Meet Damien Whippy, an aspiring youth who believes he can do almost anything if given a chance.Damien, 22, is one of the most wanted persons at F1 Mobile a telephone accessories company located on Waimanu Road, near the Colonial War Memorial Hospital, in Suva.
He is responsible for graphics, IT and web designing for the company and loves his job, saying he could not think of a better workplace even though he has to do the work of three people.
"I love my work and what I do. It's just too cool. I have never worked at a place like this. It is unlike any other workplace," he said.
Graphics is what he enjoys the most, saying, "I love graphics because you get to push the boundary of doing things. You get to do things that others can not do. At other workplaces, one has a fixed task but here we create and design what we like.
"In graphics and web design, I learn most of the things on my own. I like doing this sort of work as it gives me the opportunity to explore and come up with ideas. My bosses tell me what they want and I design it. We discuss and I tell them how this is done and how that is done and they let me do what I want. They hardly change my design.
"I do advertisements as we merchandise wallpapers, ring tones and phones.
"Our workplace sometimes gets very busy but it is just heaps of fun here and that's what I love about it," he said.
"I like working in a lively atmosphere where there is music and people are cheerful. The good thing about this company is that there are many young and funny people here."
Damien is from Waiyavi, in Lautoka.
Boasting about the place he comes from, Damien said the unique thing about Lautoka was that "people don't judge others there". After completing sixth form at Natabua High School, he joined the Fiji Institute of Technology in 2003 to study electrical engineering.
"After the course I went to Lautoka to do my practical for seven months and then I came back to Suva in 2004 to do my diploma in Information Technology," Damien said. "I started work at Fijilive in the webmasters section and continued doing some electrical work.
"I enrolled again last year at FIT for the trade certificate in graphic design course.
"I was working and studying at the beginning of the year but am not enrolled for the next semester. I like working and studying."
Damien wanted to be a rocket scientist. "But this is Fiji so I had to give that up and went for something that was realistic," he said. Believing in himself, he says, is his biggest strength. "I am capable of doing almost anything. It takes me about three months to adjust to a new field," he said.
He is the only son and the eldest in a family of three sisters. His father is an electrical engineer and his mother a housewife.
Damien says he is grateful to his parents for giving him "hiding" when he was a child because that's what pushed him to success.
"I used to be very cheeky when I was young and used to get constant hiding from my parents. Today I am really happy that they did that because that was what pushed me to work hard and become someone," he said.
Damien is a fun, jovial and outspoken person. He, as he says, loves to vakachi, and is someone who is almost constantly cracking up in laughter. He loves to make fun, to make people laugh.
Apart from his jovial side, Damien loves to play the guitar, saying it took him seven months to learn. He loves to listen to music, any music.
He has a curious nature, with an urge to learn more.
His motto is "Don't try to be the best but just be good enough to shine brighter than most".
