The Hidden Gems of AUA

Women continue to empower and contribute to their communities all around us every single day. We often don’t notice their hard work, dedication, or value the work that they do. One can look at these women and see that nothing is impossible if you set your mind to it. As long as you put lots of love and thoughtfulness into something, it will blossom and become something beautiful.  

The Future Designer: Vera Martirosyan, EC freshman, shared how she began her business, Mickey’s Scrunchies, in 2021. “I always wanted to make something. I noticed scrunchies were becoming popular everywhere, so I decided to try making them on my own,” explained Vera. She named her small business Mickey’s scrunchies because Mickey Mouse is her favorite Disney character. All of her products are handmade. Besides scrunchies, she makes hats, bows, and hair ties.

“I buy the material and sew it with my sewing machine,” mentioned Vera, adding that the most important thing for her is seeing her customers happy and satisfied. The challenging thing for her was finding a sewing machine as it was impossible to stitch everything by hand.

It was difficult to manage her studies and the small business, but Vera shared that she prepares every order with love and patience. “I am going to make my own fashion line in the future,” said Vera. It took Vera weeks to learn how to sew and stitch, but according to her, it paid off.

The Future Engineers: Speaking of the future, three ES sophomores students are planning to build their future career paths as engineers. Anahit Doshoyan is interested in aerospace engineering and is hoping to work in that field one day. Elizabeth Vickery sees her future in biomedical engineering. Agapi Mikaelyan sees herself working in the IT field.

When asked where do the girls see themselves in the long run, they all hoped that in some way or the other, they would be able to contribute to Armenia’s future and development.

Each of them is currently working on a different project at AUA. Anahit is working on building a 3D body scanner, Elizabeth is designing an exoskeleton for upper limbs used in medicine to determine if there are injuries on humans and Agapi is learning about how emergency drones work.

“AUA gives us the opportunity to work on projects,” said Agapi. The ES program gives them the space to work on something that they are interested in. They get to collaborate with people and organizations outside the university.

They also talked about the challenges in their program. “We need a lot more equipment and a lot more opportunities to be able to explore who we really are as future engineers,” explained Elizabeth. “There are courses that you learn more by practicing and doing experiments yourself. Sometimes theories aren’t enough,” added Anahit.

The girls all agreed that their knowledge of physics and mathematics at school served as a very little base when they began their classes at AUA. “The entrance exams and then later our courses here varied in terms of difficulty. There is no bridge,” explained Elizabeth. They suggested having SAT Physics Subject Test as an entrance exam.

The future engineers aren’t alone in the challenges, though. AUA faculty members support them. “I am extremely grateful for our program chair, Ms. Mnatsakanyan because she is constantly trying to engage us in different projects and motivates us to do our best,” admitted Anahit.

Another thing the girls love about their major is the fact that they get to work closely with their ES peers. They have the advantage of working with the professors individually. “Even though all of us are working on different projects, whenever we see someone is struggling with something, we try to help them,” shared Elizabeth.

In their own words, they describe their journey as a very difficult one, but despite the challenges, they are willing to chase their dreams. “It’s so rewarding when you figure out something. That’s the fun part. When there is something you struggled on and spent sleepless nights on it, in the end, you see the result of your hard work, it lights up this fire inside you,” explained Anahit.

The Writer: No matter the hardships, it’s all about your goals and intentions. Sometimes life takes unexpected turns but those turns can leads us to self-discovery, love and so much more.  Greta Sargsyan, EC sophomore, knows all about the unexpected.

She wrote and published a book, “The Hello was Guilty” (Բարեւն էր մեղավոր) about Vazgen Galstyan, a young man who sacrificed his life in the 2020 Artsakh War. “The reader will feel nothing but pure love. It’s a beautiful love story, not about a war not being won, but about a love that was so pure that it didn’t find its place on earth,” explained Greta.

The book’s author wants the reader to be bold in life and use their time wisely. She believes that it is better to regret doing something rather than not doing it at all. “None of us knows what awaits us tomorrow and the concession for what we didn’t do is more painful and irreparable,” said Greta.

There is a foundation named after Vazgen. It is considered scientific-educational and cultural, which was not chosen coincidentally. Vazgen was a man of education, science and culture. According to Greta, all three of these fields were close to his heart. Now, the foundation is trying to continue Vazgen’s work.

The proceeds from the book have all been donated to the foundation. Greta had made the decision when she first learned about the foundation. “The first, largest donation of the foundation was the income from the book. All of this is done to contribute to our future generations,” shared Greta.

Vazgen’s parents run the foundation with the help of a board of trustees. Greta is also a member of the board of trustees and she is responsible for running the current and future activities of the foundation. She manages the foundation’s web pages.

“The foundation is simply one of the best options for people who want to help young people, children who have great talent and love for education. I am always ready to support the foundation with all my strength and determination,” said Greta.

The foundation also includes the sisters or brothers of some of the killed or wounded servicemen from the 2020 Artsakh War and all those who share an interest in education, science and culture. The last few book copies remain in one or two bookstores a year later.

Whether it be a small business, learning to solve challenging problems, or writing a book, these five women display strength and courage through their work. They are living proof that nothing is impossible if you believe in yourself.