Best friends achieve accountant dream

By Ivamere Nataro 29 March 2019, 12:00AM

Dream big, stay focused and never get distracted.

This was the advice given by best friends, Catherine Laverne Grevel from Aleisa and Gloria Esera Lafi from Togafu'afu'a, two of the eight who were inducted as chartered Accountants by the Samoa Institute of Accountants on Thursday.  

The Millenia Hotel conference room was packed with family and friends, who turned up in numbers to congratulate the inductees for their achievement and to join the celebration. 

Catherine and Gloria expressed their excitement and gave credit to God, their family and friends for being there for them throughout their studies.  

 "We sat an exam and we have to go through four modules and in order to be a chartered accountant we had to do that, so we passed that and we're getting inducted today (Thursday). They give you four years. You can take two each semester, but we took one each," an excited Catherine said. 

The four modules are Ethics and Governance - facilitated by Tuiloma Sina Retzlaff; Advance audit and assurance, and Global strategy and leadership - facilitated by Faumuina Esther Poutoa; and Financial reporting - facilitated by Lauano Dennis Chan Tung.  

With their qualifications, they plan to contribute positively to Samoa's economy through their service and adding value to what they do. 

"We plan to use our knowledge that we gain through our programme on our work because the knowledge that we gain can be given back to improving what we do, and the service that we deliver to the public," Gloria said. 

Their passion in accounting started at Samoa College where they also began their friendship, but they said they've always seen themselves as accountants growing up. 

"We faced a lot challenges a long the way," Catherine said. 

"The challenge was to stay focused because there were a lot of distractions, which could lead you astray from achieving your goal," Gloria added.  

"When someone falls behind we try to help them up, and it wasn't just us, we had other friends from college as well but they had different career paths."

They did their foundation studies at the National University of Samoa before moving on to Victoria University in Australia where they completed their three-year programme and graduated with a Bachelors in Commerce majoring in Accounting. 

Catherine, 25, works at Lesama Pay and Accounting Firm, and Gloria, 26, at the Ministry of Finance. 

They told the Samoa Observer their plans to work for Government and contribute to the development of Samoan. 

"I hope we've made our family and friends proud with what we've achieved," Catherine said. 

The other six chartered accountants are Brianna Bartram, Rachel Boyer, Ah Siu Lin, Telesia Niumata, Fuimaono Vaitolo Ofoia and Quentin Tusa. The five accounting technicians, who were also inducted, are Savaii Fiu Fatu, Sitagata John Ilalio, Ofoia Nomeneta Ofoia, Situa Tavita, and Fau'atea Lydal Visan. 






By Ivamere Nataro 29 March 2019, 12:00AM

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