Humans of Chaffey

Chaffey College student Bryce Violette Gioia spoke on having such a strong desire in hospitality. While in high school, she constantly struggled with what career choice she wanted to pursue. It was not until she got hands on experience in the hospitality industry when she knew it would be a fulfilling career to her. It is a very socially active career so she gets to work with and meet many new people. During her time volunteering as an event manager she was able to learn and acquire many skills that she hopes to expand into a career.

Although she describes the process of event management as stressful, the end results are very rewarding. Being able to create connections has always been a passion she has wanted to create with clients and others around her. Bryce has past experiences that have helped her learn more about the industry and create connections to ask people about the process of event managing. These include her time with the Miss Fontana organization court and Chamber of Commerce.

“Seeing how everything was planned out and the end result was absolutely amazing being able to see the smiles on everyone’s face is what pushed me in this direction and career I want to pursue," Bryce explained.

Bryce mentioned the behind the scenes and effort that many of them had to put in with the multiple events. She was able to work on multiple events both small and big including a ribbon cutting and city gala.

“I love that I got to work with different sized events because they’re all so different it teaches you the different ways to approach these events and situations that you might face when having these events," She said.

As Bryce described, the different sized events she got to work on determined how many people she needed to hire, the budget she’s working with, how much times she has to setup and much more. For example, the Gala is a long-awaited annual event that starts planning about six months before hand while the ribbon cutting is started about a month in advance.

Although Bryce mentioned she was not very active in high school clubs, it was the extracurricular activities outside of school that really helped her develop a love for hospitality. She began volunteering with different organizations through her community that helped her become more involved.

She recommends volunteering to any young adult because of the way it was able to help her come out of her shell. During our interview she said:

“I love the opportunities and growth I was able to receive through becoming engaged with the community and would recommend it to everyone."

Her favorite volunteer experience was with the Auto Club Speedway where she went for the Bimmer-fest, Magic of Lights, Auto Club 400 races and more.

After the new experiences Bryce gained, she was excited to head to Chaffey College and learn all she can to better further her skills and ethics. She described her first semester as “overwhelming and daunting” but was able to soon get the hang of it.

Entering college left her with so many questions that she didn’t know where to look for help. For example, she said, that she had no idea what classes she needed to take, or which ones were best for her first semester. She ended up turning to help from those around her such as classmates and staff and was able to figure out what she needed. Once she had all her classes and figured out where they were all located it was a better experience.

“It was the professors and other students around me who made my experience a lot more enjoyable” Bryce said.

Students who were already familiar with certain events that happen on Chaffey were able to help Bryce and help her become more familiarized as well. Bryce said:

“With the help of classmates, staff and SI [student instructed] sessions that were offered outside of the classroom were a big help in helping me set myself up for success at Chaffey College.”

After her time at Chaffey Bryce plans on transferring to a four-year college and continuing her education to receive a bachelor’s degree. She is still deciding whether or not to continue on to get a master’s degree. Bryce had mentioned in our interview:

“It’s not about how much money I make likes of course, who wouldn’t want a great paying job but what matters most to me is being able to create events that won’t just be memorable for me but for others around me not how much I am going to be making.”

Bryce’s passion for event management is so strong she wants to be recognized for her work. She believes her strong work ethic and determination will help her prepare for the career she has set ahead.

HoC: Bryce Gioia

Humans of Chaffey