People choose their careers for many reasons, including financial stability, quality of work life, and personal passion. For Eseta Taleimaivavalagi, caregiving was her personal calling.
The 23-year-old from Rotuma Island was one of 39 candidates who recently graduated from the Mauri Professional Caregiving Institute with a certificate III in individual support and community care.
A former Suva Grammar School student, Ms. Taleimaivavalagi attended the University of the South Pacific in 2019 to pursue a degree in law but decided to take a break. During this break, she discovered the certificate III course in individual support and community care.
“I found out about this course because the Mauri Professional Caregiving Institute is a Rotuman institute, and the word spread quickly among the Rotuman community,” she said.
Switching from law to caregiving wasn’t difficult for Ms. Taleimaivavalagi as she already had experience in caregiving, which aligned well with her cultural background and family values focused on compassion.
“I am a caregiver at home. I looked after my grandparents,” she said. She felt that through caregiving, God was showing her that helping the vulnerable was her true calling. “To be honest, when I started attending my classes and going for my practicals, everything was just lovely. It was worth it. Now, all the traveling and waking up at 3 a.m. to attend classes on time have paid off.”
Now that she has graduated, Ms. Taleimaivavalagi hopes to return to university to complete her law degree. “I am still hoping to finish my law degree, so fingers crossed, I can do that now that I’m done with this course.”
She acknowledged her family and fiancé for being her biggest supporters during her academic journey. “They really helped me a lot through this,” she said.
Her advice to aspiring caregivers is to be in it for the calling. “If you don’t have the passion for this field, then I don’t think it’s for you. You need to have patience and treat it as a personal calling.”