Congrats, Grad!

Tatou O I Ioritana

"We talked all night about the rest of our lives

Where are we gonna be when we turn twenty-five?"- Vitamin C, 'Graduation Song'

December 5th, 2013: After receiving our Secondary School Graduation Certificates, with my two high school besties, Isabella and Jasmine J (remember those monikers they'd dish out if you had the same name as another kid in class, lol?)

Tomorrow, the high school I graduated from- and which I now teach at- will have its Prizegiving and Graduation Ceremonies. I'm feeling super nostalgic for two reasons. 

Firstly, wow! "Another lot", as I used to hear my father say at the end of every academic year. The senior graduating class is one I've taught English and History to for two years. Over the year-and-a-half we've spent together, we've developed a great dynamic. Everyone speaks their mind, whilst keeping in mind that, as I said, EVERYONE speaks their mind. That is, have your say, but know that others will also have theirs. For me, this fosters an appreciation for open communication, and a respect for others, which will last these young people a lifetime. With uni, work and whatever else they may choose to do looming just on the horizon, I have every hope that they will go out into the big wide world with love, compassion and resilience. That they will make space for others to grow and succeed. And that, as they navigate the vast ocean that is the 'outside world' (lol), they'll be able to say they learned a thing or two from us, their teachers. 😭

Secondly: it's the ten year anniversary of my own high school graduation! Where did the bloody time go? This time a decade ago, I was among my classmates, cleaning and decorating the SDA Youth Hall. It was a lot of work, but we were so excited to finally be graduating. We did flower arrangements, changed the seating arrangements eighteen million times, got mini-mini heart attacks every time a balloon popped (and then ended up going to look for more white balloons at midnight!), and then watched midnight turn into early morning as we sang our hearts out to the gentle strumming of an old guitar. I still remember the songs we sang: Cups (by Anna Kendrick), and Ou Te Ofo Ina Atu A'u Nei Mo 'Oe (as sung by Punialava'a). I know, nostalgia galore! 

At work today I watched as the various prizes were being organized and readied for presentation tomorrow. I can imagine the anxiousness that some kids are probably wrestling with right now. "Did I do well enough?" "Am I getting that top prize like I did last year?" "Are my parents going to be satisfied with my effort this year?" "What's going to happen to me if they aren't...?" Lots and lots of questions, and even we as teachers certainly don't have all the answers. Not to your questions, and definitely not to a lot of our own. We are all human, at the end of the (long!) day. I'll be honest here- there are still errors I made on some of my final exams in 2013 that I regret, to this day, and think back to, often. No matter that I have enjoyed much success after high school, and in my professional life. Silly things I said as a teenager, graphs I didn't construct neatly enough, maps I misread, calculations I went over multiple times and still got completely wrong...those come back every once in a while to check in on me and remind me that before this, there was THAT. I was THAT. And no matter what any student is NOW, we cannot say that they won't go on to have wildly successful, extremely productive, wonderfully fulfilling lives. 

That cliche Samoan proverb is right. E toe oso fo'i le la. The sun will rise again tomorrow. It has never once failed to rise- even on a cloudy day, Mr. Sun is there, you just can't quite see him very well. Where there's daylight, Sol is smiling. And even in the densest darkness, if there's a little light, there is always, always hope. 

WHY THOUGH? Part II

So Much for So Little?

Volunteer work, N.G.O.s, not-for-profit networks...blogging. These are much-needed, and VERY difficult to do when you live in a third world country that's about as big as an ink blot on an atlas. Also, it's Samoa, for goodness sake. Everyone has a job, maybe even two, and then there's the deluge of family fa'alavelave, 'autalavou meetings, alumni fundraising group chats (hopefully not more than two!), loan deductions...SO: Why even bother taking on an extra workload (and the extra #issues it might bring) for FREE?!

