Rachel Johnson ’16 - From the Women’s Volleyball Team to ESPN, By Way of Walt Disney World
Before she even came to Holy Family University, Rachel Johnson ’16, already knew the next stop on her journey: Walt Disney World.
“I was interested in working at Walt Disney World ever since I was in 7th grade,” Johnson remembers. “My family went to Walt Disney World every year for vacation, so that was how I first learned about the Disney College Program.” The Disney College Program is a national internship program that recruits college students to work in a variety of roles at its Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, FL, and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA.
Johnson played on the women’s volleyball team at Holy Family University, which at first appeared to prevent her from joining the Disney College Program. “My fall semesters were taken up by the volleyball season and my spring semesters were taken up by training and spring season,” Johnson recalls. “At that time, Disney didn’t have a summer program.”
However, the Tigers were happy to have Johnson on the court as a member of the volleyball team. She became the second player in program history to record at least 1,000 kills and digs in a career, served as a team captain, and was twice named to the CACC All-Academic Team.
As Johnson entered the final semester of her season year, she had an opportunity to apply for the Disney College Program. “Luckily, Disney allowed you to apply for the program if you were within six months of graduating,” she shares. “I applied in January 2016 and started in August.” Johnson graduated magna cum laude from Holy Family in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and was inducted into three honor societies: Lambda Pi Eta, Kappa Theta Epsilon, and Chi Alpha Sigma.
After completing the Disney College Program, Johnson continued as a full-time employee and held several positions at Walt Disney World from 2016 to 2021, including Operations Assistant, for which she created and promoted recognition and exclusive appreciation events for the cast members of Disney Sports and Water Parks. “My favorite thing overall about working for the Walt Disney Company – and this may sound cliche because people say it all the time – is the amazing people that I’ve worked with,” Johnson says. “When I was at Walt Disney World, my water park family was so close-knit and caring. I went out on medical leave twice and both times people from work sent me cards and care packages in the mail. For as big of a company as it is, it’s so interesting that you come back into contact with people that you might have worked with a year or two earlier that you might not think you'd ever come into contact with ever again.”
In January 2022, Johnson began a new role as a production assistant at ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut (the Walt Disney Company is the parent company of ESPN), where she currently produces soccer programming for the network. “I feel very grateful that I had the experience that I did at Holy Family and continue my dreams by going to work for Disney and ESPN, says Johnson. Disney and sports are my two favorite things, and to be able to work in the Disney Parks and at ESPN is surreal.”