Leviaan Sagato has ended this year's academic journey with flying colors and concluded another step towards achieving her goal of becoming a lawyer.

The 17-year old from Sataua and Salelologa in Savai'i was named the top student at Itu-o-Asau College.

She is the daughter of Peti and Selepa Sagato.

The aspiring lawyer also took home prizes of being the top student in English, Gagana Samoa, Computer Studies, Geography, History and second place in Mathematics.

This led to her being the top student at the district college in Savai'i, an achievement she dedicated to her parents and her family.

But that's not all, she also won the award for Best Conduct in the graduating class of 2023.

The school's prize giving was held on Wednesday and it also marked the culmination of this year's academic work.

While Ms. Sagato is relieved to have completed this phase of her journey, she is well aware that the next chapter is not going to be easy.

She understands that she will have to leave her family and parents and move to Apia for university next year.

However, she is looking forward to the challenges as she is hoping to achieve her life-long dream of becoming a lawyer.

She is a true believer that hard work pays off and articulated how challenging this year was for her, having to balance her studies among her other duties at home, community and at school.

She was emotional and humbled by her achievements and she attributed it to her parents whom she said have been very supportive of her throughout her journey in life.

She also acknowledged the strong support of her school principal and the staff of Itu-o-Asau College for sharing their knowledge and for all the life lessons she learned during her time at Itu-o-Asau.

Ms. Sagato said she was sad to leave the school, but she is ready for what lies ahead of her. She said she will always hold the memories and lessons she learned at her school dear to her heart.

She said she will do her best to achieve her goals and continue to make her family and parents proud.

The Principal of Itu-o-Asau College, So'oalo Ricky Sooalo congratulated Ms. Sagato on her achievements and wished her well on her future endeavors.