The week hasn't turned out exactly as I had expected. Thankfully I knew enough to keep my expectations low and remain flexible. I had hoped to visit the DAVE School early in the week, but email has a way of not being immediate. We managed to squeeze in a meeting on Friday; it was quite informative and encouraging.

In order to tour the school you must get clearance and be checked in at the gate. The school is on the Universal Studios lot, so that makes sense. Being that I'm car camping and traveling across country I have a gas can with me. This caused a problem with me getting through security. Thankfully they have an alternative way to enter. Since that doesn't happen much, it took a little bit of finagling. It also didn't help that they couldn't find me in the system initially. Although I arrived over 15 minutes early, I ended up being 15 minutes late. This must happen often enough as Veronica Russo, my tour guide and Admissions rep was very understanding.

I was able to see the facility and speak to a few people. One of the people I spoke with, Michael Keith, does job placement. When I requested the tour I had let them know one NVCC alumni had recently completed the diploma program at their school. When I mentioned the student's name, Michael told me exactly where he was working, but I said that didn't sound right because it was a different company's name. Turns out it was a short contract that he originally got placed in, but he already secured another job from that first one. It was really great to see that Michael really knows his graduates. He shared a few stories of some of the many connections he facilitated.

It was after 6 PM on Friday and Veronica stayed late patiently answering my questions and offering insights to a few different challenges I posed. All together a very positive experience.

During the week I visited Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure a few times. I didn't get too much behind the scenes intel, but took in the atmosphere noting all the DAT details that surround park visitors. I also took a day to park hop Disney World. It is amazing what is there, but the magic is a different type now compared to my early years. My many years in the field have me pondering how'd they pull that off and also noting where things fall short.