Pedro, who is originally from Mexico, says the experience of studying towards a Master of Public Policy at Victoria’s School of Government offered him a rare insight into the heart of Wellington’s public sector district and has led to multiple learning opportunities both in and outside the classroom.
“I was given lots of opportunities to engage with the public service sector—a lot of my colleagues and friends at the School of Government are actually public servants.
“New Zealand’s public service sector is very accessible, with various departments and people who were always very helpful and willing to learn and listen to new ideas.
“It has been a really amazing experience for me.”
Wellington has been a great home for Pedro for the last two years. He’s enjoyed being able to walk to the Pipitea campus, as factor he took into account when choosing where to study.
“The city provides an amazing surrounding for education. It’s simple things which are important and make a difference—especially when you are thinking about heading to a world capital.
“It’s rare to find a capital city the size of Wellington. It’s a very compact city but has all the attractions and opportunities a capital city needs.
“The natural aspects of the city are important too. You’re close to water as well as main motorways! Small things like this improve your quality of life.”
Hoping to get a comprehensive view of what student life is like at Victoria, Pedro attended many social events on campus. He joined the Latin America and Spanish club, using it was a way to get to know other New Zealanders. “It provided me with a great exchange with kiwis and our common interest was Latin America.”
During his time at Victoria, Pedro also completed a two month internship in the System and Service Transformation branch of the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), which he says complemented his study. He was involved in three major projects throughout the full-time placement.
“I was involved in helping the wider team refresh the actions of a strategic and action plan, as well as developing a framework of monitoring and reporting the progress of different strategies. I was also involved in the development of many other projects such as relationship management framework.”
Pedro is currently considering his next step and trying to decide between staying at Victoria to study at PhD-level or returning to work in the public sector in Mexico.