Milestone moments: profiling Pasifika graduates

For many Pacific Islanders, academic graduations are momentous familial moments.

Whether it's a high school, or university graduation, you'll often see entire families - mothers, fathers, aunties, uncles, grandparents, siblings, and cousins - gathering in full force to celebrate - and in classic Pacific fashion; with pride, leis, and traditional dress.

In recent years, universities have seen more Māori and Pacific students not only graduating, but thriving at exceptional levels.

RNZ Pacific spoke with a group of recent graduates who shared insights into their academic journeys: the challenges, highlights, and hopes for the future.

Tina Vao

"In 2023, I lost my 10-year-old son and, shortly after, my mother. Their deaths broke me. I lost the will to study and nearly gave up completely. But even in those dark moments, I remembered why I started this journey."

For Tongan-born mother of six, Tina Vao, the path to graduation has been steeped in unimaginable grief, resilience, and faith.

In early 2024, following the loss of both her son and mother, Vao was involved in a life-threatening car crash.

Despite it all, Vao crossed the stage this year, graduating from Massey University with a Bachelor of Food Technology with Honours.

"I've always wanted my education to uplift others, not just myself," she said.

With the support of her whānau, her culture, and her faith, Vao said her graduation was more than just a celebration of academic achievement - it also helped her heal.

"It wasn't just about receiving a degree; it was about everything I had overcome to get there," Vao said.

"My whānau were there in spirit, especially my late son and mother. My other children were there in person, and seeing them watch me graduate meant everything.

"This degree is a testimony of God's faithfulness, of resilience, and of the sacrifices made by my family for me to succeed."

Looking ahead, her focus remains on service.

If she secures a scholarship, Vao hopes to return to Massey next year to begin postgraduate study, with an emphasis on food safety and nutrition for vulnerable populations, especially in the Pacific.

Long term, she wants to bridge science with real-world community needs.

"Perhaps even developing culturally safe food solutions, or leading education programmes in the Pacific region," Vao said.

Her experiences of hardship, healing, and perseverance have shaped the message she hopes to share with others.

"I want Pasifika, especially mothers, caregivers, and those facing hardship, to know that their dreams are valid.

"Our voices are needed in spaces like science, food innovation, and healthcare. Your background isn't a barrier - it's your superpower.

"Ask for help when you need it. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. And most of all, remember why you started.

"For me, my 'why' was my children, and it kept me going through everything. You have something special to offer the world. Education can open doors, but your courage is what walks you through them."

Arama Tairea

"I seriously decided, what can I do with my life? I can finish my degree. I went back to finish that off, and six years later, I've picked up three degrees."

Arama Tairea has graduated with a Masters of Arts in religious studies.

Tairea, who is Cook Island Māori, did not follow a conventional academic journey.

"I never got Level 2 in high school. My mum said I could drop out and work, or finish," he said.

"So I finished, and didn't really know what to do with my life. I worked as a forklift driver, but a year later, I knew I wanted to do something else. So I went to uni."

While Tairea enrolled, his initial stint was short-lived.

"I wasn't as mature as I needed to be," he said. "After two years, I just felt like it wasn't working. So I left."

For the next decade, Tairea spent time between different jobs. In 2019, he was over it.

"I seriously decided, what can I do with my life? Well, I could finish my degree. I went back to finish that off, and six years later, I've picked up three degrees," Tairea said.

But the road wasn't easy. Tairea questioned whether he was making the right move.

"I looked at where all my friends were in life. I was older. Should I be going back?" he said. "But I thought, I've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain."

His undergrad included philosophy and religious studies.

"I wasn't brought up religious in the traditional sense," he said. "I always had this curiosity about why religion holds such a place in our culture, and why does that seem to be shifting?"

Tairea's thesis looked at the evolving relationship between Cook Islands Māori identity and Christianity in Aotearoa.

He spoke to people across the country, in their early twenties to their seventies, and asked them what religion meant to them, and how it intersected with culture.

"Traditionally, the church supported our culture. But as more of us move away from the church, it raises questions about culture," he said.

His research also became a personal journey.

"My master's was a journey of self-discovery. It helped me make sense of my own upbringing, of where I sit within my culture and faith."

Tairea regretted not taking Pacific studies earlier on in his academic career; however he remedied this during his Honours year.

"I thought, being a Pacific person, I knew everything, but I didn't. There was so much more to learn."

