A former high school drop-out is enjoying a fairy tale outcome after being selected to be a cook at Walt Disney World in Florida.
Amy Rooney, 20, came to The Link Centre at Laverton in 2013 after leaving Werribee Secondary College in year 8.
“My anxiety and depression built up to the point I couldn’t take it and I had to come out of school,” she said.
“I had pretty much a year and a half just staying home.
“I was pretty messed up – I was in a pretty deep hole.”
She said she went to a Link Centre meeting in a bid to get herself back in to the “real world”.
“The second I walked in here, I mean I was very, very nervous, but they held me pretty close and helped me through it,” she said.
Next month, Ms Rooney will complete her certificate III in commercial cookery through William Angliss Institute of TAFE before heading to the US in August.
She has been selected to be part of the Disney international program in quick service food and beverage at the Disney near Orlando for six months.
Ms Rooney credited the Link Centre with changing her life.
“This is practically like a bridge to everything that has come my way,” she said. “They’ve really been my foundation.
“It’s really just a bridge back into the real world again.”
