Life has not been a bed of roses for 19-year-old Elenoa Rakuro.

The Somosomo, Taveuni native has made her struggles an inspi­ration in pursuing her dream job to one day be a successful marine engineer.

Ms Rakuro is one of the nine fe­male students that has enrolled into the Fiji Maritime Academy to pursue studies in the marine engineering programme starting this year.

“When my dad passed away in 2014 I was taken in under my grandparents’ care because my mom had to leave me in Vanua Levu to come and work here in Viti Levu,” Ms Rakuro said.

“It was difficult for me as I was the only child and I recall some­times I was lonely,” she said.

“I went through a lot of chal­lenges at home when I was a child, a lot of struggles, but I pushed on until I passed my Year 13 Exams last year at Dilkusha High School.

“My favourite bible verse since I was a child was Jeremiah 29:11; I learnt to trust God and His plans for my life even when those around me failed me; I learnt wto always focus on achieving my dreams.”

Ms Rakuro says she hopes to one day become a chief engineer here in Fiji and she is ready to take on the challenges her dream job has to offer.

“My dream is to one day become a chief engineer,” she said.

“When I was in high school I had always loved to study and do re­search on engines and how they operate. That is where my inter­est lies.

“There is always a lot of talks on engineering being a male domi­nated career, for me I thank my uncle for always telling me not to be discouraged by anything; for me to continue trying to achieve my dreams.

“I will focus on having the right attitude towards my studies in order to achieve the best results; I will do my best to make my fam­ily proud.”

Ms Rakuro is part of the 30 stu­dents that are in boot camp at the FMA the next ten days.