It was both interesting and inspiring to read an article by Siteri Sauvakacolo (FT 06/07) titled “To prove I can do it”. The article talks about hard work and determination in which Dr Jalesi Nakarawa is the centrepiece of the story.

His achievement is a testimony to myself and others that age is not a barrier to education when he graduated with a Ph.D in Law from the Waikato University (New Zealand) at the age of 60. Congratulations again Dr Nakarawa.

As much as how I was fascinated by his biggest academic achievement, I asked Mr. Google for his help to read the summary of his Ph.D thesis titled, “Domestic Violence and Systemic Deception in the Family Legal System: A Compelling case for Truthful Reform.”

The abstract read was fascinating, especially Dr Nakarawa’s perspective of the law and legal philosophy behind New Zealand’s response to domestic violence. He also pointed out that, “the thesis proposes a holistic approach based on domestic violence as fundamentally a behavioural issue. It is important first to ascertain the nature of violence in the world and our lives and to unpack human behaviour for a better understanding of why we do the things we do”.

To those who are interested in reading the online abstract of Dr Nakarawa’s thesis or perhaps browse through the actual thesis of more than 400 pages, the source is http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/10819.

His story of struggle and his pursuance to achieve his goals in life, especially in education, is one of a kind and should be a lesson to us that everything is possible through perseverance, hard work and divine intervention. Thus, I encourage everyone to read his amazing and inspiring story online via http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=407467.

Dr Nakarawa simply puts out an inspiring message when he said: “I have always advised youth and parents that education does not end when you leave school, it begins at birth and ends only in death.”