Laura Simcock

  • Publication date November 30, 2022

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!

  • Social inequalities and a visit to Guadalajara

    The topic of this week was poverty and inequality. This week, our classes had a more practical aspect; we developed a definition of poverty and a poverty measurement tool. In these, it was interesting to see the many different perspectives of poverty and how this varied spatially. The most surprising thing we learnt was how…Continue…

  • Exploring new cities and cultures!

    This week was our 3rd week, meaning we are over halfway through our time here at uni, which is crazy! Our topic for the week was indigenous studies in Mexico, taught by the lovely María. We have discovered that there are many Marias, and many are twins. We have two teachers who are called Maria…Continue…

  • The need for humanity

    Just as we thought we were settling in, this week started with many changes in classrooms that led us in a scavenger hunt around campus. The upside of this was finding a couple of new places to study and starting to feel very at home with all the shortcuts we figured out! In Spanish this…Continue…