30 Jan A Week in the Life: How ASI Programming Helped Kayla Lam Step Into the Spotlight
- Programming Coordinator, Kayla Lam, from ASI’s Student Programs and Engagement department grew her professional career with ASI during her entire academic journey at CSUF.
- Lam shared her key takeaways from working with ASI reflected on her next chapter after graduation, including her internship with OCVIBE and her upcoming housekeeping internship with Marriott in May.
With the childhood dream of becoming an actress, Kayla Lam found her path into event programming after falling in love with entertainment and stage managementthrough her high school’s theater productions. She brought that passion with her to Cal State Fullerton, where she serves as one of ASI’s programming coordinatorsin the Student Programs and Engagement (SPE) department.
At ASI, CSUF students like Lam can develop hands-on experience in their desired fields of work. In Student Programs and Engagement, student employees have the opportunity to learn how to plan ASI and CSUF’s biggest events of the year including Spring Concert, Beyond the Conversation and Tuffy’s Marketplace.
Lam reflected on her journey as a student employee with ASI while preparing to launch her career after graduation.
From Stage Management to Soft Launching Her Career
Lam and her team work together to host ASI’s annual Spring Concert event. / Credit: ASI Marketing, Communication, and Design
After finishing high school during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lam came to CSUF as a business entertainment and hospitality major, eager to learn more about her theatrical passion.
“My senior year of high school was the pandemic, so I didn’t get to do very much,” Lam said. “I made it my mission for college to be my redo and to do everything that I wanted to do and not wait, because I realized that waiting wasn’t going to get me anywhere.”
She first learned about ASI after working with the Asian Pacific American Resource Center for ASI’s Titan Night Market and hearing about Spring Concert from an alumna who worked Lam’s dream stage manager job at Disneyland.
After volunteering for Spring Concert and networking during her first year, the SPE team hired Lam – then a sophomore – as a programming assistant, her first part-time job ever.
Lam tables with ASI Programming to generate excitement for their upcoming events. / Credit: ASI Marketing, Communication, and Design
“She has always been somebody that we could count on to do many different things,” said Austin Ysais, ASI assistant director of Programming and Engagement.“She took the fear out of working with sound equipment away, and now we have 18 students that can do it because of her.”
Through working in SPE, Lam combined her background in stage management with her skills in event planning to bring ASI’s biggest events to life.
Stepping into the Limelight with ASI Leadership
Lam moderates ASI’s Beyond the Conversation event with Cynthia Erivo. / Credit: ASI Marketing, Communication, and Design
From creating budget sheets to launching her very own ASI event, Tuffy’s Marketplace, Lam approaches every opportunity and event in SPE as a chance to grow and take risks and build confidence.
“I try to gravitate towards things that I haven’t done before, that are kind of novel to me, but it just helps me understand who I am and what I like and or what I don’t like,” Lam said.
According to fellow programming assistant, Mercedes Avila, seeing Lam come out of her shell and take on leadership roles within the department has been a highlight.
“She and I were very shy in the beginning,” Avila said. “Seeing her come out of her shell and become the confident woman she is today through her work has inspired me and I’m really proud of her for building the legacy she did in our department.”
Since beginning at SPE, Lam created ASI’s Tuffy’s Marketplace and moderated the first Beyond the Conversation event of the 2024-25 year with actor Cynthia Erivo.
A Week in the Life: Planning Tuffy’s Marketplace
Lam created Tuffy’s Marketplace, an ASI event designed to spotlight student-owned business vendors. / Credit: ASI Marketing, Communication, and Design
As the architects of most ASI’s events, the SPE team works endlessly behind-the-scenes to coordinate all the logistics that go into making each event happen for the Titan community.
To bring Tuffy’s Marketplace to life in 2025, Lam led a team of programmers in designing and executing the vibrant new CSUF event, celebrating student-owned businesses and communities rooted in artistic expression.
Tuffy’s Marketplace brings in students of all majors and background who want to showcase their small businesses and art. / Credit: ASI Marketing, Communications and Design
- Monday: To begin the week organized, Monday serves as SPE’s meeting day to discuss any remaining event details and logistics. In addition to sharing consistent updates via group chat, the team uses this internal meeting as an open forum to ask any questions to ensure everyone is on the same page.
- Tuesday and Wednesday: The team communicates with vendors and other student programmers to make sure all external outreach and details are completed.
- Thursday: Event day for Tuffy’s Marketplace and the most intense day for Lam’s team as they do event set-up, monitor last-minute emails and make sure the event goes as planned. The night featured live entertainment, shopping from student vendors, food trucks, student entertainers, and photo opportunities, all coordinated by Lam and her team.
Lam and her team work tirelessly to plan ASI events that foster community on the CSUF campus. / Credit: ASI Marketing, Communication, and Design
After the event, the student programmers will begin planning the signature event for the next academic year to maintain ASI’s production schedule.
A true mark of Lam’s legacy in SPE is the permanent inclusion of student-owned small-business vendors across all ASI events, an idea she originally introduced brought to life through Tuffy’s Marketplace.
Due to the support and hard work of her team in Spring 2025, Lam, along with her fellow student programmers, doubled the number of student vendors to 40 in just one year since the event’s original launch.
Planning Her Way Through Life and Internships
The SPE department at ASI offers hands-on event planning work experience to its student employees to help prepare them for post-graduation success.
Because of her role as a student programmer, Lam was able to use her event experience to land an internship as special programmer/programming coordinator at OCVIBE in Spring 2025.
By shadowing the events coordinator at OCVIBE, Lam learned additional event management skills by assisting in the execution of many special events, including a prom, a banquet and a concert at the Honda Center.
“Kayla’s a prime example of what it means to take full advantage of your college experience,” Ysais said. “She put the work in to really find out who she is and what will make her proud of herself over the next five years.”
After refining her career goals and honing her leadership capabilities, Lam landed a summer 2026 internship with Marriott International, Inc. in its housekeeping department.
Leaving Her Legacy and Looking Forward
Looking back on her time at ASI, Lam reflected how ASI and Student Programs and Engagement inspired her to put herself out there and take risks for the opportunities she wants.
“The great thing about programming is that they trust us,” Lam said. “They’ve pushed me to do bigger and bigger things because they know I can handle it and see my willingness to take risks now.”
In addition to her passion for event planning, Lam has developed an interest in the analytical side of business management and hopes to pursue a career that blends creative strategy with community building, inspiring others to speak up for what they want, just like she did.