A typical day in the life of Bentley junior Carlos Diaz used to look something like this:
1. Wake up
2. Go to class
3. Do homework
4. Hang out with friends
5. Repeat
Soon Carlos' daily schedule will be undergoing a dramatic change. It will probably look something like this:
1. Wake up
2. Shuttle VIPs to Olympic venues
3. Distribute tickets and promotional merchandise to VIPs
4. Shuttle VIPs back to hotels
5. Repeat
Carlos will be one of the thousands of people who will soon converge on the city of Vancouver. As an intern member of NBC's Winter Olympic hospitality team, Carlos will be as close to the action as any non-athlete could possibly wish to get.
How does one get to go to the Olympics anyway? Well, there are the two traditional ways. You could spend an arm and a leg to buy tickets, air fare, hotels and food. Or, you could be one of the select few athletes with "superhuman" abilities and a fancy nickname like "The Flying Tomato." Or, you could take a less traditional path and follow your best friend to his interview. That's exactly what Carlos did. After his best friend interviewed and ultimately received an internship with NBC, Carlos asked the interviewer if there were any more positions available. The interviewer told Carlos to come back in the morning for his own interview, and by the next day he was preparing to go to Vancouver as a member of team NBC.
Working as a member of the Olympic team is the perfect job for Carlos. Growing up in Delaware, he follows the Philadelphia sports teams. His favorites are the 76ers, Eagles, and Flyers. Carlos’ love of sports has led him to create his own sports website cnbsports.com. The site employs about twenty of his friends who love to watch and write about sports.
Aside from being a fanatic, Carlos is also quite the athlete. No, he won’t be lacing up his skates to make a miracle shot against the Russians, but he does have a few achievements of his own. During his senior year, Carlos helped lead his basketball team to the Delaware state championship. He is currently a member of Bentley’s lacrosse team as well.
Carlos’ favorite sports story has nothing to do with any on or off the field accomplishments though. Carlos loves to tell people about how he grew up just around the corner from where current Lakers all time leading scorer Kobe Bryant also grew up and honed his game. However, Carlos was too young at the time to know that he was living just down the road from one of the greatest basketball players who ever lived.
Carlos is a management major in his junior year here at Bentley University. He is hoping that his experience at the Olympics will help to give him some insight on what he may want to do for the rest of his life. He does know that he loves seafood and would love to open his own seafood restaurant in Miami. Miami is Carlo’s ideal place to live since he loves the sun and the beach. His restaurant would continue a family tradition that his dad started in Puerto Rico.
Carlos isn’t all about work though. When it comes down to it, he is just your normal everyday college junior. He loves hanging out with his friends and playing sports. His favorite two hangouts are Bodega and Deluca’s. Although he does not live close to his family anymore, he loves to spend time with his older sister and younger brother. He hopes one day that he will have a job that will allow him to travel the world with his family.
The ice is prepped. The slopes are combed. The arenas built. Soon thousands of people will converge on the beautiful city of Vancouver. Whoever isn’t there will most certainly be watching on their televisions. Carlos Diaz will be there, alongside his best friend experiencing the internship of a lifetime. No, Carlos may not know exactly what he wants to do after he hears his name called at graduation in 2011, but right now that doesn’t matter to him. He is just living the dream.
