US student takes a flight to her internship every week, says it's cheaper than renting
If you thought your commute from Pasir Ris to Jurong every morning was bad, then take your hat off to a student in the U.S who takes a flight to work every week.
A 21-year-old woman from South Carolina made the news recently for her long and unusual commute to her internship at an advertising agency in New Jersey.
Every Wednesday, Sophia Celentano flies from Charleston, South Carolina, to Newark, then takes an Uber to her job in Parsippany.
She then takes another two-hour flight back home at night.
In a TikTok video, Celetano explained that flying every week actually saves her a lot of money – instead of simply renting an apartment in New Jersey or New York.
"I looked at places that were in the suburbs of New Jersey, I looked at places that were in New York City and got absolutely terrified with the rent prices," she told U.S media.
Rent in New York City is currently at record highs. In May, the median monthly rent for a studio apartment was about US$3,200 (S$4,325), while a studio in Parsippany, New Jersey, averaged around US$2,000. This also does not factor in living expenses.
In contrast, after calculating the costs of her flights and Uber rides, it would set her back around US$2,250 for the 10 weeks of the internship.
The University of Virginia student added that if she settled for the cheapest possible apartment, her quality of life would suffer. So she opted for the long distance commute.
@sophiacelentano48 I spoke too soon y’all my flight home was cancelled tonight EWR is a MESS rn?posting this en route to LGA bc we had to book another flight lol #fyp #foryou #summerinternship #supercommuter #marketingintern #summerintern ♬ Walking On a Dream
In her video, she says she wakes up at 4am to get ready to head to the airport. She then boards the plane around 5.30am, and takes off at 6am.
Arriving in New Jersey at 8am, Celetano takes an Uber from the airport. It’s a 45-minute ride to reach her office before 9am.
Her routine then repeats every week until her internship ends.
Though some netizens found her commute to be “crazy”, they still applauded her commitment.
Some thought it was ironic that in order to stay in her comfort zone back home, she endures an uncomfortably long commute instead.
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