When Zoey Law was presented with the opportunity to travel overseas for the placement year of her BA (Hons) Events Management degree, she jumped at the chance.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity to experience a new country and be fully independent,” she explains. And she didn’t stay close to home - she moved to Brisbane in Australia for a year to work for an events company called Riverlife.
“They have five venues where we’d organise weddings, birthdays, school formals and business meetings, as well as an adventure centre located on the Brisbane River. It was great to go to a company that could give me experience that’s really relevant to my degree,” she enthuses.
While she loved her placement, Zoey adds that it was challenging, but in a very positive way: “Before I flew to Australia the only thing I’d secured was my job, so I had to go through the process of making new friends and finding an apartment once I arrived.
“It was great for my confidence, as I was out of my comfort zone but it proved that I could adapt,” she says.
Working for Riverlife also helped her gain confidence within her chosen profession, with Zoey adding that her time at the company demonstrated she could “be a quick thinker and adapt to change”.
Zoey is very grateful for all the support she received from BU both in terms of funding her trip and from her placement adviser. She received money towards the cost of her return flights from the BU Global Horizons Fund, and had regular Skype chats with her placement adviser throughout her time in Australia “to ensure everything was going as planned”.
Receiving money towards the expense of her flights allowed her to save enough to enjoy a trip to Thailand at the end of her placement. “Going to Thailand was great,” she says. “It just goes to show you never really know where you’ll end up when you take these opportunities.”
She also tells us that her time overseas has completely changed her thoughts on what she’d like to do after university. “I’m going to travel for a year to experience new cultures, and I’ll keep an eye out for event companies along the way.
“What I learned from being in Australia is that there are so many more opportunities there for amazing events due to the climate, and I’m sure that’s the case for many other places,” she adds.
