And in the crowd celebrating their achievements were their young children, who have unwittingly been a part of their university experience.
Linda and Vini met in a third-year Pacific Studies class where, as returning students, they discovered they were both juggling part-time study with being a full-time mum.
They were nursing three-month old babies, as was their lecturer Dr April Henderson, bringing a family-friendly dynamic to the class of 18 students.
Both Vini and Linda had studied at Victoria as 18-year-olds, prior to starting a family, but left after the first year to work and start a family. They each eventually returned to Victoria with a renewed motivation and desire to succeed.
Vini said: “I went back to study because I wanted to focus on myself. University became my home. It was my happy place.”
Linda agrees, saying “coming to university, you need it when you’re a parent because otherwise everything revolves around your children. So if you come to study, it’s for yourself.”
But juggling motherhood with study wasn’t without its challenges. Vini says she had to be “super organised”. She kept a detailed calendar and colour-coded exercise books for tutorial readings and lecture notes, and would complete assignments before their due date.
“Before having kids, I used to ask for extensions. But after having kids, I never did because you don’t get extensions in the real world.
“I had a lot of struggles including post-natal depression after both babies. But there are support services like Student Learning where they printed my readings, and Te Pūtahi Atawhai where I could go talk to someone.“
“It was hard and sometimes I thought about quitting. But I have a vision board at home that has my dreams on it. I have an imaginary degree on it, and a house and a car. When I’m losing my passion, when I’m struggling to study, that’s when I look at my board for motivation.”
Linda says parents make good students because they already have good time management skills.
“If you’ve got a family, you’re already in the habit of scheduling things like swimming lessons and school pick-ups. Studying is just putting more things into your schedule. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it’s manageable.
“All the class material is online now, which is a huge help. And using Google Docs for shared assignments means my classmates didn’t have to work around my schedule. I could add my contribution at 10pm when the kids have gone to bed.”
Both acknowledge support from their partners, family and University staff has helped get them to graduation.
For example, Vini’s father would occasionally mind her youngest outside the lecture theatre, enabling her to breastfeed between classes.
Linda says she was motivated by her parents. “Mum and Dad came to New Zealand from the Cook Islands in the 1970s. Part of their reason for coming was to give us kids the opportunity to get a New Zealand education.”
She says the interesting course content—particularly papers that had an indigenous focus – kept her motivation high, and her other motivating factor was her children.
“I think it’s important for them to see what I’m going through, so that a university is a safe space for them. And I want to be a model for my children. I want them to complete things they start.
“I’m really excited about graduating. My study journey has been long. I’ve considered giving up, and I’ve probably failed more papers than I passed, but I did it.”
Dr Henderson says Linda and Vini were her most “extraordinary, extra-effort students in the class”.
“I remember I had a room of young students with no kids telling me they didn’t do their readings because the online reading system wasn’t working properly. Then one of my mamas piped up, ‘I read it. It wasn't online so I went to the library and got the book.’ It was a brilliant, mamas-get-it-done moment.”