Angela Nguyen

Kelly Simmons

Nguyen, from Suwanee, Ga., oversees a meeting break, ensuring everything is ready for the attendants.
Photographer Peter Frey

Angela Nguyen’s internship at the UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel kept her busy. Working with the center’s sales and events management department, she helped with two-to-three events each week.

With a Georgia Center event coordinator, part of Nguyen’s job was ensuring events were running on schedule and as planned.

“I would check on breaks to make sure that everything was set out at the right time, and everything was set out that the client ordered,” says Nguyen, from Suwanee, Georgia. She learned that a successful event takes a team of planners to keep a schedule moving smoothly and clients happy.

“I realized that hospitality is a huge umbrella in the corporate sector.”

Nguyen didn’t know about the Hospitality and Food Industry Management (HFIM) program when she transferred to the University of Georgia after spending a year at a smaller institution. She quickly learned that the program matched many of her interests and offered unmatched learning opportunities, including a university owned and operated hotel and convention center that provides real-world learning opportunities for students.

At UGA, communication, ethics and diversity are not just theoretical concepts, but key skills that students will use in their professional careers, Nguyen says. They hone those skills at the Georgia Center.

Her experience at UGA convinced her to follow a career in event planning. Nguyen can see herself planning weddings early on, but not long term. Maybe an event planner at a hotel, followed by a corporate office in a big city.

I love to plan events. I’m a person who loves putting things together.