Redemption by Vita Kolomatangi

Growing up in a single parent family for me wasn't really a big deal. Learning to cook from a young age, seeing mum always in a rush making it to her second job or being at home alone while she worked was always the norm. It wasn't really until high school I noticed my family was a bit different to others. My beautiful mother did such an amazing job raising me and my brother I rarely saw the effects growing up in a single family can have on children, I got the same amount of love, dedication and care, and maybe even more, that any child with two parents would receive. However the one thing I saw often was how hard my mother worked, there was never a sick day, there was never an "I'll do it later" attitude and there was never an excuse for poor grades or lack of appreciation for what we were blessed with in life (even though I was guilty of often taking it for granted). I'm not sure when the thought of university first entered my mind, but I know it was never my original choice, I never wanted to stay put and study. My plan was always the cliche "travel the world and help out the animals", even with my entire family telling me throughout high school I needed to go to Uni and make something of myself, I was still never quite sure.

 Moving from Sydney to a small town south of Perth to attend high school was the roughest part of my life so far. As young as a I am and as much as most people underestimate me, something I'm used to by now, there were a lot of challenges I faced being the only "cultural" kid in a town with a demographic consisting 97% white Australian. This demographic when broken into its most simple forms leads to either farming families, Surfing families or the small town families. Because of the fact I was so very different, I endured my fair share of racism and bullying from very small-minded school kids, most of who had never spent more than a few weeks away from their town.

The first few years of high school I unfortunately made a reputation for myself. My reputation began from my inability to not react to the names and rumours people spread about me. I was an easy target being new to a town of people who all knew each other, and as if to add fuel to the fire I was different. On top of this I had a tendency to tell people how it is, how it was, and how it’s going to be (a trait I picked up from my ever-so outspoken grandmother). I never refrained from being honest, and certainly never stood down. My reputation soon spread to the staff of my High School and in turn every step out of line I made I was severely punished for, and any altercation that arose, I was always the instigator. In no way shape or form am I intending to downplay my part in these events how ever I think it’s important I make point of how grossly exaggerated my position in numerous situations were. As a result this lead me to the belief that there would be no point in trying at school because I’ll never win. I was suspended 4 times by year 11, threatened with expulsion, removed from numerous classes and involved with my fair share of physical altercations (with other students of course).

One day I was pulled into my vice-principals office and we had a talk. A week later I was pulled into my principals office and we also had a talk, however this time he asked me to close the door. Both staff made some disgusting allegations and things were said to me that have still stuck with me to this day. It was on the walk home that I realized there was nothing I can do, how am I ever going to over come these people who seemed to be trying to continuously categorise me as another lost cause, another case of “he doesn’t come from the typical successful background, so why bother”. This was the moment I realized the only way I’m ever going to channel all this emotion and anger was to prove them all wrong. I thought to myself: if I don’t do something now they will be right, they would have gotten exactly what they wanted and I’ll be serving them at the Woolworths checkouts in this tiny town for the next 10 years. I decided to stay and continue HSC and not follow through with my intention of dropping out, which I hadn’t told anyone about. I fought through the derogatory names I was called by both students and staff members, the continuing racism and bullying, and the doubt I saw in people’s eyes when I told them I wanted to attend Uni.

I went on to top my HSC Biology class at graduation, I received an ATAR 12 points above my estimated score in year 11 and attended The University of Sydney, the highest ranked University out of any Uni attended by my Year 12 cohort. I rarely tell people my entire story, because I think we all came from different backgrounds with different obstacles we’ve had to over come. But if I can reach out to just one other kid who’s struggling to fight against becoming just another statistic, then there’s a good reason to tell it.

Throughout my journey I met some amazing people who have now become some of my best friends, and even though I have moved back to Sydney we are all still in close contact. Founding Sydney University Pasifika Society with other Pacific Islander students was my way of creating a support system. Not just for international students but also for the others just like us, who were able to break the mould society has created for them. Attending Sydney Uni can be daunting at first, particularly when it’s hard to find others like you. But I hope that through this we will be able to encourage more young Pacific Islanders to attend University and further themselves through their education.

