Laura Simcock

Laura Simcock

Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Latin America, Social Realities in Mexico

Introduction

Kia ora!

My name’s Laura, and I’m super excited to be going to Mexico for six weeks as part of the PMSLA – Social Realities in Mexico group. I’m originally from Christchurch and have just finished my second year at UoA studying a Bachelor of Global Studies and Bachelor of Arts conjoint, majoring in Global Environment and Sustainable Development and Geography.

I applied for Social Realities in Mexico as it is a programme that matches all the areas in my degree that I am interested in: environmental sustainability, indigenous studies, and human rights.

It is also an awesome opportunity to learn more about Mexico. The parts of the trip I am most excited about are the service workshops with experts and the week-long Cuetzalen study trip! I also can’t wait to practise my Spanish and try all of the food I can!

I am currently unsure about what I want to do professionally, so I am hoping this trip will inspire me and reveal possible career pathways.

I can’t wait to share with you all what we get up to!

  • Final Thoughts and Thanks

    After being back in New Zealand for just over a week, I thought I’d share my final thoughts on my amazing month-and-a-half trip to Mexico. As my previous posts have been quite wordy, I am going to aspire to keep this one short! People have been asking me all week about my time away, and…Continue…

  • A week in Cuetzalan

    Our last week in Mexico was in the beautiful Cuetzalan, staying with an indigenous collective, Sociedad Cooperativa Tosepan Titaniske. Our days were jam-packed, so this blog will be a day-by-day account so that I don’t miss anything! Day 1 Our first day started at 7 am, with a 5-hour bus ride with our two IBERO…Continue…

  • ‘A sustainable future has to be just’

    Our last week at IBERO was short but very busy! It was a week of lasts – last classes, last lunches, last bus rides. The final projects that we had been working on during our time here were due on Thursday. My project discussed the power imbalances in environmental management, particularly focusing on the different…Continue…