a cast member, we got an exclusive cast preview to Galaxy’s Edge, which was absolutely insane.
Bruce Gillespie 30:20
Oh.
Christine McKinlay 30:20
And I’m a huge Star Wars fan. So, we got to walk through it. We got to go on rides. And the wait time for the Millennium Falcon ride was five minutes, I think, which is unheard of now. But, so I definitely think Galaxy’s Edge was the highlight of my program, ride wise.
Bruce Gillespie 30:38
That’s, like, the best, I mean, if nothing else came of this summer, everything was worth it just for that.
Emma Furtney 30:43
Absolutely.
Bruce Gillespie 30:45
That’s amazing. Now, you said before, your sister was actually on the year long program working at Epcot. What was that like from her point of view? What have you heard about that?
Emma Furtney 30:55
Yeah, so I actually got to visit my sister a couple times while she was in the year program and she got to learn so much. And because she was working in the actual Epcot showcase, The World Showcase, she met so many people from around the world. Even the break rooms, they would always joke, are so multicultural, that you’re just meeting someone new every single day. And it was a very long, it was a long work experience, as it is 12 months, and you go through so many different tasks. So, for example, she started outside as a food vendor on a popcorn cart where they served maple flavored popcorn. And then, you slowly train-
Bruce Gillespie 31:34
Naturally.
Emma Furtney 31:32
Yeah, of course, right? And then, you move in slowly to working in the full service restaurant that’s in the Canadian pavilion, which is called Le Cellier, and that is fine dining. So, lots of stressful training in that sense to become a server. But, that is the main goal if you work in one of the pavilions, is you’ll either be working the tourist attractions of the show, or you’re going to be working in the restaurant as a server.
Bruce Gillespie 31:58
It sounds like a lot of fun. Again, it’s making me think of what a great time a summer job, you know, can be, considering that the past year where, you know, most people are still stuck at home and didn’t have these kinds of experiences. So, it sounds amazing. Thank you so much for telling us about this today, Emma,
Christine McKinlay 32:15
Of course, yeah. Thank you so much for having me.
Bruce Gillespie 32:20
And that’s a wrap. Thanks for joining us. We hope it’s helped you feel a little more connected to the Laurier Brantford community. If you liked what you heard, tell your friends and colleagues. You can subscribe on Apple, Google, Stitcher, or wherever you find your podcasts. Worried about missing an episode? Sign up for our newsletter. You can find the link on Twitter and Facebook @onemarketlb. One Market was created and produced by Bruce Gillespie and Tarah Brookfield. Music by Scott Holmes, graphics by Melissa Weaver. Our research assistant and intern is Serena Austin. Thanks for listening. Keep in touch!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai