How I conquered all: My story

By MICHELLE AUAMOROMORO
GRADUATING in absentia with a Bachelor of Communication Arts (Journalism) degree at the Divine Word University last month made me appreciate all the struggles that I endured to reach my goal.
My education journey began at home when I self-taught myself, with the help of my dad, to read and write at the age of five.
I hail from Maipenairu village in Baimuru, Gulf. I am the second eldest of four children.
I attended Baimuru Elementary School in 2004 and continued to Baimuru Primary School.
My dad left his Accounts Clerk job in 2006 to start a small business. He abandoned it after two years when the airport was closed. He became a fisherman to support us.
My siblings and I would miss classes for weeks at times. We would go with dad and mum to fish and earn money for the family.
I fell ill while in Grade 7 in 2010. My family moved to Port Moresby and lived with relatives at Eight-Mile. I never went back to school that year.
In 2011, I enrolled at the Boreboa Primary School to do Grade Eight. Dad had not secured a job yet but he used his savings for my bus fare and lunch money.
Just before my exams, the relative we were living with told us to find another place to stay. We were taken in by another relative into her home at ATS settlement. Despite getting to wear oversized uniform that my aunt bought unwillingly, weeding grass at the school oval as a punishment for not having sports uniform, and having no proper home, I managed to complete Grade Eight.
Dad had still not found a job so my big sister and I found part time jobs at RH Vision City. My job involved packing goods at the checkout counter from 8am to 9pm every day for about three months.
I was only 14 then and earned about K300 fortnightly. It was enough to buy food for the family. In 2012, I was selected to do Grade 9 at Gerehu Secondary School. A few weeks after school started, the relative we were living with told us to leave.
We had nowhere to go. My mum begged the relative to let us stay in her yard for some time while we looked for a place to stay. Dad found some pieces of timber and built a makeshift house. We bought sheets of plastic for the roof and walls.
The house was small and not stable. We had to keep on replacing the roof and walls each week. During windy nights, we would hold the house to stop it from collapsing. On rainy nights, we would shift our belongings to the dry side of the house and slept hugging each other until dawn. Then we dried our belongings in the sun. I had no time to study at home.
The relative kept on screaming at us to leave. Around the time I was in Grade 10, a Seventh-Day Adventist church member pitied us and offered us his empty block to build a temporary home.
Our life began to settle down. We planted cassava and vegetables in the backyard.
Dad finally secured a job and we were okay financially.
I completed Grade 10 and selected to do Grade 11 at Port Moresby National High School in 2014.
That year, we also found a block which we bought and built our own home.

“ I have no regrets for not being there on my big day. I did graduate in absentia with flying colours. I smiled knowing that I had made it.”

Despite all the struggles and challenges, I completed my secondary education in 2015 with good grades and achieved my goal to take up the degree course at the Divine Word University.
I was excited and determined to learn the art of journalism when I arrived at DWU in Madang.
But I acquired a sickness called tonsillitis. It seemed to attack me only during exam weeks. I knew I had the potential to do better but the illness was affecting my studies. It troubled me throughout the four years I spent at DWU.
I was lucky to be a HECAS student during the four years. It eased the financial burden on my parents.
During my final year in 2019, I was told to either stay at home and resume studies the following year, or to stay with family friends at Krangket Island and attend classes. I chose the latter. Dad had lost his job so my good uncle Aukiri Aria helped me with my non-residential fee.

When graduation day approached on March 15 (last month), I knew I could not afford the fare to Madang to attend it.
It hurt me more when realising that all my colleagues and friends would be there at the graduation. Oh how I wished to that gown and mortarboard that I’ve always looked forward to wear, and walk up to the stage.
When that day arrived, I was crying in my room as the graduation procession in Madang began. But then a feeling of peace and calm came over me when friends and colleagues congratulated me via social media after I was named one of the recipients for the academic excellence bronze awards.
I have not received my degree and bronze medal yet but I want to dedicate them to my parents because my achievements are rightfully theirs.
I have no regrets for not being at the graduation on my big day. Hey, I did graduate in absentia with flying colors. I can afford to smile knowing that I had made it.