A Savusavu native had to overcome financial hurdles to graduate with a Diploma (Level 5) in Information Technology at the University of the South Pacific graduation ceremony on Friday.

Uday Prasad, 23, also walked away with the gold medal with the most outstanding graduate with a cumulative GPA of not less than 4.0 in the programme in a special ceremony on Wednesday at the Laucala campus.

“For me to survive and carry out the expenses of university my dad had to work very hard to support me and he made sure all my fees and dues were paid,” Mr Prasad said.

He said the Tertiary Education Loans Scheme was a big help for him after moving to USP from his earlier studies at the Fiji National University.

“Before I joined USP, I was a student at Fiji National University,” he said.

“When I moved to USP, I had applied for Tertiary Education Loans Scheme to remove the burden off my dad’s shoulders and stand on my own feet.

“I come from a financially challenged background where my dad was the only sole bread winner of the house.

“Since I joined USP in 2015, I had also started working there as an intern and now I am a permanent staff of USP at Statham Campus.

“Going through classes and managing work was not easy because it required a lot of attention and focus.

“But it never stopped me or held me back and I kept moving forward as I went along facing all the challenges to make sure I make my parents proud.

“My family’s happiness is all it matters to me because their happiness lies in my success.”

Edited by Rusiate Mataika

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