#pilsafam

Today one of my dear friends was elected as President for the association of all the Pasifika students at the University of Auckland. It's such a nice feeling to be genuinely happy for another person :)

But although I am happy, this is a bittersweet moment for me. Everything at university is going up and up for our Pasifika students, and yet I'm scheduled to graduate in May 2014.

I'm actually going to miss uni. I never felt like this at high school - I was actually kind of happy to leave high school. But I'm sad to leave uni. I'm sad to leave all of these extremely exceptional people I have encountered, and especially all of my PILSA family. To be honest, I never really hung out with islanders growing up. At primary, my friends were mostly palagi. At intermediate, I had a Cambodian friend, a couple of Maori friends and the rest were palagi. At high school, I had another group of friends from various ethnic backgrounds. Only at uni have I really got close to other Pasifika people. And I'm going to miss them heaps.

I am so blessed to have been surrounded by so many intelligent people. And intelligent Pasifika people too. That's why I hate it when people make these assumptions that brown people are not as smart or not as competent as other ethnic groups. I know so many that are. The thing I like about all these people that I call friends is that not only are they intelligent, but all of my friends also have hearts of gold, and know how to think using common sense, not just book knowledge. They know how to be considerate, and to help others up instead of just fighting for and by themselves.