While a PhD is on the horizon, for now, Tairea is focused on other goals.

He's working in research ethics and is passionate about creating spaces where Pacific voices are heard and valued, particularly within academic and institutional settings.

"I think about my nieces and nephews, coming to the end of high school, figuring out what to do. If I can show them that there's no one right way to succeed, that our journeys can be messy and still matter, that's enough."

Tairea encouraged all Pasifika to find their passion and "go hard".

"I think my biggest mistake the first time was not asking for help. But that help is out there now, more than ever," Tairea said.

Josephine Ripley

"Don't make yourself whiter; make the room browner."

"Don't make yourself whiter; make the room browner."

That was the advice from a prominent Pasifika judge that has stuck with Josephine Ripley; a call to resist assimilation, and instead make room for representation.

It's fitting, then, that Ripley, driven by justice from a young age, recently graduated from the University of Otago with First Class Honours in law and a Bachelor of Arts in Pacific Island studies.

"It was one of the best weekends of my life. I felt overwhelmed by the significance of it," she said.

"The moment was as much my family's as it was my own."

Now a law clerk at Buddle Findlay, a leading firm in Aotearoa, Ripley comes from a family of advocates.

"My parents have always role modeled empathy, kindness, humility and honesty," she said. "I always had a strong awareness of how not everyone has the same chances in life, and injustices always bothered me.

"We don't all start on a level playing field, and being compassionate and empathetic is a key driver in understanding other people's issues and problems."

Her grandfather, a lawyer who dedicated nearly 70 years to serving his community, was a powerful example of what compassionate, community-focused law could look like.

"My grandfather was an amazing lawyer, who worked to give free advice to those who needed it, with integrity and kindness," Ripley said.

Alongside law, Otago's Pacific Island studies course gave Ripley a deeper connection to her culture.

"As a product of the Pacific diaspora, I wanted to learn more about my culture, and the beautiful Pacific region," she said.

Perhaps the most transformative part of university was finding community through PILSA (Pacific Islands Law Students' Association), and UOPISA (University of Otago Pacific Islands Law Students' Association), where she was deputy president.

"Being a part of these associations completely changed my experience as a Pacific student at Otago.

"I was nurtured and supported by them as a first and second year, and then able to give back as a senior student. It's so important to create safe spaces for Pacific students to really thrive."

A milestone in her academic journey was completing her dissertation, supervised by academic Jacinta Ruru and second-marked by Metiria Turei.

"I really admire both of these wāhine toa and the work they do, so it was a real privilege to be able to work with them."

Her dissertation, titled 'Tangata Moana for Tino Rangatiratanga', explores how Pacific peoples can support Māori aspirations for constitutional transformation.

Looking ahead, Ripley hopes to complete her professional legal studies and be admitted to the bar by the end of 2025.

Further study is also on the horizon.

"Long term I would definitely consider doing further postgraduate study. I'd love to do a Masters in Pacific studies and I'm also really passionate about creative writing and it's something I want to pursue seriously."

Her passion for law remains focused on constitutional change and social justice.

"My dissertation really sparked a passion for me in terms of constitutional change in Aotearoa, so I'd love to do more work in this space too."

Saki Baleivanualala

"I want to inspire Pacific community members to pursue education...and contribute to their communities."

Saki Baleivanualala has graduated with a doctorate in philosophy in microbiology from the University of Otago.

Leaving behind the warmth of his tropical homeland, Baleivanualala found himself facing an entirely different challenge when he moved to Dunedin.

Not academic rigor, necessarily, but a colder climate.

"I mean, I left Fiji, a very tropical island, and came to Dunedin, a very cold place. So that was hard," Baleivanualala laughed.

Despite the climate challenge, Baleivanualala arrived in Dunedin with a mission: to tackle a pressing health issue affecting the Fjiian region, antibiotic resistance.

He has firsthand experience with superbugs, and was concerned by what he saw.

"I've worked in various hospitals in Fjii, and saw lots of people being affected by antibiotic resistance, which is a growing thing there. That's why I wanted to continue my research on what the main problem is.

"Why is it so common? Why is it so popular in Fiji? I suspect it is throughout other Pacific island countries as well. That's why I wanted to pursue this study," he said.

