The American Samoa Community College (ASCC) will hold its 82nd Commencement Ceremony this Friday, May 16, beginning at 10 a.m. at the Kanana Fou Gymnasium.
As of last Friday, 74 ASCC students are slated to receive their degrees and certificates from the College, although the final number will be subject to examination results.
Reverend Kolio Tuimanuvao Etuale, Bishop of the Diocese of Samoa – Pago Pago, will deliver the invocation. The commencement speaker will be a distinguished community educator Adrian Fa’amalolo Vasai, a longstanding member of the ASCC faulty, who is now Director of the Office of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.
Adrian Fa’amalolo Vasai is the daughter of the late HTC Vasai Fred Aisali Vasai of Aua and Ruta Tuiofetoa Fanene of Nuuuli. She resides in Aua and has three children- Shalom Ruta, Iverson Vasai and Dyson Tui Tama.
Ms. Vasai completed her early education at Aua Elementary School in 1980, going on to graduate from Fagaitua High School as a National Honor Society member and Student Body Secretary in 1984.
She graduated at ASCC, in 1987 with an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts, and also receiving an off island scholarship to pursue her studies. She served her post graduate internship with the American Samoa Legislative Reference Bureau in the summer of 1989 and graduated that fall from Brigham Young University-Hawaii with a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science.
Returning home in 1990, Ms. Vasai taught Social Studies at Samoana High School, later becoming the Department Head for six years. In 1998, she was Samoana High School’s Teacher of the Year, and a nominee for the American Samoa DOE Territorial Teacher of the Year (TTOY). During her time at Samoana, she was accepted into the first Masters& Doctorate degree cohort programs on the island with Golden Gate University, San Francisco, through which she received her Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA) in 1997.
Ms. Vasai’s long tenure as an ASCC faculty member with the Social Science Department started in 1999 and was to last for a total of 18 years. During this period, she also taught Social Studies at Damien Memorial (Catholic) School in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2007-2011.
Having retuned to ASCC, Ms. Vasai revived the Political Science Club in 2016. At present, the club continues as one of the most active student organizations on and off campus as an increasing number of students major in Political Science at ASCC. Ms. Vasai additionally served for three years as Co-Advisor for the ASCC honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, and was listed in Who’s Who Amongst America’s Teachers for Community Colleges in 2003.
All in all, Ms. Vasai has eight years of teaching experience at the secondary level with ASDOE, six years with Hawaii Catholic Education, and 20 years with ASCC, bringing her time as an educator to an impressive 34 years. Her extensive experience of sharing knowledge, coupled with her community involvement and service on behalf of special needs students, all set the stage for her being appointed in January of this year to the ASG position of Vocational Rehabilitation Director under the Pula and Pulu administration.
