Hanna Fialauiafualeafi Wallwork has received top honours at the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.)'s graduation for its' foundation year students which she dedicated to her mother and called her the backbone behind her successes.

Held at the N.U.S Gymnasium on Friday, families and friends as well as the staff gathered to celebrate the success of hundreds of N.U.S foundation students who have closed the very first chapter of their university lives.

In an interview with the Samoa Observer, Ms. Wallwork stressed that her mother, Losa Maia'i had sacrificed a lot for her success throughout her academic journey and she deserves the acknowledgement and award.

"I'm just over the moon and elated, I'm just really grateful and as I said before, I dedicate this to my mother because seeing her work hard throughout this whole year and always prioritise me over everyone and so I'm just glad that I'm able to give this achievement to her as well as my family members, my father and grandparents," she said.

Hanna topped Mathematics, English, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Studies and Vice Chancellor, Tuifuisaa Patila Amosa declared her as the top student for this year's foundation class.

Hailing from the villages of Vaimoso, Papa i Savaii and Vaoala, the 17-year-old who aspires to be a doctor one day is setting her eyes on the medical field, and hopes to train to become a doctor one day to serve her country and overcome barriers in the medical field such as unavailable treatment.

She will now be working towards completing her Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery to be able to achieve her bigger dreams.

"I'm hoping to work towards studying medicine at university so that I can become a doctor because that's what I aspire to be but we'll see if everything works out," she said.

"I was always interested in human biology and studying the human body and when I got to see how in Samoa, we have an issue of lack of doctors and I saw that with my family members because they had to travel overseas to get the treatments.

"I want to try and help the already hard working medical team in trying to localise treatment so that our hospitals can accommodate more patients locally."

Asked what challenges she experienced along her journey as a foundation student, Hanna said it was the lifestyle and mentality.

"When we come from high school to N.U.S, we're a bit arrogant and too excited thinking that it's going to be the same as high school but it's not and the workload is definitely different and intensive and really requires you to adjust immediately," she explained.

"That was something I struggled with because I became burnt-out and I overestimated myself and it was only when I acknowledged that I was arrogant and that I needed to work on myself, that was when I was able to overcome that barrier."