Vowing to work hard for his younger siblings after his parents died, Ben­jamin Holmes’ journey took a fur­ther step after he received his Year 13 exam marks and found that he scored 324/400.

The 19-year-old hails from Vuga Village in Taveuni and has maternal links to Motusa village in Rotuma. Benjamin is the third old­est among five siblings.

“I am so happy with my marks. I guess I de­serve these marks because I really worked hard. My aim was to do better than my Year 12 marks,” Benjamin said.

“My mum passed away when I was in Year seven and my dad passed away when I was in Year 11. It was hard, but I accepted it. I used to attend Natabua High School and when my dad passed away we had to shift to my aunt’s place in Suva.

“I am thankful to a lot of people who have been there for us when our parents passed away. I would now apply for scholarship as my brother is a Toppers Scholarship recipi­ent.”

Benjamin said his siblings were the driving force to get him to do his best.

“Next year I want to do Civil Engineering and I am ready for it. For me, family is every­thing and I am thankful that I have a family who is always there for each other,” he said.

“I believe I needed to step up and do my part. Family is the core of my hard work. My aunt and uncle have always encouraged me to nev­er give up and there is always hope.

“I want to thank the teachers, my aunty and my uncle and especially my siblings for their support.”

Edited by Jonathan Bryce

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