Family get-together cause for celebration

The last time Soji Chambers’ family visited him all together at Otago, it was to help him settle into his college in first year.

This weekend, four years later, they’ll make the trip south from Tauranga to watch him walk across the stage as he graduates with a Bachelor of Science majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology.

“My mum didn’t say much to me when she dropped me in Dunedin in first year but, looking back, I think she was trying not to cry,” Soji says.

“I know my family found it tough for me to be so far away from home, but they were trying to be supportive of my choices. They wanted me to go out and experience the real world just as they had done when they were young.”

It helped that they’d heard good things about the opportunities for Pacific students at Otago, he says.

“One of my high school teachers was an alumnus of Otago and as a Fijian student he’d had a great experience, so my parents felt reassured by his words and were happy for me to come here.”

This weekend promises to be a much happier family get-together as Soji’s parents and younger brother – who are “very proud of his achievement” – join him to celebrate his graduation.

“Education is very important to my family. I’m not the first in my family to receive a university education, so excellence in education has always been the expectation in my family.

“They’ve always pushed me to be the best in whatever I’m doing, and their support has been integral to my achievements,” Soji says.

There’s another cause for celebration this weekend, too.

“It’s also my birthday the day after graduation, which I haven’t spent with my family since I started University, so I’m looking forward to just spending time with them.

“We’re planning to go out for a nice dinner and I’ll also show them a bit more of Dunedin and the University.”

Soji’s father is Fijian from the village of Sanasana, Nadroga with maternal links to Vanuavatu, Lau and his mother is Fijian-Indian from Vatu-o-lalai, Nadroga with maternal links to Veiseisei, Ba.

Soji was awarded one of Otago’s Pacific People’s Entrance Scholarships in year 13 because of his involvement in cultural activities and mentoring at Tauranga Boys’ College.

“I was a prefect, I tutored English, biology and psychology. I was also on the school’s arts council, so I did a lot of the cultural dances and that sort of thing.”

While Soji initially started studying health sciences, he switched to psychology in his second year.

“I've always wanted to know why people do what they do both individually and also on a macro scale, like populations of people in the world. Psychology just explains so much.”

Soji has continued to help others during his time at Otago. He’s the general executive of the Science Student Pacific Island Association (SSPIA) and a Mana Toa mentor working under the Division of Science.

“At SSPIA our main purpose is just to support the academic success and holistic wellbeing of students. We run social and academic events and workshops, we connect students to the Division of Science-specific support team, and we pretty much just advocate for the needs of the students, whatever they may be.

“As a Mana Toa mentor we engage with Pacific Island boys from Oamaru to encourage them to pursue tertiary education in the sciences.”

He was also an intern with the Pacific Opportunities Programme of Otago (POPO), which operates under Va’a o Tautai - Division of Health Sciences, where he had the opportunity to work at a Pacific health provider and provide a range of health and social services to his Pacific community in Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty.

Soji has just started his postgraduate degree, a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Psychology. His dissertation will be a strengths-based study looking at the acculturation strategies of Fijian migrants in New Zealand.

“Most Pacific studies are very deficit focused. There's a lot of negative statistics out there, which are important and obviously you need to know the issues, but I think sometimes a lot of great stuff can come out of strength-based research.”

He came across his topic while he was doing his POPO internship.

“I was comparing statistics for a report, and I found that migrants from Fiji have integrated pretty well in New Zealand in terms of qualifications, they've got the highest employment rates and the highest median income for Pacific people.

“So, I’ll be looking at what allowed those Fijian migrants to acculturate so well.”

After his studies, Soji would like to pursue a career in an industry that lacks Pacific representation, possibly in health, policy or consultancy, he says.

“With this knowledge and experience I hope to eventually apply it to my Pacific community and possibly work in Fiji or for a Pacific health provider in New Zealand, similar to the one I interned at.”

– Kōrero by Internal Communications Adviser Laura Hewson