Mercedes Isasmendi Escudero

When biochemist Mercedes Isasmendi Escudero wanted to progress her career beyond the laboratory in Argentina, she decided that studying business and management would give her the edge she needed.

Originally from Buenos Aires, Mercedes received a scholarship from New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to study for a Master of Business and Management (MBM) at the University of Waikato, which came highly recommended by other students.

“I am a biochemist, and after seven years of working in a laboratory environment, I realised that I needed to gain new skills and new insights into how companies work in our highly globalised world,” said Mercedes.

“I am really grateful for the generous scholarship that I received from MFAT; it provided me with everything I needed to focus solely on my studies without having to worry about anything else. It was fantastic from every point of view."

Mercedes found the campus infrastructure excellent, and the university was full of life and activities to do all the time and everywhere.

“There is a strong sense of family and belonging that I felt from the start. Most of all, I loved the support I got from tutors, teachers and student advisors.

She credits their help with successfully completing her studies - they went so well that she even received a Waikato Management School Medal for Academic Excellence.

Mercedes says there were challenging times during her study, but it also helped her develop her personal skills, one of the most valuable lessons she took away from her studies.

“I loved most of the papers and topics of study. However, I had times when I felt overwhelmed by group work, because that always implicated working with classmates from all over the world, with different backgrounds and most of all, with different motivations and drives than me. Nevertheless, I realise today that dealing with those problems was the driving force in developing my personal skills and is one of the most valuable learnings that I took from the programme.”

Mercedes has returned to Bueno Aires and working as a control supervisor for a pharmaceutical company.

“I want to be able to contribute to good ideas becoming a reality and generate a positive impact on communities and the environment. My time at the University of Waikato has certainly set me on the right path to make that a reality.”