Waking up in my own bed on February the 22nd felt strangely normal. I got up, brushed my teeth, showered, ate cereal, and got into my car. Muscle memory kicked in as I drove to the hockey turf, trained, returned home, and ate again. It was as if the past six weeks in India never…Continue Reading Was it all just a fever dream?
Being back in New Zealand has been a strangely emotional experience over the last two weeks. While it’s undeniably comforting to be home and surrounded by the familiarity of family and friends, I find myself unexpectedly missing the life I built in India. There’s something about the rhythm of the bustling streets, the warmth of…Continue Reading Home (Bitter) Sweet Home
It is with a heavy heart that I write this final reflective blog for the Prime Ministers Scholarship to Asia 2025. This trip exceeded every expectation, dismantled western biases I didn’t know I had and reinvented my relationship with both myself and the world. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and a deep sense of growth….Continue Reading India: Crafting Confidence and Clarity
That’s a wrap on our internships and time in Mumbai, India. The last two weeks of the trip were hectic and full of experience. Knowing we only had two more weeks in the country, we all scrambled to fit as many things into the last 14 days as possible. I was nearing the end of…Continue Reading Ka kite & ngā mihi Mumbai
As I look back on the incredible 6-week PMSA journey, here are a few of my favourite personal and professional highlights from my last days in Mumbai… Leading My First Roundtable As part of my internship, I had the wonderful opportunity to organise and participate in a virtual roundtable on connecting academia with the real…Continue Reading Final PMSA Chapter
My Mumbai experience as a whole has been surreal. I have lost the number of times I have thought ‘what is my life right now.’ The activities and new experiences exposed to me have been occurring faster than I can process them. Over the weeks, the top 3 skills I have strengthened would be assertiveness,…Continue Reading Strengthened Skills
Throughout my time in India, I was fortunate enough to travel to three other states beyond Maharashtra: Gujarat for a wedding, Rajasthan to visit the desert, and Uttar Pradesh to see the Taj Mahal and the Himalayas. Each adventure was a whirlwind of culture, breathtaking sights, and unforgettable experiences. A Wedding in Gujarat: Tradition, Colors,…Continue Reading Venturing Outside Mumbai
I am writing this as I sit cozied up in bed preparing for University to start tomorrow. I have had the best summer interning in Mumbai and making lifelong friends and memories. In this reflection, I would like to note the things and people that I am grateful for, and the ways in which I…Continue Reading My Final Reflections of Mumbai
To view India as one unchanging, uniform society is to do it a disservice. It perhaps has the strongest claim to be the most culturally diverse country in the world. Only through travelling throughout it does one come to truly appreciate this. I have been fortunate enough to do precisely that over the past few…Continue Reading Through Shifting Frames
Every day, I found myself saying, “India is so colossal!” And it truly was. In six weeks, I felt like I had done it all—marvelling at the towering Taj Mahal in Agra, standing amongst the countless pilgrims in the ancient city of Varanasi, paragliding over the mesmerising mountains in Lonavala, and exploring both the enigmatic…Continue Reading A Colossal World