New Zealand
An Academic Trailblazer
Selina Marsh: Auckland University's First Pacific Island PhD Graduate
There are many things about Selina Marsh that make her stand out in the Auckland University English department--she is young, light-hearted and quite unlike the stereotype of the lecturer who reads monotonously at the front of the class.
But beyond all this, Marsh is unique because she graduated in March this year as the first Pacific Islander to gain a PhD in English at Auckland University.
- ADVERTISEMENT -
Marsh is "34 years young" and of mixed Samoan and Pakeha ancestry. She gained her PhD after she critically examined the poetry of the first five Pacific Island women to publish English collections.
Her thesis is called "Ancient banyans, flying foxes and white ginger: Five Pacific women writers" and is the culmination of eight years of hard work. She says it was a good opportunity to do something original and open doors to an aspect of research previously unexplored.
"There was nobody else who had done it and as a student you're always wanting to fill a gap in the available research. And Pacific literature was wide open. Only a handful of scholars who were indigenous to the Pacific had undergone research projects or done their PhDs in the field."
Marsh lived in Hawaii for two years as part of her field research on Pacific Island women poets. Her studies at the University of Hawaii gave her the opportunity for a change in critical thought after years of study at the University of Auckland.
No stranger to hard work, she completed her thesis while teaching a six-week course on the women she was studying, as well as raising her three boys and two of their cousins in a nine- member household on Waiheke Island.
Marsh's sister-in-law, Ankie Crosbie, is not surprised that Marsh took up the challenge of a PhD and is proud that she did. Modestly, Marsh describes herself as a lazy student who had to retrain herself to be 'to do list' person and get organised.
Crosbie agreed that Marsh wasn't a straight A student.
"I think her first year at University was all C's so I think it shows young people that it's not all about brains, it's about consistency and about work." Marsh says before she had her children she could spend a whole day mulling over an introduction to a chapter. But having children made her prioritise her research and use every spare 40 minutes productively.
"You don't have that luxury of time once children come into your life."
She has been married to David for 11 years and has three sons, Javan (6), Micah (4) and Davey (3).
Professor Peter Simpson, Head of the English Department, recalls an occasion when one of her boys was ill. He was flown by helicopter from her home on Waiheke Island to Starship Hospital with suspected meningitis. This coincided with Marsh's graduation when she had a lot of media attention. Professor Simpson commended her strength at such a difficult time.
"What an extraordinary moment to expose herself to media at such a crisis in her life," he says.
Her family were also a source of inspiration when Marsh found herself at a low point of her motivational roller coaster ride.
She learned that people support you in different ways. Her mum still doesn't know what she does - "she still asks me if I take my schoolbag to school". But she supported her in her education from college onwards by leaving her alone. She avoided asking her to do chores so she had time to study.
Her achievements have also been acknowledged by the Samoan community. She has had a lot of support from the Samoan and Pacific islander community.
"I think the Pacific community have been extremely proud because they see that one person's achievement reflects on the rest of us. And we're always looking for those bright sparks who finish and proudly claim them as our own."
Marsh says her mixed Samoan and Pakeha roots have put her in a privileged position of having a foot in both worlds. She can understand certain cultural concepts that are embedded in the Samoan way but is also able to see those with the critical tools that she has gained from the Western literary traditions.
But the flipside of that is that she feels like she is never fully part of either culture.
Typically optimistic she says, "I take in the best of both worlds".
Crosbie says Marsh is a strong role model and an inspiration. But Marsh says it is hard to think of herself as a role model because she has been studying in isolation for the last five years and concentrating on raising a family.
But it dawned on her when she attended the Pacific students' graduation dinner earlier this year that suddenly, she was viewed as a "trail blazer".
Marsh is willing to take on the label of 'role model' if it encourages other Pacific Islanders to do their Masters and go on to do PhD's.
Marsh is now juggling lecturing in Pacific Island and New Zealand Literature at the University of Auckland two days a week and taking care of her family the rest of the time.
Marsh aims to publish a collection of poetry this summer, which she has written over the last ten years. She says her poetry is a celebration of what it means to be Afakasi and the tensions as well as the celebration surrounding it.
Marsh hopes to inspire other Pacific Islanders within her department. Part of this is her plan to create a Pasifika poetry website at the University of Auckland. She has found a lack of accessibility to Pacific texts and she wants to combat this.
"The people that most need to hear it in the outlying islands of Fiji can't buy the text, let alone read them. But the Internet is making all that change."
Her message is modest, as if she does not realise the importance of her achievement. But it is also inspiring.
"You can do it if you really want to. I did it. You can do it."