My previous entry was part of the answer to the (very long) question above. A question that, as I said, people love to ask. In thinking about the whole concept of 'asking questions', I realize that while, yes, our Pasifika societies are generally really inquisitive, they also have a deep-rooted love for story-telling. We were chanters, singers, dancers, musicians, navigators and artists- on skin and tree fiber- long before the written word was given to us. A question is, in essence, an invitation to tell a story. It can be a long story: a close friend's "how are you?" can lead to you sharing about an illness in the family or a spat with a nosy colleague. An acquaintance's "how are you?" is generally responded to with the generic "I'm fine thanks, how are you?" We go on and on, being not fine, but saying nothing of it, because even something as abstract as storytelling has its unspoken and clearly defined limits. 

At my father's funeral, his older brother started his eulogy with these words: "Never has so much been given for so little. I know this was originally spoken about some great and famous world leader. But in my little world, I considered my brother 'great', and I consider this to be a very great sacrifice!" This is the way in my Samoan extended family- we say things 'straight up', and how you process any and all of it is your responsibility. It's a tough family to be from- but a good one- all the same, because it prepared me for the harshness of the outside world. And it gave me the same sense of purpose and duty that my father had in his lifetime. Part of this sense of purpose is understanding that the reward for good, worthwhile work is not always a financial one. 

I'd never knock money out of the loop: I, and most people my age, have about six different 'problems' that a little extra cash would definitely go a long way to fix. Money is important. What does that meme ask: ever tried to pay for a trip with courage? (lol) Exactly! WE NEED MONEY! But...it is not, and never will be, the only or most important thing that we need. 

I volunteer, aside from my multiple paying jobs, because it makes me happy. Expending time, energy and brainpower is of course by no means the sole way for a clinically anxious or depressed person like myself to find #TrueHappiness (what even is that...?). It is, however, one of the BEST ways for ME to truly enjoy my life and to reach my ultimate goal: making a difference in my world. You'll notice I use the possessive pronoun "my" there instead of something more general like "the". I know I can't, and probably won't, change the entire planet. I'm just a girl on a little island. But I know I can change my world: the people and places that I have access to. Everyone has their own world- their own sphere of impact and influence.  I often lie on my couch and imagine just how amazing it will be if/when we all do just a little extra to make a difference in our own worlds. The world itself will become a brighter, kinder, more thoughtful place. Yeah, this sounds like a massive delusion, what with the state of international relations at the moment. But if we humans made this little pale blue dot (Carl Sagan's analogy, not mine), so full of war and pestilence and ignorance, surely we are also powerful enough to make it just a little more peaceful, healthy and educated? 

For the last two years, I've been a member of the Global Shapers Community. It's basically the youth engagement arm of the World Economic Forum. Yes, yes, it's completely VOLUNTARY! The goals of our community are simple: we want to include young professionals- aspiring leaders from all walks of life- in the planning and implementation of initiatives that directly shape the future of the world that they are going to inherit. It's a big and small world, after all. The local Shapers Hub in Apia currently has two projects. The first, of which I am Project Lead, is called  the Atamai Online Education and Career Planning Project. We focus on improving educational equity, accessibility and career planning for tertiary students and job seekers in Samoa. Our passion for making education an open-access commodity, so to speak, is born out of our own experiences in the local education system, but also from witnessing the struggles of many young people whose schooling years were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting lock-downs. The second project, called the Carbon Audit, is spearheaded by the many engineers that our hub is blessed to have on board. Their mission is to promote open dialogue about environmental and climate change issues in Samoa, and to raise awareness in our communities about the indispensable role of youth in the ongoing fight against the rising sea level, heightened global temperatures and, most prevalent of all, misinformation.

Will our two little projects get every student in Samoa educated, or stop the high waves from lapping high over the Apia seawall at random times? Probably not. But: will they help a recent uni graduate put relevant info on her CV? Will they remind a group of Year 9 boys not to throw their ice-pop packaging into the nearest waterway? DEFINITELY. And that is all the difference they need to make. That is the world they need to change. It is so little, I agree. But it is also so, so much. And it is worth it.