Graduate advisor
Owen Segismar’s Global Studies path led to his current role in a new central government policy unit.
Key facts
Role: Graduate Policy Advisor
Organisation: National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
Major: Global Politics and Human Rights
“My day-to-day involves working within the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to advise and help deliver on policies and decision-making.
“My studies gave me the ability to think critically, adapt to different perspectives, and carry transferrable skills such as communication and analysis across many fields of knowledge. As the policy unit at NEMA is a fairly new wing, everyone on the team powers through their work by being adaptable, open and transferrable regardless of the situation and their background.
“I’ve had an absolute blast so far, including how I started this role. The new Ministry for Ethnic Communities created a programme to bring in graduates from ethnic backgrounds for 18-month placements with participating government agencies. I’m part of the programme’s inaugural cohort, and we were welcomed with a mihi whakatau in front of ministers and high-ranking officials at Parliament’s banquet hall. To think that was my first day is crazy!
The Bachelor of Global Studies attracted me as a degree because it was a whole new approach to what I wanted to study and eventually achieve in life.
“It focused on the ideas of global citizenship, interconnectedness and cross-cultural competency. Being a new degree people didn’t know what it entailed and what pathways it could lead to. To that I say, make your own path because your life is your own journey, and no one really knows where they can end up!”