Friday, Day 6

I'm terribly sad to say that my time in California has come to an end. It was probably the most life-changing week that I've ever lived and I'll be putting all the knowledge I received to the best possible use I know how.

We ended our week by visiting Disney Studios and having lunch with Victoria Alonso, who currently holds the title as VP of Visual Effects at Marvel Studios. She was born in Argentina with virtually nothing and worked her way to the United States and now she has it all.

I took a full 2 pages of notes on what she had to say because she was throwing advice out constantly. At the end when she started talking about how we're worth it, I got a little emotional. It was just inspiring to see such a powerful and funny woman take the time to talk to us.

Immediately after lunch, we were bussed back to our hotel where we had minimal time to prepare for our big debut. I, personally am working on confidence in who I am and how I look so I chose to wear my glasses (which shouldn't be a big deal). We got to spend some time in the basement of the El Capitan getting our hair and make-up done.

As we were all hanging out in the green room, Barbra Guthrie was kind enough to get us bags of candy to snack on. We were just casually eating popcorn and candy, when Jamie Alexander walks into the room and I'm pretty sure there was an audible gasp. She sat with us and we chatted more about growing up and being confident in who you are.

At one point, Jamie, Victoria, and the great-great nephew of Walt Disney were all in the same room with us. It was a little crazy with all these high powered people surrounding us, but I always felt right at home.

Soon it was time to go on stage and Lilia led us up to the stage where there was a lot of last minute bathroom breaks and panic. We somehow managed to coordinate ourselves into the line-ups we had rehearsed and soon we were on stage in front of a crowd of 1,000 people.

The biggest surprise at the end was the gifts of $1000 donated by UL and a new Kindle HD fire given to us by Dolby Laboratories. The donations are expected to be used in helping us with the Ultimate Mentor Adventure Leadership Council which was created with us as the initial batch of girls.

Oh course we got to view Thor:The Dark World again, and at one point I glanced around and a good majority were snoozing away just from the exhaustion of all the excitement.

The night didn't end there though. We still had our Highland Park gift cards that needed spending, so we grabbed a quick dinner and hit up as many stores as we could. Of course the largest candy store in the world was my favorite, with all its sugary goodness.

The final event of the night was winding down with some girl time up in Sarah's room. We ordered some room service (Thanks Barbra) and all huddled around to let our feelings out. Most of the girls stayed until 11:30, but Sydney and I stuck around until 12:30 against our parents wishes.

It was hard to say good bye to Sarah, but I'm certain that won't be the last I see of her. This also won't be the final entry you hear from me

This whole crazy, amazing, not-enough-words-to-describe-how-I-feel-about-it week is truly a blessing. The women I met and the experiences I gained are life skills that many people are jealous they couldn't have. Walking away I have a better understanding of how the world works and I'm already looking toward my future and what it holds. All I have to say is thank you so much to the wonderful people that helped me get to where I am today.