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S E R V I N G M I D VA L L E Y & U P PE R L AC K AWA N N A VA L L E Y THEVALLEYADVANTAGE.COM | JUNE 7, 2019
‘Gotta Dance’ is the title of a dance recital scheduled for this weekend at Lackawanna College | PAGE 4
Eight seniors from Carbondale Area High School aided veterans as they placed flags on graves | PAGE 9
Working for The Mouse Dickson City native gets dream job BY JOSH MCAULIFFE FOR THE ADVANTAGE
After graduation, Cesari applied for a job at Disney, but didn’t get it. Disappointed yet Jim Cesari’s job title sounds like someundeterred, he ended up landing a position thing out of a Disney movie: imagineer. building databases for Huntsville, AlabamaIt makes perfect sense once you learn Ce- based Jacobs Engineering, a contractor sari recently realized his longtime dream of for NASA. Among his more offbeat assigngoing to work for the Walt Disney Co. Two ments was working on the urine processor months ago, the Dickson City native and for the International Space Station. Mid Valley High School graduate started By the time Cesari married his wife, his new job as a software developer at Brandie, at Disney World in 2011, he had Disney’s Imagineering Research & Develop- found professional and personal fulfillment. ment facility in Glendale, California. SpeHowever, everything came crashing down cifically, he works on the software for the in July 2015, when his wife passed away due animatronic attractions at Disney’s theme to a lifelong medical condition. parks. “That was the day my life stopped,” Ce“I’m one of the in-house magic makers,” sari said. he said. “My job is to make people happy.” Devastated, he left Huntsville to start a Cesari spoke at a conference at Penn State new chapter in Orlando. There, he took a poScranton, where he spent some of his colsition, not with Disney, but with government lege career. defense contractor Lockheed Martin. The job “I would tell you if you don’t know what was satisfying, yet stressful, requiring Cesari you want to do, try everything you can. to regularly put in 60-hour-plus work weeks. Finally, in October 2018, Cesari got the Don’t be afraid to take chances,” Cesari told call he always wanted. Disney wanted him the attendees. After unsuccessfully trying out other ma- to come out west, and early this year the jors, he transferred to the school’s College of dream officially became a reality. Information Sciences and Technology (IST). “This means more to me than anything “It’s always an honor to have IST graduin my career,” said Cesari as he displayed a ates who are highly successful in their photo of his Mickey Mouse-adorned Disney careers share experiences,” said Dr. Deb nametag. Smarkusky, associate professor. He’s still learning the ins and outs of the As Cesari was working toward graduajob, but is already highly impressed with tion, he was accepted into the Disney Colthe work being done by his department. lege Program in Orlando, where he made “Since I’m new, I haven’t gotten to work great contacts and even got to serve as on anything yet, but some folks I work with “Mickey Mouse’s bodyguard” at an event. just completed Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy, which has, to me, one of the coolest animatronics in the parks,” he said. “But really, I love everything from the older Pirates (of the Caribbean) animatronics to this new one.” TS_CNG/ADVANTAGE/PAGES [A01] | 06/06/19
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From left: Dr. Deb Smarkusky, conference organizer Michael Walsh, Cesari and Fred Aebli. Cesari likes Disney’s overall company culture, too. “I feel like it’s way more of an environment where you’re allowed to experiment. We’re held back only by what we can’t do because it’s physically impossible,” he said. “And it’s way more laid back than I thought it would be. But, everyone gets their job done more efficiently than at any other place I’ve worked. The people are happy
there. … It’s been a lot of fun so far.” “Seeing Jim’s journey is an inspiring story,” said Fred Aebli, lecturer in IST and program co-coordinator. “I hope our students embrace and realize careers are filled with ups and downs. At the end, though, you can achieve your goal. For me, as Jim’s teacher and friend, I am incredibly proud and will continue to stay in touch. He is one fellow I know I admire greatly.”
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