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An undergraduate’s profile at the School of Economics – Follow Alexandra Grigg’s journey

Alexandra Grigg

Alexandra is currently in her fourth year of a double degree in Economics and Finance and is keen to pursue a career examining the role that human psychology plays in driving the economy.  As well as her studies, Alexandra’s journey and achievements have included:

Professions Student Ambassador Program

As a student Ambassador Alexandra acts as the Faculty’s voice in promotion and peer recommendation; the program aims to form a central source of the numerous opportunities available exclusively to these students. These opportunities can range from industry networking events, international travel opportunities, volunteering, internships, work placements, social events and professional workshops.

For more information go to:

www.adelaide.edu.au/professions/current-students/undergraduate/psap

Humanitarian Affairs Symposium in Manila, supported by the United Nations

One of the opportunities that Alexandra has been given as a Student Ambassador is to represent Australia at the Humanitarian Affairs Symposium in Manila, supported by the United Nations. She will be one of ten South Australian students who will attend the 4th University Scholars Leadership Symposium (USLS) in Manila – Philippines from 1-7 August 2013.

This symposium, organised by Humanitarian Affairs United Kingdom and supported by The United Nations, will bring together 1000 selected students from all over the world. The ten students attending are all Professions Ambassadors from the University of Adelaide, and will represent Australia to discuss key challenges in humanitarian affairs.

The University Scholars Leadership Symposium will give delegates the skills to advocate for and implement their innovative ideas for social change within their own communities. Additionally the delegates will be exposed to guest speakers such as Geraldine Cox.

This experience will provide the students with valuable knowledge inspired by prestigious guest speakers, opportunity for growth and the chance to meet like-minded young leaders from all over the world. The learning Journey (a one day humanitarian work project) will expose them to real-world poverty issues and give them the opportunity to put into practice the knowledge acquired during the symposium.

Dedicated to pursuing her goal of giving back to both her local and global community Alex comments:

“Attending the USLS will allow me to act as an agent of change and give back to society on a larger scale – assisting those in difficult situations to achieve their dreams.”

The students have formed a task force dedicated to seeking support and sponsorship for this amazing experience run in conjunction with the United Nations, and hope to raise funds to assist in this self-funded pursuit of knowledge and leadership.

For further information see www.letuslead.net

(Kim Burdett +61 8 8313 0226; kimberly.burdett@adelaide.edu.au)

The Order of Australia Association Foundation Scholarship in 2011

Congratulations Alexandra on being one of two students awarded the Order of Australia Association Foundation Scholarship!

The Secretary of The Order of Australia Association Foundation, Adjunct Professor Brian O’Keeffe AO, said the scholarships were based on a combination of academic excellence, leadership potential and community involvement and were aimed at supporting the next generation of leaders among young Australians.

The Riddiford Trust has provided funding for Alexandra’s scholarship.  Funding for this scholarship was provided by Mr Baillieu Myer AC, past president of the Myer Foundation

“Down the track I am interested in working at the Reserve Bank of Australia in their Economics and Finance graduate programs, gaining an insight into their core policies. Hopefully, I will also get the chance to work overseas,” Alexandra said.

Parliamentary Internship

In 2012 Alexandra was nominated by the School of Economics as a suitable student to undertake a Parliamentary Internship (a program run by the School of History and Politics). This involves the student being attached to an SA parliamentarian and working on a project with a pre-chosen topic.  Top economics students were offered a chance to take part in this scheme since many topics assigned by the parliamentarians has a significant economics component.

Alexandra was one of the first economics students to be offered a Parliamentary Internship with a politician last summer – here are her comments on this experience.

“Taking part in The South Australian Parliamentary Internship Scheme allowed me the opportunity to give back to the wider, South Australian community. Under the supervision of Dan van Holst Pellekaan, MP, I prepared a report on the value of regional institutions beyond their primary purpose, paying particular attention to the economic and social welfare multiplier effect. As a result of my report three motions have been passed in the Parliament of South Australia. These motions include the importance of educational facilities in rural South Australian communities, the value country hospitals provide to their community and the importance of the contributions health professionals make to the quality of care for local residents and rural and regional communities more broadly. I was given the opportunity to continue researching this topic over the summer break.”

For more information on this report and its findings, please see:

www.communitystrengthinregionalsouthaustralia.weebly.com

Volunteer Work

Receiving The Order of Australia Association Foundation Scholarship has allowed me to spend more time giving back to my community. My most recent involvement in the community is the development of Pursuit – A Women’s Mentoring Network. After being given the opportunity to meet such wonderful people and hear of their experiences at university, I thought it would be a great idea to develop a female student mentor program so that others could share in this knowledge. The mentors in my program will provide practical, “real world” advice for students with the aim of enhancing young female students’ professional development and preparing them for the workforce. Rather than having to “Google” career help and spending hours searching through information on distant websites, through my mentor group, students will be able to ask their mentors directly for more localised, specific advice, based on personal workplace knowledge and experiences. I am developing this mentor group with the support of The University of Adelaide’s Faculty of The Professions Student Ambassador Program and The Leaders’ Institute of South Australia.

The School of Economics would like to congratulate Alexandra on her achievements so far, and we will keep an eye on her activities in the future!

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