Tauira Georgia Tattersall, left, holding the plaque she received from Prime Minister Chris Luxon.
Winning a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia is taking fourth year tauira Georgia Tattersall one step closer to her goal of a future career in Asia.
Georgia found out she had won the PM’s scholarship through Education New Zealand last November. She attended a ceremony in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland during the mid-year break to receive a plaque from Prime Minister Chris Luxon.
“He was really nice, he was very kind. He said I should be very proud of myself, which I am, I felt very celebrated and grateful,” Georgia says.
Georgia is doing a double degree at Otago (LLB and a BA in Chinese).
This August she will leave Ōtepoti to spend just over four months studying at Chinese University Hong Kong. She has spent time in China before but has never been to Hong Kong.
“I think it’s going to be really interesting to see how the British influence and the Chinese influence merges together. Hong Kong is such an international hub,” she says.
“I’m really excited to hopefully meet a lot of really cool people and create future connections for a potential career in Asia.”
Being a global citizen, gaining an understanding of Chinese culture and using that to strengthen Aotearoa New Zealand’s ties to Asia is big part of the scholarship, she says.
Cantonese is the predominant language in Hong Kong, but fortunately the university will teach Georgia’s classes in a mixture of English and Mandarin, which Georgia can speak.
The Chinese papers she takes at CUHK will be the final papers she needs to complete the Chinese part of her major.
“What appeals to me about Chinese language is that it is just so different, and it’s really interesting learning the historical things behind it.”
She also enjoys the challenge that comes with learning another language and finds Chinese culture interesting as well.
"There’s this concept called ‘guanxi’ which really emphasises relationship building and networking. I think it's on another level to the western understanding as it is so strongly grounded in moral obligations of trust and reciprocity." As CUHK is an international university, she will have opportunity to take some law papers as well.
”In English thanks goodness, because I think that would maybe be a little difficult dealing with legalese in another language.
Georgia will return from Hong Kong at the end of the year and will complete her fifth and final year at Otago in 2025, before hopefully returning to Asia.
“I would really love to work somewhere in Asia, I’m just absolutely fascinated by the culture and just how different way of living is over there.”
Georgia has an interest in the environment and environmental law and would be keen to find a role that features those elements.
“But yeah, I’m open to anything, really. I’m just excited for the doors that may open, from this experience in Hong Kong.”
Kōrero by internal communications adviser, Koren Allpress