Sarah Fiaseu arrived at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa thinking she’d pursue nursing. But her heart and her grandma Siupolu led her somewhere else.
Now a graduating kinesiology major, the ʻEwa Beach native is preparing to become an occupational therapist. Her passion stems from a deep desire to help her grandmother, who helped raise her and her siblings but has since lost some mobility with age.
“I have patients who kind of remind me of her,” Fiaseu said. “I want to help my grandma get back into health so she’s more independent.”
Real-life impact
At UH Mānoa, Fiaseu said she found purpose and preparation through hands-on programs like I CARE, which pairs students with cancer patients for strength and mobility training. The initiative is a partnership between UH and the REHAB Hospital of the Pacific.
“It’s very good to hear that what I’m doing helps them. And they see that in their daily lives,” Fiaseu said. “It makes me happy because it’s working and it gives me hope.”
One of her patients is Laura Lyons, interim vice provost for academic excellence at UH Mānoa and a thriving breast cancer survivor.
“Sarah pushes me in our training sessions, always saying, ‘Come on, you’ve got this!’ More than that, though, she inspires me,” Lyons said. “She is grounded in her culture, intellectually and physically brave, emotionally attuned, and always willing to try new things.”
Guided by gratitude
Fiaseu’s graduation also marks a proud family milestone. Inspired by her grandparents Liuato and Sarah Tuitele who have made a name for themselves back in American Samoa, and their unwavering support for her future career. She’ll be a second-generation UH Mānoa graduate, following her mom. And she honors her father, who left school at an early age to support his family and later worked overnight shifts while ensuring his kids made it to school each day.
“He would get off at 2 a.m., come back home, take us to school, come back home again, just to pick us up later. It was super hard for him,” Fiaseu said.
This summer, Fiaseu heads to Missouri for graduate school. But her goal is to return home to serve Hawaiʻi as an occupational therapist, carrying forward her family’s sacrifices, love for her grandparents and the values of UH Mānoa that helped her grow.
