All schools in Upshur County will close at 1 p.m. today. All B-UHS sporting events today are canceled.

West Virginia Wesleyan College student lives childhood dream

Kirby Forbes ‘24 of Hurricane, West Virginia, ventured to the Sunshine State and found herself with a magical opportunity. / Photo courtesy WVWC

BUCKHANNON – Kirby Forbes ‘24 of Hurricane, West Virginia, ventured to the Sunshine State and found herself with a magical opportunity.

Forbes is pursuing two degrees, one is a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and the other is a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from West Virginia Wesleyan College. As required, internships have to be completed in order to obtain these degrees and Forbes landed one at Disney University.

She stated, “Doing the Disney College Program has been a dream of mine ever since I was a little kid.”

Disney University offers Disney College Programs where Forbes is completing her internship. She has worked at food and beverage kiosks during festivals that have taken place in Epcot.

“I was able to work during the last month and a half of the Flower and Garden Festival and now the Food and Wine Festival is in full swing,” Forbes said. “At Disney University, I am able to attend classes offered, such as leadership classes. I’m planning to start some of the classes within the next few weeks.”

Forbes will be able to build on the skills that she has developed while attending West Virginia Wesleyan College. She remarked, “Wesleyan has prepared me for this opportunity because I have been able to use my knowledge and leadership skills to help me grow in this program.”

“I believe this is 100% influencing my future career because I get to see first hand all the hard work and dedication it takes to be a part of this company,” Forbes said.

She has used criminal justice experience when observing security operations from day to day and is applying it to what she has learned. However, her psychology major has assisted her more prominently since her involvement in Disney.

”Psychology is widely used at Disney, so simply working or going to the parks on my days off allows me to observe the guests and environments,” she said. “Since I’m a Service Scholar at Wesleyan and my service site is a daycare, I have a better understanding when it comes to working around children.”

She has experienced many memorable moments, but her favorites have been those with the children. Forbes stated, “Seeing a child’s face light up just by simply talking to them about their day or creating a magical moment for them is such an amazing experience.”

Forbes plans on continuing the internship throughout the fall semester while taking other courses that are available and hopes to continue her career at Disney following graduation.

Share this story:

Local Businesses

RECENT Stories

Wesleyan finishes seventh in MEC Commissioners Cup standings

West Virginia Wesleyan finished seventh in the 2024-25 Mountain East Conference Commissioner’s Cup standings, while the University of Charleston captured its eighth consecutive and tenth overall title for all-around athletic excellence.
Summer basketball

Summer basketball league wraps up week one

The Upshur County Summer Basketball League completed its first week at West Virginia Wesleyan College, featuring high-scoring performances from Dalton Hamrick, Cooper Sanders, Derek Sevier, Manadji Tokindang, and Austin Upton.
BUHS Girls Soccer Feature Image

Kelley calls soccer camp a success, has sights on leading B-U girls program to new heights

Logan Kelley, newly named head coach of the Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Buc soccer team, helped oversee a successful youth camp and aims to bring stability and new achievements to the girls program.

Wesleyan professor collecting first-hand accounts, photos to commemorate 1985 flood

A West Virginia Wesleyan College professor and librarian are collecting first-hand stories and photos from the 1985 flood to create an anniversary exhibit preserving campus and community memories of the disaster.

Pizza shop worker arrested for using customer credit card info to gamble online

A pizza shop employee was arrested after allegedly taking a customer’s credit card information from a food order and using it to make unauthorized bets totaling $300 on an online gambling site.

WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital and Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur to hold blood drive on August 15

WVU Medicine St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur will host a blood and food drive on August 15 at the Event Center at Brushy Fork, offering incentives for blood donors.

Buckhannon Water Board Agenda: July 10, 2025

The City of Buckhannon Water Board’s agenda for its July 10, 2025, meeting has been released by My Buckhannon.

Upshur County Commission Agenda: July 10, 2025

Here is the agenda for the Upshur County Commission meeting scheduled for July 10, 2025.

Really Really Free Market and Community Potluck scheduled for Sunday, July 13

A community Really Really Free Market and potluck will be held Sunday, July 13, from 1–3 pm at Walnut and Chestnut streets, featuring free goods, services, food and opportunities to connect and volunteer.