From home to Harvard
A Wellington School of Business and Government (WSBG) graduand’s commitment to service has seen her secure a fellowship to study at the prestigious Harvard Kennedy School.
Gabrielle Armstrong-Scott, who recently completed WSBG’s Master of Professional Economics, is the recipient of a Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship, which provides funding for up to two years for graduate study at Harvard University. She will be undertaking a Master in Public Administration, and conducting research with the School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Gabrielle first became interested in geopolitics and international issues while studying at Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong with students from over 80 different countries. Her experience at the College, Gabrielle says, made her aware of how narrow her previous understanding of international issues had been.
“I became aware of just how little I knew. I feel very lucky to have had this experience at a young age; it made me want to try really hard to learn more about what’s going on in the world.”
Gabrielle went on to complete her undergraduate degree in Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and then returned to her hometown of Wellington to study at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington. She decided to pursue the Master of Professional Economics despite the fact that economics had not previously been her main area of focus.
“It was something I wanted to improve on, even though it wasn’t previously my area of expertise. I’m interested in international issues and geopolitics, and I think in order to have a complete understanding of geopolitics you have to understand economics and how the global economy functions.”
During her Master’s, Gabrielle conducted research on currency internationalisation under the guidance of Professor Alan Bollard. She approached him about the possibility of being her adviser after being extremely impressed by one of his classes.
“I feel very fortunate that I was able to work with someone like him throughout my Master’s.
“His class on ‘miracle’ economies was one of the best university seminars I had ever taken, despite half of it being on Zoom because of COVID-19 restrictions, which makes it all the more impressive!”
Though Gabrielle is looking forward to returning to the United States, she is aware that it has changed significantly since the last time she studied there, and sensitive to the fact that the country has been through an extremely challenging time.
“This is a really fascinating time to be studying public policy and international affairs, with one of the biggest exogenous shocks to our global geopolitical and economic environment in decades. I’ll be participating in classes where there will no doubt be some interesting discussions about how COVID-19 has changed the world we live in.
“There’s nothing like being in an academic environment where you can sit down with people and talk about events that are playing out in real time.”
Though Gabrielle’s future work will include a focus on international issues, she isn’t working towards one particular dream role—and that suits her perfectly.
“I think sometimes it’s good to not know what your dream job is, or to be able to adjust that goal as you go through life. I try to focus more on growth, impact, and passion for the role, given that I am fortunate enough to have that option.
“I would be happy in any role where I could work on international issues, while also feeling like I’m doing something to try to make the world a better place.”
For those who are interested in studying Professional Economics, these courses now sit under the Master of Business (Professional).