A New York University student is going viral after admitting to spending $500 every weekend to travel to a six-month hospitality internship in Naples, Florida.
Vincent Campanaro, a first-year student at New York University’s Stern School of Business, appeared on “Varney & Co.” by FOX Business. last week to talk about his decision to work for the semester at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida.
“There are multiple layers to this, actually,” Campanaro said, adding that it was a “complete coincidence” that he ended up in Florida.
“The internship market in general is incredibly competitive right now,” he said during the program. “So you have people who apply with, let’s say, perfect test scores, perfect GPA, everything, and they send out 200 applications and don’t get a single offer.”
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It’s a decision that he estimates will cost $10,000 at the end of the internship.
Campanaro flies to Florida after classes end at 12:15pm on Friday and will return to New York at 9pm on Sunday.
“There were times when I had to sleep at the airport or just book a completely different flight because the price of my flight had increased,” Campanaro admitted. “[But] I learned so much.”
The Ritz Carlton Naples is a luxury five-star beach hotel on the west coast of Florida. Rooms can start at over $1,000 per night during the peak winter season. The hotel reopened in July 2023 after an extensive renovation that began in 2021.
Campanaro is not the first worker to open up to “supercommuting” to compensate for a competitive market and the cost of living.
In January, Wall Street Journal reporter Chip Cutter revealed that he commutes weekly from Columbus, Ohio, to work in his New York office three out of five business days.
A 21-year-old corporate marketing intern named Sophia Celentano also went viral over the summer after revealing that she commuted by plane from Charleston, South Carolina, to Newark, New Jersey, once a week , when she was required to be in the office for her. apprenticeship.
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However, Campanaro believes that despite the cost and long commute, it is worth it for the sake of potential future opportunities.
“Despite the challenges of traveling thousands of miles a month, the rewards have been immeasurable,” Campanaro said. “Additionally, the contacts I have made, both within the company and in the broader community, many of whom come from backgrounds different from my own, have significantly broadened my perspective.”