It was a proud moment for Sainiana Radrodro and Tevita Cagilaba when both graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree yesterday.

The mother and son are among the 1735 students who are graduating from the University of the South Pacific this month.

The graduation ceremony concludes today at the FMF Gymnasium in Suva.

Ms Radrodro and her son had graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science last year.

She said this graduation had been extra special.

“During my graduation last year, I still had the case over my head. But that is over now, and this achievement is like the icing on the cake for me,” she said.

Ms Radrodro had been charged with obtaining a financial advantage. The case had run for seven years, but earlier this year she was acquitted of all charges.

She said her case had been one of the reasons for her to pursue law studies.

“It inspired me to understand the aspects of the charges and how I could personally know what was happening to me,” she said.

“It was a motivating factor, but becoming a lawyer had been a dream right from the start.”

She thought the dream had come to an end when her parents separated when she was only 11 years old.

“Now, 32 years later, I am so grateful,” she said.

She thanked her three children, friends and her husband, SODELPA Member of Parliament, Aseri Radrodro, for their constant support.

“It has been an amazing journey of trusting in God to see us through the whole process in the past seven years,’ she said.

“I am quite emotional and I thank God, my family and my husband, who has been my pillar of strength, the man who made all this possible.

“I also want to thank my son who was in my class, he helped me with the technological aspects and just him being there meant so much.”

Ms Radrodro added there was no end to learning and age should never be seen as a barrier.

“We need to continue to inspire ourselves,” she said.

“We have a duty to Fiji; we have a responsibility to give back to our country, so we must continue to learn and achieve.”

Mr Radrodro, a chartered accountant, is also studying law and if everything goes well will graduate in 2021

Edited by Percy Kean

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