Through Hayley's Eyes-The Marino Campus Experience. 

Hi, I'm Hayley, a student at Marino Campus. Are you wondering what's it's like to come here? Before I started, I sure did. Well, I'm going to tell you all about it. But before I do, let me tell you a little bit about me. I'm 23-years old. I'm a very outgoing and positive person. I have a disability called Fragile X Syndrome, which means that my learning style is different. I always wanted to have a career in the hospitality industry, maybe in a restaurant or spa, but I felt like I needed more training to prepare. That's why I decided to enroll at Marino Campus.

 This has been one of the best year's of my life. I've made new friends. I've grown as a person. And I've learned a lot.  I feel like I'm getting totally prepared  to reach my career goal.

So let me walk you through what's it's like being a student at Marino Campus. 

I'm on campus three days a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. I intern at a job site on Mondays and Wednesdays, but I'll get to that later. I take the public bus to our building at 400 North Andrews, pretty much in the center of downtown Fort Lauderdale. This is where I take all of my classes, eat lunch and hang out with my new friends. There's a ping-pong table, Foosball game, a workout room, library and cafe. I get to school every day by 8:30 - that's when my first class starts - and leave around 4:00 in the afternoon.   

Classes geared for students to obtain leading industry certifications. 

I take four classes a day. A couple of my classes are about living a healthy life on my own. Another class is a tech class which is great because I'm learning computer stuff I can use. My longest class is my Hospitality class. In Hospitality class, I feel like I'm learning a lot of important details about how to do a good job. Our teacher, Stephanie, is great. She goes over everything in detail and really makes sure that we understand the topic we are covering. 

I will be going for a certification from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute - a very respected name in the hospitality business. My Hospitality classes are all geared to helping me pass the test for this certification. 

Marino Campus is the first pilot site for ViTA DMF - virtual reality job interviewing software. 

Technology is big here. Our teachers use Smartboards in class. We have wireless internet everywhere. And our computer lab is amazing. One of the coolest things is that we get to practice our job interview skills by talking with virtual humans. It's a software program called ViTA DMF, and it was developed by the staff at The Dan Marino Foundation working with the University of Southern California-Institute of Creative Technology (USC-ICT). 

Check out the video of me interviewing with a virtual human.

Friendship and Fellowship

When I first started, I didn't really know any of the other students. And, of course, I worried a little bit about how I would fit in. I quickly realized that all of the students were in the same boat. Everybody was really friendly, and before I knew it, I had made some great new friends. We support one another in class and with homework, and we have a great time hanging out on campus before and after school and between classes. 

All of the students here have a great attitude. We are serious about learning and getting prepared for our careers, but we also want to share our lives with friends we care about. 

Real-World Experience

I go to my internship two days a week. My internship is designed to help me get real-world experience in the hospitality industry. I work for Chartwells on the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) campus. Chartwells manages all of the restaurants at FAU. I started by working for Papa John's Pizza, and now I'm working for Einstein's Bagels. The favorite part of my job is working up front and interacting with the FAU students.

Want to see me on the job? I was actually featured in a  t.v. commercial about employment for the state of Florida.

Check it out if you have a minute!