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Salience is the most distinctive feature about an individual.
It can be a physical trait
or a characteristic trait.
For example, a lot of people, when they see me,
they go, "Oh gee, Nelisa, you've got such big eyes."
And I think, "As long as they say big eyes, not thighs,
I'm happy."
There's a quote I run my life by, and it's "People don't
care how much you know until they know how much
you care." And I think that phrase is the most applicable
to somebody that's in a position to teach.
This is Brush Farm Corrective Services Academy—
school for correctional officers.
So anyone that is training or assessing probationary
officers, I teach the courses
that give them qualification.
I love teaching because I love making learning
come alive to people.
I love watching the penny drop for them when
things start to make sense,
when they say, "I understand now."
I was a hopeless student in high school.
I passed 2 out of 11 subjects.
My parents thought I should go to Tonga,
so I went there.
That's one.
Three?
Yeah.
The more I learned about the cultural heritage, the more I
understood why I do things, and it gave purpose behind
the things my parents had told me.
That was the turning point
for my education.
I turned from a failing student
to an honor roll student.
Two years later I ended up with a master's degree.
And I'm on my final year now of my second master's degree.
So I'm a bit of a dork.
You want to dance with Auntie Puma?
One, two, and one, two.
What I love about my culture is, it's all about
the family and togetherness.
In the Tongan community it seems people can form
relationships in the presence of two things:
food and, often, music
or some kind of event that
brings the family together.
There's Mom, Dad, brother, sister, me, cousin, another
sister moved back in while they look for a place with the
husband, and the two kids, so there are 10 of us
in the house at the moment.
But we love it.
We do.
Family is being able to wake up and see the faces I love
and close my day seeing the faces I love.
I believe every good thing comes from God and that
you find the greatest happiness within the walls of
your own home.
I'm an auntie.
I'm a teacher.
I'm a Tongan.
My name is Nelisa Wolfgramm, and I'm a Mormon.