My Story

In early 2018, I was a senior at Saint Leo University in Florida, about to graduate with a Bachelors degree in Hospitality and International Tourism Management. But one thing stood between me and walking across the stage- confirming with my professor that I had an internship lined up and approved for credits by my university. I searched and applied for internships for 4 months, and the only one on my radar was an unpaid one- with fulltime working hours. I could not accept it. I was praying one evening and I felt urged to type in everything I liked to do with “paid internship” behind it. The first thing that popped up was something that said “Complete your Hospitality Internship in Yellowstone National Park this summer”. I clicked on it, applied, and the next day got contacted to schedule an interview. I scheduled it for the next day and got an offer at the end of the phone call. A couple months later I walked across the stage and a month after that went out to Yellowstone. I barely knew anything about national parks and definitely did not know there were hotels, shops, restaurants, and campgrounds in them. Then I started my journey as a parkie and enjoy sharing about this lifestyle with others, because if I knew about this at 18, I wouldn’t be drowning in student loan debt still and it has made my life quite adventurous.