From Waikato to Cambodia, and the UN

11 July, 2016

From Waikato to Cambodia, and the UN

She started university when she was 16 years old. Now she’s off to Cambodia with a Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Asia (PMSA).

University of Waikato law student Jolene Skeen is one of sixteen Waikato students to win the scholarship – but it’s not her first.

Jolene also won two PMSAs last year, which she put towards two six-week university exchanges in China and Indonesia. This time she’s applied to do a 12-week internship with the United Nations in Cambodia, assisting with the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

“If my application is accepted, I’ll get to assist with a lot of the case report and legal drafts writing, and hear first-hand from victims and witnesses of one of the worst genocides of the 20th Century. It’d be an amazing opportunity for me,” Jolene says.

Jolene’s most looking forward to the networking opportunities but also can’t wait to get back to Asia. She speaks Mandarin and Japanese and holds a second dan black belt in martial arts.

The former Tauranga Girls’ College student started studying law at the University of Waikato’s Tauranga campus in 2013, when she was just 16.

“I left school after year 12 and was accepted into a Diploma in Law because of my school grades,” she says.

While she was at college, Jolene worked 20 hours a week at the local Countdown to help fund her studies. The money she saved, along with some help from her parents, meant she didn’t have to take out a student loan.

She also received a Japanese Language: Sasakawa Fellowship Fund Undergraduate Scholarship.

Jolene’s now in her fourth and final year of a Bachelor of Laws and plans to do a masters next year.

“I want to go to Australia or the US to study international criminal law, specialising in terrorism,” she says. “After that I’m not sure what I want to do. Work in the intelligence sector for the government maybe, or become a diplomat. We’ll see.”

Jolene says her family are very supportive of her and are proud she’s involved in so many things. “But I think they’d rather I stay in New Zealand to be honest.”

When she’s not studying or instructing martial arts, Jolene’s volunteering for the Red Cross as a Refugee Support Caseworker, working as a director for the Waikato Students’ Union or helping run projects for Law for Change Waikato.

Jolene feels lucky to have received a PMSA individual programme award. Only 13 of these were awarded nationwide. Five fellow Waikato students won individual exchange programme awards.

Management student Rhandal Meijerink and arts student Fiona Norton will complete university exchanges at Yonsei University in Korea. Bachelor of Science student Benjamin Edridge is going to Nanyang Technology University in Singapore. Hemi Tauahika Witehira who studies management, and Jamie Miller who’s doing a Bachelor of Arts, are going to Kansai Gaidai University in Japan.

Ten other University of Waikato law students are currently being selected to receive PMSA group funding for a six-week law summer school programme in Vietnam. Recipients will be announced in August.

The Prime Minister's Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) is funded by the New Zealand government and administered by Education New Zealand. Established in June 2013, the scholarship is awarded to individuals and covers costs relating to study or research in Asia.

ENDS

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