Summer Intern's 700-Mile Commute To Parsippany Goes Viral

PARSIPPANY, NJ — It's no secret that rent has risen, but one summer intern is going to new lengths to afford her new job.

Sophia Celentano, an intern at Ogilvy Health's Parsippany office, made headlines recently after posting a TikTok video about her unusual commute to work.

Rather than pay rent in the New Jersey and New York City areas, Celentano made the decision to instead fly to work once a week from her home in South Carolina as a way to save money.

"I understand this is a really untraditional thing to do, but it works for me," Celentano, who began her internship this month, said in a TikTok video. "I didn't want the location of that one day a week in the office to get in the way of me accepting that job offer."

When she breaks down her commute costs, Celentano claims to be spending an estimated $100 per week on flights, $100 on Ubers, and only $25 on food, totaling approximately $2,250 for the 10-week internship.

According to the real estate marketing firm Zumper, the average price of a one-bedroom apartment in Parsippany as of June 2023 is $2,150 per month. Celentano's video also included the cost of food and gas, making her expenses more than double that of her super-commute.

"I actually am saving a good amount of money by living at home. The reason that it's cheaper for me to be here and just pay for flights is because I'm not spending all that extra money on not just rent, but just living expenses in general in one of the most expensive parts of the country," Celentano said.

"A lot of people also think that I’m probably driving myself crazy mentally and physically getting up that early and taking two planes a day, but it honestly is not that difficult for me," she added. "I like traveling a lot."

Ogilvy Health, whose office is located at 400 Interpace Pkwy. in Parsippany, is an advertising agency focused on the healthcare industry.

Since her original video went viral, Celentano has posted several follow-up videos on TikTok about her super-commuting routine, explaining her bosses' reactions and how she kills time in the airport.

Celentano told CNBC Make It that her super-commute is not even unusual in her internship program, saying that some of her colleagues travel from Boston or Philadelphia, and one even flies in from Atlanta.

"One of the many questions I have been getting online about my commute is, 'Why in the world would I do this for an internship if it's the lowest level of seniority in a company? Is it really that big of a deal?' My answer to that question is simple: absolutely, it’s Ogilvy," Celentano said on her LinkedIn page.