Students in Focus
Event and tourism management is where Lilian found her calling
It was life experience that led Lilian Huang to pursue university studies in her late twenties.
She went straight into work out of high school, adding some overseas travel into the mix, before the COVID-19 pandemic put future holiday plans on hold.
As restrictions began to ease, Lilian and two of her friends took on some wedding planning for a friend to make the day extra special. The process sparking an interest in event management.
“We arranged all the flowers for the ceremony and reception, and made the wedding cake,” she says.
“To make it all happen, we put together a run sheet for the installation, to make sure everything ran smoothly.
“I really enjoyed the whole process, and I ended up enrolling in an Advanced Diploma of Event Management at TAFE NSW in Sydney.”
Once she began her studies, Lilian became aware of the opportunity to study a University of Canberra Bachelor of Event and Tourism Management through TAFE NSW (St Leonards), delivered in person and online by TAFE’s Northern Sydney Institute.
“The Advanced Diploma was a one-year course, but you might say that I caught the ‘study bug’ and I thought the degree would give me more opportunities to work overseas,” Lilian says.
“It’s only two more years of study, because you get credit from your previous year and then I just had to make sure I did more tourism-related units since my advanced diploma was in events.”
She combined her studies with relevant experience, starting with casual jobs at events and a tour guide role during Winter Term. That experience ramped up after Lilian returned from a working holiday to Japan in January, when she landed an event management role with Hannover Fairs Australia, a German event management company with an Australian subsidiary running exhibitions and trade shows in the Asia Pacific.
“I was involved in the planning and delivery of my first CeMAT trade show in Singapore in May,” Lilian says.
“The event was for the warehousing, logistics, robotics and automation industry, which I knew nothing about when I was given the portfolio in February – and I’ve gone on to not only successfully complete the three-day event in Singapore but travelled to Melbourne last month to stage the event there too!”
The demands of the events industry combined with her study requirements left Lilian with little downtime – but she believes coming into the degree as a mature age student has enabled her to better manage her time.
“Life was pretty intense in April, as it was just before my trip to Singapore and all of my end-of-semester assessments were due,” Lilian says.
“I prioritised my assessments and work, but also made sure to go for a walk everyday no matter what, to look after my wellbeing.”
In between study and event management projects, Lilian still finds time to work in the tourism space.
“At the moment, I have been doing some tour guide work for a company offering 24-hour snow tours from Sydney,” she says.
“We leave Sydney at 11pm and drive overnight to Jindabyne. The next day, I help with getting the tour group up to Perisher at around 7am. Most of them are seeing snow for the first time – they do a bit of tobogganing and I ski, before we wrap things up at 3pm and head home, stopping at Goulburn’s Big Merino on the way!”
Although she currently calls Sydney home, Lilian is looking forward to attending her graduation in Canberra next year.
“My family is really looking forward to seeing me graduate, as I’m part of the first generation in our family to go to university and obtain a bachelor’s degree,” Lilian says.
“I’ve already had a chance to get to know some of my peers and academics from UC’s Bruce campus when I had the opportunity to go on the Bhutan study tour – we all got along really well, and it was a great experience.”
Lilian’s career aspirations align with her desire for more adventures, preferably in the ski fields.
“Growing up, we travelled to China quite a lot to visit family and my first trip as an adult was to Japan, which made me fall in love with travelling,” she says.
“I did a working holiday in the ski fields of Whistler in Canada, and I would love to return to Japan’s Hokkaido region, where I was working at the start of the year. Hopefully I can head back there for the winter once I finish my studies at the end of the year!”
While it’s “destination unknown” for now, Lilian has already mapped out the skills, experience and qualifications for an exciting and rewarding journey in the events and tourism sector.
Words by Emma Larouche. Photos supplied.
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