When you ever wanted proof that goals aren’t simply bedtime tales, Disney simply gave you a front-row seat. The Disney Dreamers Academy isn’t nearly mentorship—it’s about an outpouring. Of affection. Of alternative. Of straight-up dedication to those younger minds able to shake issues up.
For practically 20 years, this program has been planting seeds in college students from all walks of life, watering them with entry, mentorship and assets. Since 2008, over 1,700 college students have walked via this expertise and got here out as visionaries, disruptors, and pioneers of their fields. And now, one other class is stepping as much as the plate, prepared to say what’s theirs.
From the second the contributors touched down in Orlando, Florida, Disney made it clear—this was greater than a weekend journey. This was a launchpad. A blueprint for Black and brown brilliance. Whether or not they’re right here to construct the subsequent massive factor in tech, report the tales that must be informed, or create the type of illustration they by no means had, these college students aren’t ready for permission.
As a result of if there’s one factor Disney Dreamers Academy teaches, it’s that the world doesn’t simply hand you a seat on the desk. You are taking it.
Colin Sprouse embodies what it means to be a Disney Dreamer, and this 12 months, he’s taking dwelling the title of Dreamer of the 12 months. As a pupil chief, athlete and group position mannequin, the Little Rock, Arkansas native has spent his highschool years balancing excellence in teachers, sports activities and repair—main as Pupil Physique President, captaining his soccer crew, and galvanizing others via religion and mentorship. With a coronary heart for management and a imaginative and prescient for the longer term, Partner represents the very essence of a dreamer turning ambition into motion.
The Dreamers Converse: When Imaginative and prescient Meets Alternative
For Kylie Fuller, this program isn’t only a second—it’s momentum. “Being at Disney Dreamers Academy has proven me that I can pursue journalism whereas nonetheless following my different passions,” Fuller mentioned. “At some point, I need to be on Good Morning America—and this expertise helps me see all the probabilities to make that occur.”
Tiyanna Shaheed-Merriweather got here into this expertise with choices on the desk—personal a cosmetology enterprise or develop into a pediatrician. Two utterly totally different lanes, however the Academy didn’t power her to decide on. It confirmed her she might do each. “Being right here has boosted my confidence and helped me converse up extra. I’ve met so many inspiring individuals, and I’m hoping this expertise will give me extra readability on which path to take. Both method, I do know I can do something I set my thoughts to,” she mentioned.
After which there’s Sydney Gilmore, whose goals got here full circle. “Watching Disney Channel as a child—seeing Skai Jackson on Jessie, Coco Jones and Tyler James Williams in Let It Shine—that was my illustration,” Gilmore mirrored. “It made me say, ‘Yeah, I need to do this.’ Now, being a part of Disney Dreamers Academy, I need to be that very same illustration for an additional little Black lady who sees me and realizes she will be able to chase her goals too.”
Tyler James Williams, one of many audio system who walked into the Academy with knowledge in his pocket, put it greatest:
“The world usually assumes younger individuals don’t know themselves in addition to they assume they do. However when you recognize who you’re, what you’re keen on, and how much particular person you need to be, you may really feel like it’s important to show it,” Williams shared in an encouraging speech. “One of the simplest ways to try this? Preserve displaying up. Preserve bringing who you’re. Preserve doing what you’re keen on. The world will open up for you.”
The Magic & The Mission
This isn’t nearly goals—it’s about motion. That’s why Disney isn’t simply throwing motivational speeches at these college students. They’re placing them in rooms with top-tier executives, creatives and innovators who’ve been precisely the place they’re. They’re giving them the blueprint to construct, the keys to unlock doorways, and the push to step into areas they as soon as thought have been out of attain.
Annually, hundreds of scholars apply for this second, pouring their aspirations into essays, hoping to be among the many chosen 100. Those that make it? They get an all-expenses-paid expertise that doesn’t simply take them to Disney World—it takes them to the subsequent degree.
This 12 months’s Dreamers aren’t simply right here to take notes. They’re right here to take up area. And once they go away, they gained’t simply be stepping again into the world as highschool college students. They’ll be stepping in as the longer term. As a result of the longer term isn’t simply shiny. It’s limitless.