YOU ARE AN UNDISCOVERED MYSTERY-- by Christina Tara

People love having as many choices as possible. We love the sense of the unknown and the intoxication of vast possibilities. For this reason, we may hesitate to choose one door, as it can feel like doing so closes a bunch of other ones. Getting a Masters in Accounting and going into business likely means you won’t be an orthopedic surgeon; we want to hold to the belief we could do either one, yet we choose neither. I always told myself that “choosing something made me feel like I was closing out on everything else”. Picking a single road to start traveling down can feel boring and constraining – as well as a lot more work. Once you choose a path to take, that decision comes with necessary next steps and responsibilities.

We have a lot of our youth who don’t explore further education and have that mentality of telling themselves that it’s much easier to sit on the curb and watch the world go by than to hustle and make something of themselves. We often say we don’t want to settle for an “ordinary” life. We want our lives to be different than our parents’. They can feel very convicted about this, but if you ask them what having an extraordinary life means, they’re usually not sure. They’re likely to say something about not wanting a regular 9-5 office job and wanting to do something they love, but even here they’re vague on what this might actually look like. They know what they don’t want, but aren’t sure of what they do. They figure they will simply know it when they see it, and so keep their options open in the hope that the path to an “extraordinary” life will somehow reveal itself.

You don’t always know what you want to be and you shouldn’t beat yourself over it. Remember that life itself is a journey. Those who are fortunate enough to already have a goal on where they are directed are the ones I admire. However, for the majority of us...how is it possible that you know exactly what to do with your life, with the knowledge you acquired from high school and the little work experience we take on during secondary education? I guess we don’t. We have images in our mind on where we want to be in the distant future but we never truly know what the first step should be after leaving high school. It has been advocated for centuries that uni should be the next step. We all know that trying to earn a place in any given university is a challenge in itself. But even then we still question our options...What if I choose one of the possibilities I’ve been endlessly examining and then I don’t like it? What if I get stuck doing something “ordinary” – something that doesn’t fit my idea of what my life is supposed to be like or what I’m really meant to do?

I didn’t get into my chosen course nor did I earn the marks for Wollongong University (my desired institution after leaving high school). So the following year I did a business marketing course and even I struggled with that. I was so use to the life of returning home, eating then watching television, going out and staying up late on social networking sites. This became my ritual for the first couple of months. I only managed to scrape through the pass mark. Watching my friends graduate was an eye opener for me. I decided it was time I pull my socks up and get my act together. As a young adult you wanna be treated like a grown up but still have family there to do things for you. My friends and family are no longer the people I lean on. I knew that in order to make something of myself I needed to get out of my comfort zone and quit making excuses...and so I did. As dull as it may sound...making that decision became the birth of me. I started setting small goals for myself…”one by one” I kept saying. I decided to tackle my worst 2 units at the time...business law and accounting. If I could at least earn a distinction mark for this I promised I would continue on with this habit for all my other subjects. I put in the hard yards...I would return home and lock myself in the garage with my books and made sure there were no devices, not even internet around me. I’d stay in there till I could answer every question I thought was difficult. I’d tell everyone to leave me alone and that if they wanted to talk to me they’d have to wait till Christmas. It went on to the point where I would look forward to these two exams. Wanna guess what mark I got for accounting and business law? Distinction and High Distinction. I remember crying when I got home that night...not because of my academic achievement, my grades meant so much more than just a job well done, it serves as a reminder of how far I have grown since leaving high school. This habit continued till I graduated.

I had a part time internship with a events company specializing in business and major sports events and also worked part time in a restaurant after graduating. I soon came to discover that I still wanted to do more studying. So I applied to UWS and got accepted to study business and commerce with a major in international operations and supply chain management. However I immediately discovered after my first semester that it really wasn’t something I enjoyed. I had a lack of motivation and lost hope for my business career. I dove into the course with no real image of where I wanted to be in the near future.

