The winner of this year's Samoa Observer Tusitala Short Story Competition for the Year 13 level in English is hoping to inspire other youths in Samoa through storytelling. 

Potomanuula Fialaui'a of Avao village is a Year 13 student at the Itu-o-Tane College in the village of Avao in Savai'i. 

Speaking to Samoa Observer, after the prize-giving ceremony for the short stories contest on Wednesday, the 18-year-old said that it was her first time participating in a story competition. 

"I was never interested in writing," Ms. Fialaui'a said. "But I enjoy reading and I honestly believe that the more you read, the more knowledge you gain.

"It really helps with your studies and I gave it a try and wrote a story for this competition and I got lucky."

Ms. Fialaui'a said that she aspires to be a doctor when she grows up as she is currently majoring in science. 

"I major in science because I want to become a doctor. But being a part of this competition has really opened my eyes to the importance of storytelling and writing. 

"I think all of us who were raised by our grandparents can relate to this because there were times when they would tell us stories before going to bed at night and some of those stories were not true, yet we believed it somehow. 

"It ignited our imaginations and we even started to come up with our own stories to tell our younger siblings."

Ms. Fialaui'a wrote a story titled "The Curse of Susi" which is based on an incident that happened in her village last year and believes others can learn from her experiences.  

"It's quite interesting because even the simplest things we experience in life can be life-changing for someone and storytelling and writing about our personal experiences can help others out there. 

"For me, I hope to continue writing so I can inspire other young people out there to tell their stories and share their experiences with the world."

She then expressed her gratitude to the Samoa Observer newspaper for running the Short Story Competition. 

"This has provided a platform to encourage the future leaders of this country to enjoy reading and writing. It's all part of learning and finding a better future for all of us. 

"I would like to thank the Samoa Observer newspaper for this programme as well as the major sponsors such as S.S.A.B., Vodafone Samoa, Eveni and everyone who dedicated their time and effort to make this possible. 

"I also want to acknowledge the support from my teachers and principal at Itu-o-Tane College for always pushing us to do better and to make good use of opportunities to enhance our knowledge and skills."

Another aspiring author, Taulote Jinhee Tofa from Saipipi Primary School expressed similar sentiments. Her story was the top English story for the Year 4 level in this year's competition. 

The story she wrote was based on the quote, "There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign" by the famous Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson.

"My parents helped me understand this quote," she told this newspaper. "As soon as I understood what it meant, I wanted to use it to write about my experience growing up in Savai'i."

Ms. Tofa was born and raised in American Samoa but they moved to Saipipi with her parents where they currently reside. Her father is part Korean and she inherited his Asian genes, which she explained made her feel like an "outsider" when they first moved to Savai'i. 

"I enjoyed writing my story and I hope to continue writing and be better. I also want to make my parents proud and keep telling stories through writing to inspire other people. I will try and read a lot to help me with writing and I hope to become a writer in the future."