“[It] allows me to be that person who helps people choose a path”: Tuong Ho on volunteering as a student ambassador

Tuong Ho is in her third year studying Civil and Structural Engineering with Honours at Charles Darwin University. She volunteers as a student ambassador, providing guidance and support to students working towards a career in engineering. 

“When I was growing up in Vietnam and wanted to be an astronaut, people laughed at me. So I lost that dream. Then I said I wanted to be an engineer and people laughed again. But this time my aunty encouraged me.

Now that I’m a third-year engineering student and I also have an internship with Aurecon, I want to pass that encouragement on, the same way my aunty did.

Sometimes, to recognise all of the choices you have in life and to choose your own path, you have to meet someone who’s walking that path. Volunteering allows me to be that person who helps people choose a path.

Volunteering also helps me. I can see myself opening up by learning to talk to different types of people, including senior engineers.

I learn from the experience of people in industry and from Engineers Australia events, workshops and mentoring programs.

Volunteering has helped me to step out of my comfort zone, but in a good way.”

Read more about Engineers Australia’s volunteers here.