Another Samoan woman has hit the list of record makers with academic Bernadette Samau becoming the first Samoan to graduate with a doctorate in marketing and management.

Hailing from the villages of Safua Lalomalava and Lepea and the eldest of seven children, 41-year-old Ms. Samau was born on the big island of Savai'i. She was adopted by her mother's parents at the age of five, the late Samau Timani, and Maria Samau. She is married to Papalii Fasavalu Sila with their only child Athena aged nine.

Instead of traveling to New Zealand to receive her award, she told the Samoa Observer in an interview on Saturday that she's decided to stay back and graduate in absentia after she got news of her paternal grandfather being unable to travel for her graduation.

“My grandparents made many sacrifices. My grandmother left my grandfather in Samoa so she could move with me to New Zealand where I did my entire primary, secondary, and tertiary education,” she said.

Her biggest pillar of support has always been her family especially her grandfather and later grandmother. 

After high school, she found herself doing a Diploma in Travel and Tourism which lead to her completing a Marketing Degree. Her next course in life was far from smooth sailing after facing ill-treatment at her workplace, which she said only fueled her drive toward her attaining a Master's Degree.

“In 2011 her grandmother passed away leading to her decision to move in with her biological parents who at the time were ministers of the E.F.K.S. church in Siufaga, Falelatai," she said.

“I moved back to Samoa and started my first job as a marketing and management lecturer at the National University of Samoa. I was awarded a scholarship under the M.O.U. between N.U.S. and the University of Otago.” 

She later had to drop the program after being told that her research proposal was of Ph.D. standard but did not meet the requirements of her scholarship.

“I left Otago for Samoa but God's plans are always better than ours. When I got back to N.U.S. I discovered that there was an Otago Ph.D. scholarship available and I applied and got it.

"In 2017, I left my family, husband, and my three-and-a-half-year-old daughter in Samoa to pursue my Ph.D. in Management." 

But her trip this time had her facing new obstacles and more challenges.

“I struggled with many like homesickness and health problems. I was put on deferral twice for a period of six months due to kidney stones and was under medication. I thank God Otago did not kick me out considering the countless times I also travelled back to Samoa whenever my daughter was sick.

"I chose to live in the cheapest accommodation so I could save my allowance to pay for my trips home and to also to help my parents who at the time were no longer ministers of the church. We lived humbly and my flatmates made life bearable. Strangers became family and we have kept that going since leaving Otago.” 

Facing numerous hurdles, she believes the best support she got was from the prayers of her family and friends, especially from her sister-in-law, Faalavaau Perina Tualaulelei, and her husband Leta Tualaulelei who were her spiritual mentors.

“For me, I started this Ph.D. with different values and priorities than what I actually walked away with. This was not the most important thing I got from Otago. The real gold was finding God and building that personal relationship with him,” she said.

“My Ph.D. is a God-orchestrated blessing. Despite the countless hardships, struggles, and challenges, I never ever considered giving up. I only ever asked God to grant me more time. More time because I was always prioritising my family over my Ph.D.”

She is still accepting the reality of achieving this milestone of being the first Samoan to be conferred a Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing Management. 

“My Ph.D. is a testament to God's love, mercy, and faithfulness. I don’t have enough words to express my heartfelt appreciation for all the sacrifices my husband has made for me. My family's love and prayers kept me going."