The Seventh Day Adventist Church College, Lalovaea, school dux award of 2019 went to 18-year-old Commerce student, Angellyn Fa’aleiua.
Her coveted academic award was presented at the school prize giving today at Lalovaea.
The annual end of the year event was postponed from last year 2019 by the measles epidemic and it was combined from primary up to the college levels.
Fa’aleiua confided that she struggled to breath, when her name was called out before the large turnout of parents, other family members and the whole school.
“This has always been by my focus when I started school, I never wanted to be second in class and it has carried me through to this moment in my final college year,” said the Year 13 student.
The proud achievement gave much needed distraction for the dux, whose older sister in the US military who is being assigned on a tour of duty to the Middle East hot spot in Iraq.
Her parents, Siu and Toelei’u Fa’aleiua, welcomed the award as a huge measure of relief for the worried family.
“We’ve all been concerned in the family for my daughter in the American army going off to Iraq, so this dux award is a welcome cheer for us all,” the grateful father in the family of one son and 3 daughters celebrated at the end of the prize giving.
“Right now our prayers are with our daughter taking up duty for the US army in a very dangerous region in the world.”
For the dux daughter in Samoa, the future is in her interest in economic studies.
“I want to be an economist, it is a line of profession that I know not many are interested in taking up.”
Her personal inspiration in economics and of the person that she looks upon as her role model is the Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
“I firmly believe that without his influence and leadership, we would not be where we are today enjoying the good state of the economy in Samoa.”
Moving on from college education had their sad moments for the school dux. She felt it strongly when the school broke off early for the holidays last year because of the measles epidemic.
“We knew we were coming back for our school prize giving and it was small consolation that we will meet again to make our final goodbyes.”