Growing up with her single father and sister in Ho Chi Minh City, life was not always easy for business student April Ho.
“Ho Chi Minh City is getting more and more polluted and density is increasing so it was hard to get around. The congestion and lack of visibility impacted my health and made it harder for me to get to school,” April said.
After finishing high school, her dad encouraged her to go into business but said she need to learn the theory first at an overseas university. Not sure where to look, she found UTS Insearch, the pathway to UTS, and moved to Sydney the following year.
April found Sydney a massive change from life in Vietnam.
“In Vietnam, other people are like extended family. I also feel like people are more relaxed in Vietnam that they are in Sydney and everyone is a bit more of an individual in Sydney,” April said.
April started to adapt and like the culture and local communication style after one to two months living in Sydney.
“Every day, I meet people from different backgrounds with different personalities. It is very exciting to be more confident in front of Australians and go out of my comfort zone,” April said.
“At UTS Insearch, I also like the way of learning, teachers provide you with the concepts you need to learn and how to apply the knowledge. Now after my first semester, I can think now – how can I set up a business, how can I think what the costs are going to be open a restaurant?”
“In Vietnam, you are expected to repeat what you learn in class again in the exam. We did not have any assignments to apply our knowledge either. We just learnt concepts verbatim.”
“Since I have been in Australia, I have been more creative. I have to make new friends from different countries and cultures, so I learn all different ways to meet new people and how to interact with different people,” she said.
“It surprises me every day because people have such different personalities that I would have never known if I had not come here. “
After she graduates from UTS Insearch, April wants to pursue a Bachelor of Business in Finance & Marketing at UTS and maybe even start her own café in the future.