To make matters worse I didn’t wanna be a disappointment to my family by telling them that I wanted to drop out, not knowing what I would do after I would leave uni. I soon experienced sleepless nights thinking hard of where I would direct myself next and how I would stand up in front of my mother and explain what I was about to do with myself. I only found comfort in one person at the time...my boyfriend. Lord knows even I was scared to tell him and feared rejection. But he has been my backbone and the most loving and caring person who has held me up and supported me through every decision I’ve made this far.

I feared most the image my mother would have for me “Im a failure” I thought she would say. I learnt that the longer you leave it, the harder you make things for yourself. So I decided to do the coward thing and drop out, then tell my mum later. To my surprise when I told her, she was ok with it “You didn’t seem motivated like you were with your last course” was her response (and one I’ll never forget).

I would return home from work and do research into different courses and universities. Unbelievably I jumped out of my business field (an area I thought for so long I would end up in) and dived into Nursing. I thought to myself that the only way I succeeded before was by getting out of my comfort zone, tackling something different...and so I did.

My first preference for uni was University of Sydney, I knew I wouldn’t be accepted into such a reputable uni but thought “oh well, better to try then say I never did”. My second and third choices were UTS and ACU. When the acceptance letter came through I was standing next to my brother in the kitchen and only he can tell you the amount of jumping, screaming and hugging I did that thunderous, rainy night. I literally cried when the letter read “Congratulations! You have received an offer for bachelor of nursing (advanced studies) at the University of Sydney”. I was glad to have studied biology in high school, it helped me tremendously in first semester. Subjects like bio-science pushed me to my limits but I was determined this time round to keep my distinction average.

What it all comes down to is that not knowing what to do straight after high school maybe isn’t such a bad idea. But taking a step forward to getting closer to that image in your mind is significantly indispensable. While deciding to pursue one path does close down other routes, at least for a time, it also opens up new ones that would never have been available if you remained at your initial starting point.

Keep setting goals for yourself no matter how small. I have developed my next goal after graduating from nursing school, to study cardiac nursing while working in a hospital. The problem for our generation is we all want to be a Zuckerberg...an overnight sensation in any given field and then feel let down when that doesn’t happen (even though, actually, you may be doing very well so far).

The lesson I have learnt is that I grew to accept my weakness at an early stage but I took this as motivation to better myself. I know what its like to be at the bottom and feel clueless and the only way you can make it is to not lose hope, always have that constant motivation. I used my resources and time wisely. I was eager to learn new skills and unlock a wealth of knowledge. When the marks came in I began to feel proud of my success and used that feeling of accomplishment to push myself further. Employing all the strategies I had learned over the years, I focused on compensating for my weaknesses by capitalizing on my strengths. I stayed back in the library after classes till closing time and completed my assignments well before its due date. It is hard to believe that my peers are now coming to me for help and look to me for motivation. While I had some fears of entering nursing school without all the knowledge, I knew the work ethic I had developed would continue to grow and get stronger as I became more confident in my abilities. After overcoming my greatest challenge, I now know that I can accomplish any task, no matter how great. The proof? It’s in my grades.

Mr Speaker

It is always great to hear success stories to inspire and motivate us to meet the challenges of a hectic semester, even more so when it is one of our very own.

Meet Andrew Levula. Andrew is from Fiji currently pursuing his Phd in Project Management.

Andrew was invited to be a  speaker at the Project Management Institute (PMI) conference last week; a not-for-profit professional organisation aimed at furthering project management through training seminars, development of standards and research to name a few. Among the attendees were sponsors such as Microsoft, thought leaders, exhibitors and over 250 delegates.

As well as being a speaker, Andrew was also one of two winners for the 2013 Student Conference Paper of the Year Award. Congratulations Andrew !

Click the link to find out more about Andrew's speaker profile, academic and professional history and PMI
http://www.pmi.org.au/andrew-vakarau-levula/

This is only a  very short introduction but we will keep you posted on our members and how we are all slowly moving towards making a lasting impact in our respected fields.

