Reflecting on the two years I have spent in UWC Dilijan, Armenia, I suppose what I enjoyed the most was being a member of the first class in the college’s history. No matter what we initiated, without any pre-existing structures we were always pioneers regardless of what we did. Thus, we could realize whatever we wanted with our imagination being the only limit. However, even these conceived limits were often extended as when I thought I couldn’t do something, the support of others always made me try and keep on trying until I could realize my plans. This experience, thus the feeling of being the author and the creator of a tradition and a long lasting community made my UWC experience truly remarkable.
I considered Lewis & Clark College after a friend of mine mentioned it to me as the home of the “Pioneers,” a phrase which deeply resonated within me. When I did further research about the school, its study abroad program and its values, I was certain that this is a place for me.
At this point, I am quite certain that one of my majors will be International Affairs, as I love getting to know different cultures, understanding different perspectives and pursuing conflict resolution. I think I am quite good at and I also like communicating with people from various backgrounds; and I myself am a person whose parents had a background different from the one in which we lived. I am also thinking about taking a second major such as Psychology or Environmental Studies as I think these fields might also interest me, however, I did not have a chance to study either of them more deeply before.
In my free time I adore running and swimming and I also regularly cook. Cooking has become one of my passions lately although I still have a lot to learn. In fact, I would like everyone to know that I am more than open to cook all kinds of food for anyone. I particularly like cooking foods from different cultures and I love being given recipes of strange foods. From a more academic perspective, I like learning new languages and practicing them during my everyday life (right now I want to learn Russian). I also like doing MUN and MEP like activities. In short, if one can debate about a subject (which one usually can), I like that subject.
I have travelled to quite a lot of countries considering my age as I was fortunate enough to have parents who took me for vacation once almost every year. I have participated in a Youth Leadership Program and I studied in a UWC. So far I have visited: Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Germany, France, Spain, Scotland, USA, Armenia, Georgia, Turkey, Greece and Italy. In all these different countries I have found people’s passion for good food as one of the commonalities, hence my love for cooking has started developing. On a more serious note, one of the lessons I have learnt both during my years in UWC and my travels is that people are very similar in different countries. We share passions, feelings and even our cultures have very similar aspects oftentimes, despite our languages being so different. I would like to travel outside of Europe in the future to see cultures perhaps more different from the ones I have experienced to a small extent already.
What I want to accomplish most during my 4 years at Lewis & Clark College is to prove that the faith that was put into me in the form of scholarships was not misplaced. I am very grateful for the trust that was put into me so far, and I want to truly be a person who paves the way to living the UWC mission and even spreads the UWC spirit and idea in college. It took me two years to realize that living the UWC mission is not actually done in UWC colleges. It is done afterwards, in the big outer world, and I am hoping that I can accomplish living the UWC mission at Lewis & Clark College as well.