I'm the eldest of four children, so as the first-born, Cook Island custom dictated that my grandparents gifted me my name. My mother actually wanted to call me Joshua, but instead my paternal grandparents named me Tangi. Throughout school I hated my name, as I always had to explain why someone would want to name their child "grief" or "funeral" rather than the Cook Island Māori translation of—wait for it—"beautiful". Now, I have come a long way since then and now consider it an honour to carry the name that has been gifted to me. My parents, Sue and Akaari, from a very early age taught my siblings and I the significance of working hard, to never judge a book by its cover, and to value the importance of family. 