Emeline Mafi stands in stillness for a moment at the side of the stage, taking deep breaths in and out as she prepares to collect a medical degree that represents six years of hard slog.
When her name is announced in the packed auditorium the audience erupts, her brothers roaring their support.
She walks out, turns, and bows towards her family, and then walks proudly towards her career as a junior doctor.
Six years is a long time for anyone — but for Emeline it signifies sacrifices made by her whole family.
"Although you walk across the stage, like alone, it represents years and years of hard work," she says.
"Sorry I'm just going to cry," she says, wiping her eyes. "There were just like many years of sacrifice. I come from a humble family... you know there's a saying in the Pacific that when one person succeeds its not just you. So collectively it was an achievement for all of us."
Her family know this first hand as they all contributed to Emeline's success.
She is the thirdborn out of four children and her three brothers are fiercely protective of her.
"The brothers, they're all working [to] support her... they did it, they worked and they gave me money every week I put it aside... there's always money there to do what she has to do... we have to make sure that we don't have to be saying 'no we don't have it, we can't help you'," says her dad Puipui.
Help was always there — money, transport, emotional — whatever support Emeline needed to achieve her goals.
We sit in the family lounge, in the Mafi's Otara home. Puipui finished work at 3am, but both he and his wife Amelia will never miss an opportunity to speak of their pride in their family - and Emeline.
Puipui came to New Zealand in 1986 from Tonga looking for a better life. He met Amelia through their church and two years later were married and have lived in south Auckland ever since.
They knew Emeline was special from an early age — she won numerous awards including dux at Aorere College in Mangere, she played the cornet, trumpet, violin, flute, keyboard, guitar and ukulele and was a budding opera singer taking on solo roles with NZ Opera.
Emeline knows full well the impact her parents, who both have general labouring jobs, have made on her life.
"My dad would always pay for extra tuition for me — so I had to have extra math classes that I travelled to after school. So the journey actually goes back quite far".
After she finished high school her dad wanted her to continue with music. He was the choir conductor at their church and was hoping Emeline would be able to help him.
"I knew that's not what she wants... I knew she wants in the first place to be a doctor, but I asked her to do it for me for my duty at church," he says, his voice breaking.
So Emeline put aside her dream of medicine and went to university to study music.
"I thought because I come from a very like faith-based family that I shouldn't waste the talent. So then I went into classical singing to have some vocal training" she says.
When she graduated with her music degree she knew it was time to follow her heart and study to be a doctor.
Her dad says he knew he couldn't stand in her way.
"I said okay... she's a good daughter. I had to support her [in] whatever I can do financially, emotionally, [and] everything," Puipui says.
"I'm so proud of her because she's been doing everything every time I asked her... and for me you can be singing, but to be trying to save a life is huge."
Record-breaking year for Pasifika in medicine
Emeline is now one of 19 first year Pacific doctors working at Middlemore Hospital, in the same south Auckland neighbourhood she grew up in.
It has been a record-breaking year for Pasifika in medicine. Out of 531 graduates beginning their first year of practice, 55 are Pasifika. This compares to 37 Pacific graduates in 2022.
Paediatrician Dame Teuila Percival is in the middle of a shift at Middlemore Hospital's Kidz First.
"It's busy," she says, but her face lights up talking about the numbers of Pasifika graduates describing the record number as "fabulous".
She says it will make a big difference to a hospital which is bracing for an influx of patients with winter ills.
She says the big boost in numbers is testament to the programmes in place encouraging Pasifika to take sciences at schools along with support programmes during medical school.
"When I think about when I started here like thirty years ago I cant remember any other Pacific doctors... now we've got a lot of consultants to the Pacific and now we've got an incredible number of graduates and doctors," she says.
Dr Percival says the aim is for 25% of doctors at Middlemore to be Pasifika — reflecting the patients they see. Being able to communicate with patients in a language they are familiar with also goes a long way from both a comfort and a practical perspective.
That's certainly the case for Emeline, who works in General Medicine at Middlemore Hospital. She discharges a Tongan patient and gives her detailed instructions about her after-care.
'We made it'
Back home in Otara, Emeline's parents are finally relaxing as all four of their children have finished their studies and are working.
"We made it... the pressure is off they can carry on now. Life is not that long for us we are over 60 now you never know what's going to happen as long as you know your kids are safe," Puipui says.
The sacrifices were worth it in the end, and achievement is something the wider family and community celebrates.
Aunties, uncles, cousins, friends flew in from Tonga, Australia and the US to celebrate Emeline's graduation.
The party was one the family will remember for a long time.
"You can get some money tomorrow but the happiness is... seeing your family coming around. Priceless".
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