18 March 2022

Forty-year-old Lite says he wasn’t a particularly good student at school and left college without any qualifications and little idea of what he wanted to do.  However, he says he’d seen his parents struggling financially to keep up with the maintenance and repairs on the family’s fleet of vehicles, and he figured that learning how to do it himself might help them save a bit of money.  He enrolled in an auto mechanics course at the Australia Pacific Technical College (APTC) in Samoa, did an apprenticeship, and continued to balance work and study as he completed his certificate.  At the time, the APTC was offering graduates the chance to study for a Bachelor of Applied Technology -  Automotive Engineering at Unitec, and Lite says he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.  He moved to New Zealand as an International student in 2012 – a daunting move for someone who had never been further than Samoa’s capital city, Apia. 
“For me, it was my first time being away from home, and I missed my family and friends to start with,” he says.  “But it didn’t take me long to get connected to Unitec life, and to make friends with people from all around the world and get involved with student events.”
But it wasn’t just student life that appealed to Lite.  He says his lecturers inspired and encouraged him, and helped him overcome his challenges when he started to doubt himself. 

 

High demand for specialised skills

“I learnt from the best teachers in the automotive business,” he says. “It was a big professional advantage for me to gain my skills and knowledge at Unitec, and the staff played a huge part in my time there.”
Lite returned to Samoa after graduating, and soon found that the broad scope of his applied degree helped open up new and expanded opportunities, with high demand for his specialised skills in the Pacific nation. 
He spent three years overseeing the maintenance of vital health service machinery at the Samoa National Health Services (SNHS), before going on to work for construction and engineering companies where he expanded his skill set to include the maintenance and repair of heavy machinery used in roadworks engineering, sand mining, building construction, bridge building and airport runway maintenance.  
Lite then took up a teaching role at the National University of Samoa, and he says he hopes his students get the same inspiration from him as he experienced as a student at Unitec.
“Teaching has always been my dream,” he says.  “After working in the automotive industry for more than seventeen years, and now lecturing in my field at my old school, it’s a real thrill to share some of my knowledge, and to give something back to the community.” 

It’s never too late to learn

“I always encourage my students - no matter their age - that it’s never too late to learn.  I’d recommend anyone who has the chance to study at Unitec to grab the opportunity with both hands, just as I did seven years ago.”
“I always share stories with my students of how I got to where I am today. I tell them everything about what I learned from my time at Unitec, and what I got out of it.  
“I’m hoping that what I’ve done will encourage other Pasifika students to study at Unitec. I really hope I can be a role model for them.  Dreams really can come true.”
Lite says job prospects are good for skilled workers, and the evolving nature of automotive technology means there’s a steady demand for technicians to diagnose, fix and repair vehicles.  
“It’s a great skill to have,” he says. “And it’s useful!” 
The father-of-five says he spends what spare time he has playing with his kids, enjoying Samoa’s beautiful beaches -- and working on the family car.

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