Lawyer gives credit to parents for success

By Deidre Tautua-Fanene 23 July 2018, 12:00AM

A lawyer who was recently admitted to the bar in Samoa has credited his parents for pushing him to succeed.

Sauaga, 25, of Vaiusu and Fagafau of Savai’i, was the sole male lawyer to be admitted to the bar recently before His Honour, Chief Justice Patu Tiavasu’e Falefatu Sapolu.

Speaking to the Samoa Observer, he said he always wanted to be a lawyer and his parents had high expectations of him as his two older siblings were also lawyers. But the four-year journey, which culminated with his recent admission, was not easy.

“There were a lot of challenges, but mostly is the fact that I had to study overnight and not enough sleep, not forgetting the assignments that I had to do, which sometimes I couldn’t handle but I made it through. There were moments that I almost gave up but having dreamed of dreams and seeing visions of what I have planned for my life, pushed me through and having the support of my family and seeing the struggle they have been through really helped me to get through all the challenges,” he said.

“Another challenge is that I did my own studies because I was studying online, so there was no lecturer to help me out so when I joined the Attorney General’s Office, that is where I received help from the lawyers at the office.” 

Time management became a challenge for him, especially when it came to balancing the demands of student life and full-time employment

“So it’s trying to balance the workload as well as my studies of what needs to be done first, but then I always prioritise my studies and assignments first.” 

He aspires to become the attorney general one day, but for now it is time to clock hours in the courtroom and learn as much as he could. 

“Like what the Chief Justice said being a lawyer is different from all other professions, which is true, I have to be an excellent lawyer and to become an excellent lawyer I need to learn as I go. I need to avoid making mistakes and so it all comes down to learning,” he added. 

Sauaga is the youngest of Tua’iaufa’i Asalemo and Ana Tuimauga’s six children.

By Deidre Tautua-Fanene 23 July 2018, 12:00AM

Trending Stories

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>