Marieke Vandekolk

This is one in a series of testimonials from Political Science and International Relations graduates and how they've put their degrees to work.  For more on our current students and alumni, please visit our Students and Alumni page.

Marieke Vandekolk began her university studies at the University of Guelph, where she completed a double major in Criminal Justice in Public Policy and Political Science. The summer before applying for graduate school, Marieke spent time in Ecuador volunteering as a street outreach worker, sharing the importance of literacy and numeracy with local children and their families. This experience helped develop a passionate belief in the right to equal access to education and children’s rights. During her undergraduate career, Marieke had the opportunity to read the works of several University of Windsor professors and was inspired by their work, and this, combined with her experiences in Ecuador, encouraged her to apply to the University of Windsor for post-graduate studies in Education and Political Science.

Marieke completed her Bachelor of Education degree at Windsor in 2008, and began her MA program in Political Science in fall of that year, giving her the opportunity not only to take classes taught by professors whose work she had read while completing her undergraduate degree, but also to work as a graduate assistant for their undergraduate courses.  In writing her Major Research Paper, Marieke combined both the passion and knowledge she had obtained from her education and travels.  Her paper examined Canada's National Aboriginal Education policy, and even recently had the honour of sharing this research with the former Prime Minister of Canada, the Honourable Paul Martin, whose philanthropic efforts inspired Marieke throughout her research. Upon graduating with her Political Science MA in 2010, Marieke took the analytical abilities and critical thinking skills she had developed and applied them to new opportunities at the Ontario provincial parliament in Queen's Park. Marieke started working at Queen's Park for the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance, and has now transitioned to work for the Minister of Finance in Operations.  In this role, she works with stakeholders in provincial financial operations, and with a network of various public and private officials, and assisted in the Fall Economic Statement Process for the McGuinty administration.  Marieke says that the education she obtained from the University of Windsor "has enabled me a world of opportunity that I merely dreamed of while completing my studies. I have the daily honour of seeing the rooms and walking the floors of the Canadian history and politics I read about in books by professors who I had the fortune of studying under at the University of Windsor. The skills, knowledge and passion derived from my time at the University of Windsor have left me well prepared for the exciting fast-paced world of Queen's Park."