Solway College student Eunice Papali’i has eclectic goals: To become a pilot, serve her school in Chapel, and make her boarding house “sisters” a Pacific-inspired watermelon and pineapple treat.
Eunice is a recipient of a 2023 Toloa Secondary School Scholarship, which encourages students with Pacific heritage to pursue STEAM subjects – science, technology, engineering, arts and maths.
Quiet and inquisitive, Eunice is studying Level 2 Samoan, English, calculus, physics, chemistry and accounting for Year 12 this year.
“Physics is my favourite,” she said. “People think it’s hard, but when you get used to it, it’s fun.”
To confirm if aviation is the right career choice, Eunice has joined the Air Cadets based at Masterton’s Hood Aerodrome. She described the club as “like the Air Force for kids. It helps us get a good understanding of aviation, and we also study gliding”.
Eunice went to primary and intermediate school in Auckland, Palmerston North and, finally, Upper Hutt, where her family now lives. Her Samoan mother, Bertha Sifa, is a recruiter for the Defence Force and visited Solway College, which she found to be “a small school, with very polite, kind and welcoming students”.
Eunice began her secondary education there as a Year 9 boarder in 2020.
Her father, Talivale Papali’i, has Tokelauan heritage. Eunice has visited Samoa often but has never been to Tokelau and would like to see its group of atolls one day.
“I love my Pacific heritage because of the culture, food and language,” she said. “We have days at school dedicated to celebrating Pacific culture – we give presentations in school assembly and cook special food.”
With early autumn still throwing up warm weather, Eunice wants to make her fellow boarders a traditional Tongan dish called Otai, often made by her grandmother. It is a combination of watermelon and pineapple, then condensed milk is added and the dish is refrigerated until very chilled.
“It’s really nice to eat on a hot day.”
An only child, Eunice said her Pacific heritage meant she never felt alone. “My cousins are like brothers and sisters, and the other boarders at school are my Solway sisters.”
Eunice enjoys playing netball and volleyball and, with religion a big part of her family’s life, she enjoys being involved in the Solway College Chapel.
The Toloa Scholarship, awarded through the Ministry for Pacific Peoples, includes assistance with school fees and providing a learning device. Eunice has already received her new laptop, which would help her with Samoan language classes online, including many video calls, she said.
On its website, the ministry says STEAM skills and knowledge are not new to Pacific people, who come from “a lineage of navigators, explorers, innovators, and experts in STEAM. STEAM skills are adaptable in a vast ocean of career pathways and opportunities.”
Next year, Eunice will choose which aviation school in New Zealand to apply to.
“I would like to thank everyone who helped me apply for the scholarship,” she said. “Especially my grandfather, Lotomau Sifa, my mother and my teachers – they are my role models and my motivation.”
