Huong went to Box Hill Institute of Tafe in early 2012 to study Business Management, where she studied for 2 years, achieving a Diploma in Management followed by an Associate Degree in Commerce.
It was her first trip out of her homeland, Vietnam, her first time on an aeroplane to a far destination, and proved to be a life-changing experience.
Why Box Hill Institute for Management and Commerce?
Despite having been offered another opportunity to study Hospitality Management in Sydney, Australia, I opted for Box Hill Institute as my study destination. At the time, I was working as a Marketing and Communication Executive in Vietnam and my mentor advised me to go for a business studies course as it was more relevant to my work. Box Hill was offering a scholarship and I was told that Melbourne was a great city to live in, easy for a first-timer like me.
Even so, Australia was still a big culture shock for me which was increased by the shock of being a ‘formal’ student struggling to adapt to the language barrier: I had never studied formally before and this was a place where, unlike my own culture in which you are told what to do, I was expected to be a proactive, independent learner.
The Course at Box Hill
As a mature student, I had the advantage of having experience when I came to study and some parts of it were easier as a result. The course gave me an overview of small business operations, from resources allocation to finance and marketing. Although these are fundamental in business, I had never studied them before. The diploma in management was easier for me as I had the practical experience. Some of the majors were a little difficult because I had not followed the traditional educational route, with gaps in subjects such as maths and English. However, BHI provided wonderful support to help me overcome these problems.
I loved studying marketing, event organisation, business ethics and economics; they are very relevant to our day to day life as well as to business, especially business ethics which is something we did not have in the curriculum in Vietnam. Marketing in particular was helped by my background in this field: my practical experience really made a difference.