INVOLVEMENT/ROLES: Artist, Researcher, Writer, Event Planner

Break the Mold (BTM) is an event proposal that Lillian submitted for the PCMA Student Competition in Spring 2021. Competing against over 20 teams from North America, Lillian’s proposal earned 4th place.

The theme for this competition was “Recovery Discovery,” and Lillian’s team chose to focus on creating an immersive event that emphasized diversity and inclusion in higher education. Given the challenges posed by COVID-19, the team sought to explore how events could evolve to meet the “new normal” and better serve the needs of the community.

The proposed event, Break the Mold, was designed to be hosted at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Its purpose was to educate Student Affairs Professionals (SAPs) on how to design experiential and immersive events that promote diversity, inclusion, and student involvement. The event would use storytelling techniques, allowing SAPs to experience the perspective of their stakeholders by shadowing three different college students. SAPs would then reflect on these experiences and work to create events tailored to the students' diverse needs. The students would later attend the events they helped design and provide feedback, which would help SAPs realize the importance of moving beyond generalizations in event planning.

Lillian was particularly proud of how her team presented the proposal. Instead of the traditional format, they chose to present it as a novel composed of journal entries written by three key stakeholders: the student, the student affairs professional, and the event planner. This creative approach helped bring the proposal to life, offering a compelling narrative from multiple perspectives.

To add an extra layer of excitement, Lillian and her team chose not to use a standard PowerPoint presentation. Instead, they presented their proposal in the format of a News Channel broadcast, making their entry stand out and engaging the judges in a unique and dynamic way.