Recent graduations from educational institutions have seen a remarkable trend where graduates have overcome adversity to achieve success. The mark of a great character is a person’s ability to fight
FSC industrial nurse Litiana Vueti. Photo: Shratika Naidu
Recent graduations from educational institutions have seen a remarkable trend where graduates have overcome adversity to achieve success.
The mark of a great character is a person’s ability to fight adversity in order to succeed. We have had many who have graced the pages of this newspaper.
They are our achievers and we will continue to celebrate their success because they are an inspiration to our country.
On adversity, Michelle Obama, wife of former US President Barack Obama, once said: “You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.”
It’s the same kind of thought and resolve that inspired a single mother of two boys from Rakiraki to rise above her challenges and successfully complete her course.
Fiji Sugar Corporation industrial nurse, Litiana Vueti, yesterday graduated with a Certificate Four in Leadership and Management.
The 43-year-old from Namara Village in the District of Nalawa, who also holds a Diploma in Nursing, graduated with 33 graduates from the Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC) at the Friendly North Inn in Labasa.
She has been through a lot of adversities in her life and experienced many types of losses. Her belief in God, she says, had kept her moving forward and focussing on her goal.
She has been a single mother for six years.
Last year, on September 6, her quarters was destroyed by a fire and she lost all her belongings.
That failed to sink her spirit. She bounced back, continued her work as an industrial nurse at Labasa FSC, and studied too at the same time.
She has shown that education can be a place of refuge during the storms of life. In her quiet time of reflection and meditation, she admitted she had found peace and comfort as she gave thanks to God for good and bad times, testifying that adversities had made her stronger and better.
Her certificate, she feels, broadens her leadership and management skills and will be useful at work.
Her empowering words of advice to all women who feel they can’t move on with their lives, is to “lift your eyes to the Lord and he will bless you with courage and strength to face each day.”
To the young girls, her advice is to choose education for survival. She is stressing the need for education. We all know that educated women and men have much more to contribute to the economic well-being of this nation.
Based on her account then, adversity should be regarded positively. She is speaking in the same vein as Walt Disney, an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor, film producer and a pioneer of the American animation industry, who said: “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me…. You may not realise it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”
NEMANI DELAIBATIKI
Feedback: nemani.delaibatiki@fijisun.com.fj
