Curious and driven to succeed, Carlota Gonzalez Fernandez set out to maximize her opportunities for professional growth.

In search of hands-on experience, she found it in an unexpected place — an internship with a local hotel group that ultimately broadened her skill set as she prepares to graduate from Averett University and enter the workforce.

An aviation business and management science double major, Gonzalez Fernandez initially looked for opportunities at the local airport. But as an international student without a car, she shifted her focus closer to campus, exploring roles at banks and other businesses before discovering The Laurel Hotel, a boutique property opening this spring as part of the Danville Hotel Collection. After reaching out, she landed an internship as an assistant manager.

As she’s discovered, the aviation and hospitality industries share more similarities than she expected.

“Aviation and hospitality are super related because they both can work in stressful situations, like making the customer happy,” she said. “Everything has to work out the way it has to work out, because if something goes wrong, then the customer is going to complain. Seeing the whole industry and all the operations working together, that’s so related to aviation. Because I’ve worked housekeeping, I’ve worked front desk, I’ve organized events, I’ve worked on the events, I’ve worked with the manager …  What I want to do with my aviation career is go into a management position, so I got that experience.”

Working between The Laurel, The Bee and The Holbrook — the company’s other two hotel properties in Danville — Gonzalez Fernandez played a critical role in the opening of The Laurel, which began serving guests in February.

“She stepped in wherever needed, supporting everything from unpacking boxes and setting up guest rooms to handling laundry, cleaning and operational tasks,” said Madison Eades, regional general manager of the Danville Hotel Collection. “She also contributed on the front desk side by helping build new hire training guides and assisting with setup details like placing room signage and preparing rooms for guests. Her flexibility, positivity, work ethic and willingness to take on anything made a meaningful impact during a very fast-paced opening.”

Gonzalez Fernandez, known as “Charlie” by her friends and colleagues, has made it a priority to gain experience beyond the classroom. She chose not to take her internship for academic credit, instead pursuing it solely for the hands-on experience — even as an unpaid opportunity. In addition, she helped launch the Business & Investment Club at Averett, where she and other students focus on networking and building knowledge in areas such as investing, stock trading and artificial intelligence.

Her willingness to seek out those opportunities has not gone unnoticed.

“What stands out most about Charlie is her positive attitude,” Eades said. “She consistently showed up ready to work, took initiative and embraced every task, no matter how big or small. In an environment like a hotel opening, where priorities shift constantly, having someone dependable, adaptable and positive made a real difference to the team, and we absolutely loved working with her.”

A native of Barcelona, Spain, Gonzalez Fernandez hadn’t originally planned on studying abroad. She initially looked at aerospace engineering programs in Spain, but a conversation with her mom led her to consider coming to the United States for college. Her love for competing in track and field ultimately drew her to Averett.

“It’s such a big opportunity to be able to go to another country and do your whole three- or four-year study there,” Gonzalez Fernandez said. “You learn so much as a person — you become a different person.”

Although she decided to step away from the track and field team this year to focus on her internship and job search, Gonzalez Fernandez left her mark on the program. Last spring, she became the first women’s track and field student-athlete in program history to win an Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship, taking first place in javelin.

Even though she said she’s always been an extrovert, her time studying abroad at Averett has helped her become more independent. Overall, she said, the experience has been transformational.

“I always tell my friends this experience is going to change my whole life,” she said. “It’s going to sound crazy, but the perspective of how I see the world, it’s so different. When you go out somewhere else, you try out new experiences. You try out things that you don’t know if they’re going to end up being good or not. You just open your eyes. So that experience definitely opened my eyes. Now I don’t want to go back home. Now I want to travel the world and work wherever I have to.”

Gonzalez Fernandez believes Averett’s smaller campus size has played a big factor in her development.

“I’m from such a big city and I was used to going to a big school, so you go to class and you have at least like 40 or 50 people,” she said. “So when I came here, whenever you need something, you can count on somebody because we all know each other here, and that’s something some people sometimes don’t like. They’re like, ‘Oh, Averett is so small.’ Yeah, that’s why it’s a good thing, because you’re going to get attention, you’re going to get help whenever you need it. So that was great.

“I feel like since I got here, I’ve grown so much,” she added. “Averett, the way they teach the classes here is so much better than other places because it’s so personalized — like they try to get you hands-on experience even though you also get the knowledge.”

Following graduation from Averett in May, Gonzalez Fernandez hopes to begin her career in the aviation field in either revenue management, network or international agreements for an airline or aviation consultancy — whether in the United States or back home in Spain.

“Right now, my industry is really hard,” she said, referring to the competitive job market.

Gonzalez Fernandez knows she may have to take other roles in order to eventually achieve her goal of being in management. The skills she’s learned in college and within her internship at the hotel have given her the tools to succeed, wherever her career path leads her beyond Averett.

“That’s why I love the internship, because I actually got the hands-on experience and they prepare you for the real world,” she said. “They teach you the stuff that you’re going to use in the future.”