Amy Maiorano, a College Experience Senior, has grown by leaps and bounds at her internship at the Albany Marriott. While Amy has had past work experiences, none seemed like the right fit until she began her internship at The Marriott! Amy provided us with some additional information about her internship, and tips for future students, below:

I work at the Marriott Hotel on Wolf Road in Albany.  I love to go on vacations so I love hotels, and it’s a new experience.   But it is nothing like vacations at all.  You just have to work and pay attention.  It is a lot of responsibilities because I am doing food prep and banquet service.  I welcome people, I’m very friendly, and we all work together as a team.  I love it there because it is repetition over and over again.  When I need to know something I need to know it every day.  I have always had a hard time cutting, and now I am getting better with repetition.   It helps me remember every step.   I cut strawberries in the beginning, and it was a challenge.  I cut stuffed peppers, cauliflower and other vegetables.  I do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It is getting easier as I begin to understand more.

To get my internship, I had an interview. I sat down with an employment team who asked me questions about the kind of work I like. I answered, “Whatever has to do with being friendly and I interacting with people.” So we decided to try out an internship in the hospitality business.

I love working at The Marriott because I get to see new faces every day and because of new experiences.  At work, we sometimes listen to music in the kitchen, and it helps me learn better when I listen.  I have made plenty of mistakes.  The most challenging, difficult part was doing muffins.  You think it looks so easy.  I poured the batter into the muffin cup and all the batter spilled out onto the floor.  They said it is all right because people make mistakes all the time.  After that, my job coach and the chef told me what to do afterwards.

I used to work with kids in the past, and this is so much of a different experience because now I am in a different environment.  I made a lot of new friends at work and we all accept each other for who we are.  Even though I am an intern there, I feel like I am hired by them as an actual employee.  They treat me how they want to be treated.  If I make a mistake they are honest and do not just say, “Good job, Amy.”  But they love my accomplishments and what I do at work.

I suggest that students come work or do an internship at the Marriott Hotel if you are very interested in food prep.  You cannot just come in miserable at work.  You have to come in with a great mood because if you are in a great mood everyone else is in a great mood.  I used to work with kids at a daycare center and they were nice too, but I like this position much better.  It is a new change.  It does not smell like diapers. With my new job, I have positive things to say about it, but there are some downsides like any job. For example, I have to take three different busses to get there, and sometimes I have to break down cardboard boxes at the end of my shift which I don’t really like. I do like to socialize at work and say, “Good morning” or “How are you?” to the guests. There are more things that I like than I don’t like!

In the future, I would like to be a public speaker and be an author.  I would like to talk about my disability, Deletion-22, and other hidden disabilities.