With a strong foundation in medicine from Fiji National University and a Master's degree in infectious diseases from Australia, his PhD in microbiology at the University of Otago was driven by an ongoing commitment to all Pacific communities.

"We have seen that the Pacific community have been this proportionally affected in terms of health status. I want to bring down that curve. So, if we stop this in the islands, we are saving the Pacific community here in New Zealand as well," Baleivanualala said.

His PhD journey resulted in a major academic milestone: the publication of three peer-reviewed papers directly from his thesis, and an additional paper on mycobacterium tuberculosis.

"That was a huge achievement for me, coming from a small island and having my first academic paper published, then more as I studied. It took a lot of time to research, and figure things out," he said.

Baleivanualala said that certain aspects of the work, like DNA analysis and bioinformatics, were particularly challenging due to their novelty.

Support from his supervisors and the University of Otago made it manageable.

"The university environment here is very supportive, not just academically, but also the wider Dunedin community. After a few months, I realised it wasn't so lonely being away from home."

Graduation was an emotional occasion for Baleivanualala, who was joined by his wife and celebrated by the local Fijian community and church groups in Dunedin.

"My wife has always been so supportive of me, all throughout my academic career.

"The Fijian community here, they've been so supportive, too. Everybody hosted me after the graduation - we had a huge party," Baleivanualala said.

Most importantly, Baleivanualala wanted people to know that this milestone was about giving back.

"I told everyone that this degree isn't just mine, it's for them - for the communities that supported me, and for the people I'm researching for."

Baleivanualala is now training others in Fiji to build local capacity and help set up a genome sequencing facility in Fjii, which he said is critical for early disease detection and prevention in the Pacific.

"If we can detect antibiotic resistance or emerging diseases early in Fiji, we can protect the entire Pacific community and even countries beyond," he said.

Baleivanualala said his message for others is clear. Pursue education, and uplift your community.

"I hope my journey inspires others, young and older people, that education can happen at any stage. It doesn't stop - and how we use it, makes such a difference."

Mauatua Fa'ara-Reynolds

"I focused a lot on tapa; how it binds communities, keeps us safe, preserves stories, and as a form of healing."

From Ra'iatea to Norfolk Island, from rural Australia to Pōneke, Mauatua Fa'ara-Reynolds journeyed across oceans before landing at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington.

A proud Tahitian and Norfolk Islander, Fa'ara-Reynolds has completed her Bachelor of Arts in Pacific Studies and Cultural Anthropology, where she now plans to pursue a Master's in creative writing.

Prior to Pōneke, Fa'ara-Reynolds was living in a small, rural Australian town of 1,000 people.

There was one Fijian student at her school; otherwise, Pasifika were hard to come by.

By the time university came around, Fa'ara-Reynolds was "over the small-town Australian life".

"I was in dire need of connection and community," she said. "I wasn't ready to go back to Tahiti, but Wellington felt like a step towards home. When I arrived in Wellington, there was a natural homeliness. I just knew I was in the right place."

During her time at university, Fa'ara Reynolds has been a force, stepping into an accumulation of roles as a Pacific studies tutor, researcher, and writer.

She wrote for the student magazine,Salient, which included a celebrated piece about Pacific studies.

While on that topic, she rejected the notion of Pacific studies being a 'useless' arts subject.

"It's helped me find my place in this world, and was a guiding light for other students, too," she said.

Fa'ara-Reynolds added that her mother, Pacific academic Dr Pauline Reynolds, continues to be a source of inspiration.

"A lot of mum's mahi was around reclaiming and rewriting the history of our tupuna wāhine, rewriting the story of the bounty, the story of Norfolk Islands - so we always had discussions on decolonisation. It was a really present thing in our home," she said.

"Mum also makes tapa, so I grew up making tapa, too."

In her last two years of study, Fa'ara Reynolds honed in on her knowledge.

"I focused how tapa binds communities, keeps us safe, preserves stories, and as a form of healing. I also focused on the impacts of colonialism and nuclear testing," Fa'ara-Reynolds said.

She now has many lessons under her belt following university.

"Have faith. I have this blind faith in my ancestors and gods, that if they could endure what they did, I can endure this journey. I guess university reinforced that - the power in these stories.

"Sometimes, I think it's easy to forget that - especially in very white settings - but in contrast to that, us Pacific people are so valuable in university settings... so there must be more. More of our stories, our lineage, our knowledge. We contribute so powerfully."