Mayfield Italian teacher Melissa Fini-Sanson took her love for traveling and made it into a career as a travel agent.

Fini-Sanson started working for travel agency Memories and Moments in April of 2017. However she did not become an official agent with a license number until August of 2017.

In regards on why she decided to transform her appreciation for travel into a career opportunity, Fini said, “Really just my love for travel and for another income. We want to build a house and I obviously love to travel so it’s almost like a hobby. It incorporates my hobby in a professional paid way.”

Fini-Sanson said there was quite a bit of training to get her license. She said, “ to sell disney, for example, it is a really elite group of people; Disney doesn’t want a lot of people to be able to travel their trips. They keep it very elite, and very tough. I think there are less than 4,000 disney travel agents.”

Aside from the 6 month long training included being able to sell Disney, Fini-Sanson had to encounter an abundance of other training as well , such as training to set up cruises and additional training from her boss at Memories and Moments Travel.

Fini-Sanson is paid strictly by the companies, never by her clients. She said,”I use websites or I deal with the resorts or the cruise lines itself, I don’t go through a third party website like Travelocity or Expedia, I deal with Royal Caribbean themself or I use websites that are meant for travel agents so there are no hidden fees there’s no commision added and then I book it through them and they pay me because I sold their product, so I get paid directly from the travel industry…It’s kind of interesting, I don’t get paid from my clients.”

Aside from her job as a travel agent and Italian teacher,  Fini-Sanson stays very active throughout the school community. Fini-Sanson however, doesn’t let her busy schedule  Fini-Sanson said, “I oversee senior class and student council…I am a building leadership team member, and a board member for the Italian- American Cultural Foundation.”

Although Fini- Sanson has what looks like a full plate, she is able to keep herself organized with it all. She said, “To-do lists, makes lists and even if you have to write something down just to cross it off, it makes you look more productive, and I live by a calendar.” This is her best advice on how to stay organized.

Melissa Fini-Sanson has always had a strong passion for traveling. Fini uses traveling as a way to step out of her comfort zone. Fini said, “When I travel I tell myself no one is ever going to see me again, so I am fun, and outgoing, I am willing to take risks, and I am willing to do new things without that fear of a reputation, or gossip, or being judged following me.”

Brooke Finerman, former Italian student, traveled to Italy last summer with Fini- Sanson. The trip entailed of fourteen days and multiple cities, all activities in which Fini- Sanson planned. She said, “Mrs. Fini had everyone on a tight schedule, all of the stops were planned exactly so we knew where to meet, and what time. She made sure we had enough time to visit each city and the trip ended up being a lot of fun.”

Chris Torda doubles as Fini- Sanson’s close friend and colleague. He works with Melissa Fini-Sanson on Mayfield’s student council and overlooking senior class. In regards to Fini- Sanson’s ability to be a travel agent,  Torda said, “  She very tenacious, she goes out of her way and she is very diligent to find the best of everything that you want and she will explore every avenue to give you multiple choices and get you the best thing for the cheapest amount.”