Atlanta, Georgia Local News
Day 3 of Disney Dreamers Academy: ‘Make Yourself Known’
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Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
Cameryn Polk bounded into the sunny outdoor space where her Saturday morning interview was scheduled to take place. A cheerleader, track and field athlete, and cross-country runner at Elite Scholars Academy in Clayton County, she could be the living and breathing example of Disney Dreamers Academy energy.
Polk is planning to attend Denison University, a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, in the fall following graduation from Elite Scholars. The electricity that Polk gives off comes from her five years as a cheerleader, and she said she used that experience to help her with the Disney Dreamers Academy interviews and panels.
“During cheer you have to learn how to use your voice because you are surrounded by a whole bunch of girls who already have that powerful voice and already have that character in them,” Polk said. “So you have to make yourself known.”
During her time at the Disney Dreamers Academy, Polk has used those skills to make herself known. “You have to find yourself, you have to make yourself known, it helps you get your voice heard and shine your light amongst a bunch of other stars.”
Part of the Disney Dreamers Academy experience has always included interviews with media members from across the country. Along with The Atlanta Voice, reporters and editors from other Black-owned and operated publications, such as The Dallas Weekly, Amsterdam News, and The Charlotte Post, interviewed the Dreamers about their experiences this week.
Despite never having taken part in anything like this, Polk said she wasn’t nervous. Her years of competing in front of crowds have prepared her for this unique and special experience. “Everyone here has made themselves a part of a community where you feel like you’re comfortable with them, like you have known them before. Disney Dreamers Academy has really been like a family-oriented process.”
Polk says she has just “been herself” and taken in all of the sights and sounds of Disney World. She told The Atlanta Voice that she didn’t necessarily prepare for what was to come at the Disney Dreamers Academy, she just was her authentic self.
“If they wanted me I had to just come and show up,” she explained. “I have gotten a lot of resourceful advice, basically, we are here, we’re in the moment and we need to make sure we leave a legacy.”
Polk wants to return as a Disney Dreamers Academy ambassador. “I hope so,” she said with a smile.
A pair of other Dreamers, Bengina Amponsah and Hannah Dennis, are also soaking up the experience. Both are also from Georgia, and the young ladies are at the opposite ends of their high school journeys. Amponsah is a senior, and Dennis is a freshman; both are Disney Dreamers with very lofty goals for the future. Amponsah said she wants to be an astronaut one day, but also has interest in becoming a CEO. Dennis wants to one day become a commercial airline pilot and through this academy had the opportunity to talk to Delta Air Lines pilots. She also has an interest in psychology.
“So far my experience has been absolutely amazing, I’ve met new people, and people with amazing careers,” Dennis said.
Amponsah said she has “loved meeting new friends” and during her Living Laboratory experience she met Lanny Smoot, a Disney research fellow and legendary Disney Imagineer.
“I have always wanted to be an inventor growing up, so meeting him was really cool, because I didn’t know inventors still exist today,” Amponsah said. She isn’t sure where she is going to college in the fall, but has applied to numerous in-state colleges, including Kennesaw State University, the University of Georgia, and Valdosta State University.
Asked how they prepared for four days of Disney Dreamers Academy life, both Amponsah and Dennis said they approached this opportunity more like a discussion and less like an interview.
Photo by Donnell Suggs/The Atlanta Voice
“Honestly, I didn’t really prepare, I am just taking in everything,” said Dennis.
Amponsah agreed. She just wanted to tell her story to whomever was willing to hear it. “I think it’s just better that the adults that I have been speaking to are curious about my journey and where I want to go,” Amponsah explained. “Since I know what that is and how clear that is, I think having that defined for yourself helps you.”
Hollis Mason used his many years on the soccer pitches around metro Atlanta to help him while he was at Disney Dreamers Academy. Having played soccer since he was four-years-old, Mason understands what it takes to be a part of a team. He said he has found several new teammates during the four-day academy.
“I didn’t expect to meet so many cool people,” Mason said. “I have so many new friends.” Mason explained that he plans to keep in touch with many of the people he met during the academy. Admitting that he was shy as a child, sports broke him out of that bubble. As a player with Southern Soccer Academy Under 16 team, Mason, an honor student and member of his school’s Model UN, plays at a high level and has to trust his teammates in order to achieve success, so working in groups at the Disney Dreamers Academy was familiar territory. As a second-year news reporter on his school’s newspaper, The Westminster Bi-Line, Mason recognized that he was on the other side of the story during the week.
“I had to step out of my comfort zone,” he said.
Mason, who turns 16 in July, had advice to students that are thinking about applying for the Disney Dreamers Academy Class of 2025: Do it.
“Apply because this is an amazing opportunity to nurture your own dreams and you want to surround yourself with ambitious people,” Mason said.
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