Patricia Ysabel Flores Dela Cruz
Master of Business in Economics student
Bachelor of Business in Economics, with minors in Spanish and Data Analytics for Business
She liked that there were many different options to structure her business degree, says Patricia Ysabel Flores Dela Cruz who completed her Bachelor of Business with a major in Economics and minors in Spanish and Data Analytics for Business.
“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after high school, and I decided to study business because I studied it in high school and had some interest in it. I chose AUT because I heard lots of good feedback from friends who have studied there. I loved being able to do two minors with my business major and I liked that there I could pick from a wide variety of majors and minors to include in my degree.”
As someone who has always dreamt of working overseas sometime in the future, she particularly enjoyed being able to study Spanish as part of her business degree.
“I was interested in working overseas at some point after my degree but I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. After watching Money Heist, a Spanish Netflix series, during the first COVID-19 lockdown, I became interested in learning the language. I enrolled in Spanish 1A and ended up loving the course, so I decided to continue my study and minor in Spanish. I’ve enjoyed everything about the courses and they helped me to solidify my plans to work in Spain or South America in the future.
“All the lecturers were so passionate – they genuinely cared about each student and were willing to provide additional support when needed. The lessons were fun and interactive, which made it easy to form connections with my peers and lecturers. In my Spanish 2A class, we also got to help present films at the Latin America & Spain Film Festival in 2022, and I loved these opportunities to implement what we had learnt outside of the classroom.”
Inspired to serve the community
After graduating with her Bachelor of Business in 2022, Patricia is now enrolled in a Master of Business in Economics. She says her passion for research was sparked in the final year of her undergraduate degree.
“During my last semester, I did a research project on female offenders and victims in New Zealand using Statistics New Zealand’s Integrated Data Infrastructure. I enjoyed working with data, and was interested in furthering my research and learning more about New Zealand’s criminal justice system. I had amazing supervisors – Associate Professor Peer Skov and Livvy Mitchell – who were really supportive and challenged me to go beyond what I thought I was capable of.
“I’m interested in the research space and public policy, and even though I’m still a little unsure what career path I want to pursue after I finish my master’s degree, I know that whatever job I take, it has to play a part in serving the wider community.”
She says this passion for service for her community was rekindled by working for AUT’s Office of Pacific Advancement.
“I loved having the opportunity to work for AUT’s Office of Pacific Advancement and being able to give back to my community by helping run student initiatives for high school leavers and first-year students. I’ve really enjoyed working for the Office of Pacific Advancement and being part of the Oceanian Leadership Network.”
Advice for other students
Now in her fourth year of studying at AUT, Patricia has some great advice for other students who are thinking about university study.
“It’s okay to not have everything planned out. I started my business degree not knowing what I wanted to major in, and I minored in Spanish after watching a Netflix series! It’s okay to figure things out as you go and it helps to have an open mind. You should always say yes to new opportunities because you’ll never know where it will take you.”
Her other piece of advice is simple: don’t be afraid to ask for help.
“Ask for help if you need it. It may feel daunting at times, but there are lots of support systems in place at AUT. That definitely helped me throughout my studies.”
