Fifita Digs Deep To Accomplish Her Mission In Life
Helen Fifita is a goal-oriented person.
Whatever goals she sets her mind on, she’ll make sure to accomplish sooner or later.
The 28-year-old hails from the far flung Lau Province island of Ono-i-Lau and is a proud mother of a daughter.
She holds an Honours Bachelors in Civil Engineering from the Fiji National University and is eyeing to pursue her Masters soon.
She currently works for China Railway Engineering Group Five as their surveyor and also a Civil Design Engineer at her father’s company.
Ms Fifita is the sixth child among her 11 siblings and the first civil engineer in her family.
“My father is a Registered Surveyor and retired Naval Officer now running a Cadastral and Hydrography Survey Company while my mother supports my father’s business.
Ms Fifta attended Xavier College from 2009 till 2013 as a pure science student and further pursued her studies at FNU studying Bachelors in Civil Engineering (Hon.).
During the school holiday and university breaks she worked for her father.
“My parents have the sweetest heart and we siblings have a lot of respect for them, they dedicated their time and energy in order to provide for us until we could provide for ourselves,” she said.
Ms Fifita aspired to become a pilot but watching her father establishing his own surveying company inspired her to become a civil engineer.
“When I reached Form 5 I sat with my parents to talk about the subject I was going to take and the thought of taking over my father’s company when he retires. I decided to take pure science,” she said.
“I grew up seeing my father establishing his own surveying company We used to go to his office in Toorak after school and help out. What inspired me was watching him work day and night to get his company running.”
She wants to be a role model to her daughter.
“I got married at a young age and had my beautiful daughter while I was studying, which wasn’t easy because I had multiple roles to play whilst staying focused on getting a degree.
I had to take a break from school to nurture my daughter, after a year I had to go back to school. Continued and completed in 2019.
“Becoming a mother to my beautiful Chole was the proudest moment of my life and that’s what kept me going and this I believe would someday encourage her to be a strong woman who would overcome every challenge in life to achieve her goals and dreams.
“My parents and Grandparents were a big influence in my life. They would remind me the importance of being successful and that advice made me who I am today.
Her advice is to not always expect sunshine and rainbows but rather set your goals and be visionary.
Feedback: nolishma.narayan@fijisun.com.fj
