When I turned 30, I realised I could turn my life around. Five years later, here I am.

These were the words of 36-year-old Isikeli Ralovo of Naviqiri Village, Navakasiga in Bua. He was one of the six legal practitioners admitted to the bar before the Acting Chief Justice Kamal Kumar yesterday.

The youngest of six siblings completed his Bachelor of Law degree from the Fiji National University and did his Graduate Diploma in Legal Practices from the University of Fiji.

“I am the first lawyer in the family, in the village and in the district,” he said.

“It is a big thing for me because in my family, everyone is a teacher including my parents, but I opted to go a different way.

“I went back to school at the age of 30 and many people think that it is an old age to go to university but I went back and I made it.

“I found out that hard work pays off despite the age, and nothing is impossible.

“Before I went to law school, I was doing odd jobs here and there but nothing steady.

“I joined the Fiji Police Force for three years, worked at a diving company and did building and maintenance works here and there because I did not have any degree.

“I had failed my form six and everything was going downhill from there.

“When I turned 30, I realised that I could turn my life around. So I went back to university and started from foundation. And five years later here I am,” Mr Ralovo said.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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