Edweena Mawi shines as Suva Grammar’s 2025 Dux

Hope, perseverance, and purpose define the journey of Edweena Mawi, who has been named the Dux and Valedictorian of Suva Grammar School’s Class of 2025.

Edweena says coming from a family of musicians, with her grandfather Tomasi Mawi a renowned jazz guitarist, her father a keyboardist, and her mother a music teacher and part-time singer, she has always been reminded of the importance of education.

Hailing from the village of Waikete in Tailevu, with maternal links to Yalava, Macuata in Vanua Levu, Edweena began her secondary education at Lelean Memorial School, where she studied from Year 9 to 11, before transferring to Suva Grammar School in 2024.

She says changing schools was not easy and leaving behind the friendships she had built at Lelean was difficult, but her mother’s advice helped her stay focused.

She says she took those words to heart and quickly adapted to her new environment.

Edweena says that throughout her journey, she faced several challenges, and one of the biggest was people’s perception that academically driven students must take science.

She explained that at one point, she was taking subjects simply because others told her to, but a teacher’s question made her realise that she needed to follow her own path.

She says being one of the few female students in a male-dominated subject area also came with its own pressures.

She says she drew inspiration from the strong women in her life, including her mother and aunt, and that her four sisters have also been a source of support.