Watch this space for more and to hear from the man himself !

WELCOME !

Welcome!

 It is a great honour and privilege to be asked to write the first blog post on the SUPS blog page  but  before I get into it ,  let me tell you a little about myself and my journey to Sydney University .

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to go to Sydney University and study something. I didn't know what exactly, but something that would allow to me essentially “save the world” and achieve world peace ( A bit hippy I know) .  I have always had an extremely stubborn mind set on Sydney University and didn’t even consider going anywhere else, even after being advised very strongly by a careers advisor and being told countless times by teachers in high school that I should consider “keeping my options open” and put other universities on my UAC preferences.

Finally towards the end of high school about 2 weeks out from graduating I decided I wanted to do civil engineering! Hands down absolutely the most random decision I have ever made in my life but one that has turned out to be the best I have ever made. In 2011 I got an offer to study civil engineering and Arts at none other than Sydney University!

Fast forward a couple of weeks and then  BOOM ! I met a pacific islander. A  Fijian girl in a microeconomics lecture in Merewether . I was extremely shocked but very  excited to finally meet another P.I .We got talking and thought it would be great to get a P.I society going even though we didn't know if there would be enough members to make a society. Fast forward to 2012 and it was still just the two of us . Then one of my cousins enrolled and we met some P.I’s who were studying engineering ! The funny thing is, is that once you meet one P.I you meet about 4,5 others.  Finding enough P.I’s to be in our society was our first mission and by far the hardest aspect of getting this society off the floor. We found people for the society by the only way we could think of; randomly approaching people who we thought looked islander and asking them if they were ,and praying that they said yes because if they weren’t it would be extremely embarrassing. I’ve only got it wrong once! (He totally looked like one though ) ,and telling them about what we were trying to do .  This is how we built up our little network of P.I’s at USYD. We have met P.I’s all over the place on campus , at a stall at O week , at the printers at SciTech library , fisher library , lectures and tutorials , Subway , Parma Cafe , News agency , the Footbridge  and even at the uni gym.

The number of Pacific islanders going into tertiary education  in Australia has increased greatly over the past decade which can be seen through various  pacific organisations at universities popping up such as PATHE at UWS  and the Pasifika Association over at Griffith University and UNSW. Pacific Islanders are a minority at USYD but collectively we have so much to share not only between ourselves but with  the rest of the student body and  the university.

Everyone that I have met so far each  have their own  amazing stories of their journeys to tertiary education at USYD some  filled with many challenges. The society seeks in one way to be a hub for P.I students local and international where they can openly share their culture and build a support network of P.I’s who know what it’s like to study at USYD as a P.I . The society is much more than just a social hub but also forum for which issues in the pacific can be brought to light  . We are seeking to connect SUPS with other societies at USYD , environmental and political  for example to make issues  such as climate change on the pacific well known.  We wish to connect SUPS with other P.I societies at other universities in order to build networks between P.I’s at USYD and P.I’s at other universities all over the country. The society is not only for P.I’s but all students at USYD who have an interest in the Pacific whether it be environmentally , politically or culturally.

We are also looking at connecting our members with  USYD alumni to set up a mentoring program through which P.I alumni can assist current P.I students in making industry connections and career planning. We have already made some connections with USYD P.I alumni and are looking at expanding this network of people.

Through hosting social events we seek to bring the other P.I’s at USYD out of hiding and into the society. There are a significant number of P.I’s at other universities where there is no representation for P.I’s and we endeavour to reach out to these students and also provide them with some support during their study.

This society has been established with the help of so many people some of which have already graduated and it is extremely exciting to finally see this society finally moving after all the hard work that so many people have put in. I have great hope and faith in this society that it will grow and connect people of pacific heritage at USYD  and  provide the much needed support to  all P.I Students to get the most of their education at the University of Sydney. I’d like to leave you all with one my favourite quotes:

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure”

Goodluck to all P.I’s at USYD for this academic year , Happy studying ! =]