But that is the case for Ahmed Ali Sawad, who will graduate with a doctorate in laws from the University of Otago today, having previously served as tourism minister and attorney-general in the Maldives.
The Republic of Maldives has a population of about 330,000, and consists of a double chain of 26 atolls in the Indian Ocean, about 700km southwest of Sri Lanka.
Mr Sawad's thesis focuses on "reservations" to international human rights treaties among Islamic nations.
Mr Sawad (37) was born in the Maldives, later working and studying in India for about 10 years, gaining a master of laws degree from the National Law School of India University in Bangalore in 2000.
He also gained a postgraduate diploma in journalism (1997) and worked at two Indian newspapers.
His doctoral supervisor, Prof Paul Roth, of the Otago Law Faculty, said the thesis was "brilliant".
After earlier study at Otago (2004-08), Mr Sawad recently completed the last of the changes to his thesis required for final approval.
After he returned to the Maldives in 2008, dramatic democratic changes occurred and he became minister of tourism in a new government (2008-10), later also serving as attorney-general until March this year.
He had faced many challenges during his Otago studies.
After the devastating December 2004 tsunami heavily damaged his low-lying home country he went back for a few months to support his family.
Another return visit came after one of his sisters died of cancer in 2007.
And immigration-related requirements meant he also had to leave New Zealand on two other occasions during his studies.
Mr Sawad was impressed by the Otago research facilities, and grateful to the Law Faculty for providing further support after his initial Otago PhD scholarship ended in 2007.
"When I finished my thesis, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. It was wonderful here."
