Staying positive
Rokotavaga navigates his destiny
IT’S OK to follow your own path instead of what others set out for you. For Ratu Manoa Rokotavaga, 24, who hails from Vunisinu in Rewa, it is a motto that he keeps close to his heart.
He is currently in his final year at the University of the South Pacific where he’s enrolled for a bachelors in economics and politics.
Mr Rokotavaga says he chose economics because it was one of his favourite subjects in high school and he was also fascinated with politics.
Before he joined USP, he briefly studied at the Australian National University between 2018 and 2020, but this came to a halt due to the COVID pandemic.
“One of the personal challenges I had to overcome was when I came from Australia during COVID and there was an extended period of time where I didn’t know what to do,” Mr Rokotavaga said.
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“I had no other choice but to continue my education in Fiji and consider building a professional career here.”
Mr Rokotavaga secured his first job at the Bulaccino Café for eight months, before he left to join USP.
At USP, he joined the Student Learning Services Department and later applied to MindPearl to work in customer service and sales for about 10 months.
“A common thing that I noticed is when you are seen as the intelligent one in the family, the family has high expectations, and when you don’t meet those expectations, it sticks in the back of your mind.
“You worry about what people think of you and what they say, but I had to focus on the positives and think of what I could do.”
Mr Rokotavaga left MindPearl and returned to commence his second year at USP. During this time he dabbled in different departments which included the Marketing Department, the Retail Department and returning to the Student Learning Services Department as a (Peer Assisted Study Session) PASS leader.
He was blessed to have been awarded the Outstanding Student award for the USP JENESYS program for 2022. In the same year, he was also awarded the Most Outstanding PASS Leader award.
“I think personal growth, to a great extent, has shaped my life and my outlook on life.
“Leaving high school and entering university was very new to me, especially since I was in a different country.
“After the first year I suffered from depression, something that I also wasn’t familiar with. And although I did seek professional help in Australia, for some reason I still kept falling back into that same dark hole.
“When I came back to Fiji, I took some time out for myself. I realised that if I was to move my studies to Fiji, I needed to get myself together and move on.
“It was during this time that I started to discover a lot of things about myself. For instance, I’ve always thought that I was an outgoing person, but after self-reflecting I realised I needed to spend as much time on myself as I did with other people.”
Mr Rokotavaga also worked as an intern for the Pacific Network on Globalisation for three months during one of his mid-semester breaks.
At the end of his second year, he joined the Bank of the South Pacific as an attaché for three months. He completed his three-month contract with BSP and left to work for Dialogue Fiji – a civil society organisation.
He says his mum and two sisters have always been his biggest supporters throughout his journey.
“My mum and my two sisters have always been the constant elements in my life.
“They are my biggest cheerleaders and my go-to people if I ever need advice, comfort, grog or just someone to rant to.
“I want to help them be in a better place than before because growing up, my mum was the sole breadwinner, so I had to learn to go without a lot of things.”
A common thing that I noticed is that when you are seen as the intelligent one in the family, the family has high expectations, and when you don’t meet those expectations, it sticks in the back of your mind
Ratu Manoa Rokotavaga