Her face lit up when she was asked what she wants to become in the future. Her face was matched by the words that came out as clearly as the question she was asked.
"I want to become a braille teacher in the future and I hope to teach braille to children in the Solomon Islands."
Holistar Phildency who is a pre-vocational student at the Fiji School for the Blind is a visually impaired 17-year old girl from the Solomon Islands.
Born of a Malaita mother and Chinese father, Holistar has indeed excelled in her new school, despite just spending the better part of two years at the Vatuwaqa based school.
Holistar is the head girl for the school and she has set her aims on becoming probably one of the first students from the Solomons that would take a shot at establishing a school for the blind and visually impaired children and adults there.
"I've just started to learn braille last year and I have come to enjoy reading and writing it, and so far I am still learning, but I would like to become a braille teacher one day," she said.
Holistar joined the Fiji School for the Blind from the Fulton SDA Primary School in Tailevu last year, after she was brought over from the Solomon Islands because of her failing vision.
"I was born with the condition and while I was going through primary school, I found out that it was hard to read the words but when I move closer to the blackboard then I can read the words."
She had difficulties in learning in her primary school years because of her poor eyesight and she suffered a lot as she has to go through her education at a much slower pace than other students her age.
Eventually one of her family friends sponsored and linked her with the Fiji School for the Blind which is probably the only school of its kind in the entire South Pacific, minus Australia and New Zealand.
"I now am able to get a better education because I use maginifiers and enlarged print letters and words to learn from and also I was taught how to read and write in braille," Holistar said.
Comparing her results from her previous schools and the results she has achieved in her academic subjects at the school for the blind, Holistar has improved tremendously.
Holistar is not the first regional student at the school as many others from other countries like Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu have also gone through the same program.
"One of the things I miss the most is my family and I have to adapt very quickly to the life as a boarder and staying in the hostel," she shared.
Even though she is from the Solomons, Holistar speaks more English than Chinese and Pidgin combined, saying that she has forgotten much of it.
However, she is not given time to be missing her family and her home a lot as much of her time is spent looking after the younger students, a role that she has to play because she is the head girl.
"I usually look after students while on duty and whatever it is that I tell them, they usually do it and if they misbehave, I would just talk to them," Holistar says.
As a pre-vocational student, Holistar is learning to cook, sew, bake and academic subjects like English and Maths with the aim of helping her become an independent woman as she goes out into the real world.
The skills she is learning are basic life skills that could prove useful for her if she ever decides to venture out and become a woman of her own.
But the school is still hoping to allow Holistar to spend another year before she returns and the school managers are hoping that a sponsors will be able to pay for her stay in Fiji.