Meretinai Vaturaiyawa, a student at Nakorotubu Secondary School, has expressed a strong desire to pursue her tertiary education at the Fiji National University (FNU) as she aspires to become a nurse.
Reflecting on her visit to the FNU Open Day, she shared, “My concentration was on Food Science and I observed the College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Science. I am eager to learn about the opportunities in the medical field.”
At just 16 years old, Vaturaiyawa highlighted the lack of medical professionals from her village, stating, “There is a health centre at Namarai Village, Nakorotubu, Ra, but there is no one from Namarai or my village in Veidrala that works there. It is my aim to be stationed there as a nurse one day.”
She noted that her experience at the FNU Open Day in Nasinu reassured her decision to choose FNU for her future studies.
Vaturaiyawa also mentioned some challenges at her school, which was established in 2020, where she enrolled in Year Nine in 2021. “There have been no Biology and Chemistry teachers for Term One and Two this year. Now we finally have a Biology and Chemistry teacher in Term Three, but we are lacking a Home Economics teacher,” she explained.
In the absence of a Home Economics teacher, she shared that the vice-principal distributes worksheets for the classes.