Senior Completes Internship Under the Tuscan Sun

Francesca DeVito ’17 starts her mornings with a run, capped off by a panoramic view of Florence, Italy, before stopping by a café for an iced coffee and heading into her part-time job with a tour company.

DeVito is working and studying this summer in the capital of Italy’s Tuscany region, an opportunity she thought was out of her reach. While she wanted to study abroad, she needed to complete an internship and also didn’t want to miss a full semester at UT because of her involvement with her sorority. But she found perfect program while searching online.

DeVito, a marketing major, is studying at Richmond, The American International University in London’s Florence Center. She is taking the Italian Food and Culture course, and is a marketing intern with a hospitality company.

“In my Italian Food and Culture class, I have learned about the history of Italy, geography, which parts of the country are known for what kinds of food, the etiquette of Italian dining, and about the difference between Italian food and the American perception of Italian food,” said DeVito, of Chatham, NJ. “I’m learning the connection between agricultural practices and food culture in Italy, as well as the contribution of cultural anthropology to the study of food consumption. “

DeVito, who is the events director for her sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, has worked part-time during the last two years for the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel. While a waitress, she has tried to reach out to other departments in the hotel to learn as much as she can as she’d like to pursue a career in hospitality.

Her internship this summer is with the tour company Bus2Alps. Working three days a week, DeVito helps them with operations and sales. She is keeping a written journal of her experience, completing an industry review and preparing an internship portfolio, which she will present to those with whom she works and attends class.

Working for a travel company has its benefits as well — DeVito travels with them in her free time. Over the seven weeks so far DeVito has traveled to the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre in Italy, Croatia and Interlaken, Switzerland. She also went to Venice for a weekend trip with her school and to Siena and Rome with her mom when she visited.

“My internship has impacted me academically by challenging me to learn how businesses in Europe work and learning how to adjust to their daily culture,” DeVito said. “Personally, this internship will be one of the best experiences I have ever had. The team of people I work with are incredibly smart and have welcomed me in to their family and treat me as one of their own.”