Student spending $10,000 to travel to internship explains why he's doing it
A student at New York University has explained why he's spending $10,000 to travel to an internship every weekend in Florida.
When you're planning for your future career, getting experience can be key.
A lot of people look for part-time jobs or internships to set them up in their field, but not many are willing to travel more than 1,000 miles to do so.
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Vincent Campanaro, who's in his first year at NYU, is one of the few who are.
Every Friday, after finishing his classes at school, Campanaro hops on a plane to Florida for the weekend to work his paid hospitality internship at The Ritz-Carlton Naples hotel.
The student spends about $500 every week to fly back and forth - a figure that could cover rent in some areas, but which Campanaro actually believes is pretty reasonable.
"Flying back and forth to Naples, that's really penny-pinching because Naples is pretty expensive," he said during an interview on Varney & Co.
That being said, Campanaro said it's 'not easy' to cut down costs.
"Actually, there have been times where I had to sleep at the airport or just book a completely different flight because my flight price increased," he explained.
But even in spite of his efforts to save money, Campanaro expects to spend $10,000 on commuting costs over the course of the six-month internship.
So, why is he willing to fork out so much money for the role?
Well, Campanaro explained there are 'multiple layers' to his decision - especially considering he's not actually majoring in hospitality.
He explained: "The internship market in general is incredibly competitive right now.
"So, you've got people applying with, say, perfect test scores, perfect GPA, everything, and they send 200 applications, and they don't get a single offer."
"It's basically luck of the draw," he continued. "I could have applied to every single internship in the entire country and not gotten a single one in New York, so it's just a complete coincidence.
"Freshmen do not intern at hotels, really.”
Campanaro noted that internships are typically built for the students in their junior and senior years, so receiving an offer is rare for someone in his class.
After receiving an offer from the Ritz-Carlton Campanaro, he decided to jump at the opportunity, and with just one month of his internship now remaining the student has described it as 'fantastic' professional experience.
"I've learned so much just about the Ritz-Carlton philosophy and customer centricity, all of that, and just sort of anticipating the needs and wants of your guests," he said.
Emily Brown