ʻATENISI INSTITUTE

Although he was awarded a postgraduate fellowship in the U.S. effective August 2021, Covid travel restrictions confined the student to Tonga and New Zealand until December of that year. Finally the US embassy in Fiji awarded him a student visa later that month and he enrolled shortly thereafter in the M.A. programme of his sponsor, the anthropology department at Northern Illinois University [NIU] just outside Chicago. Then earlier this month, NIU finally awarded ‘Atenisi dux graduate ‘Okusitino Tae his long-sought degree.

“I’m grateful to my advisor at NIU, Presidential Professor Dr Giovanni Bennardo,” Tae recently wrote. “I’m indebted as well to the ‘Atenisi faculty for everything they’ve done. The journey started, in fact, with the University believing in me, and that was crucial.

“But thanks also to invaluable assistance here in Tonga from Peter Lund MA and Dave Verkade at NZ High Com and Peter Poulsen M-Econ at the World Bank. I also appreciate the support from Drs Morgan Tuimalealiifano and Vijay Naidu at USP/Fiji, Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier in New Zealand, and, of course, my family back in Calif., without whom I could not have afforded to travel to the US.”

The graduate intends to apply for a government position here in Tonga whilst residing in Kolonga. And after a cold winter in the US Midwest, he’s relishing Tonga’s winter sunshine.