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CHANGE WE DON'T BELIEVE IN
BY PATRICK BAIRAMIAN
http://asbarez.com/104500/change-we-dont-believe-in/
August 2nd, 2012
The author during his recent visit to Armenia poses with "dadig"
Growing up with two older brothers has its advantages, regardless of
being three boys who like to disappear in the mountains for days at a
time and give our parents the mini-heart attacks associated with the
worry if something happened to us. But, those times of being around
them have taught me, the youngest of the bunch, values that build
the core of most of my personality. Take for instance, change.
As Armenian-Americans, we perpetually talk about change. Every day
an article comes out, or a discussion is sparked about the change we
need in our: communities, cities, government, people, politicians,
organizations, businesses, schools, the new generation and the
'homeland.' With all this talk of change, comes the fervent flavors
of opinion. After every opinion calling for "change, change, change,"
one would assume the reader, or participant to be fired up.
But fired up at what? It was early on that I realized I was supporting,
and even participating in the opinion stream, and nothing else. We
all wanted change, but that's all we could do to achieve it; recognize
change needed to happen. OK that step was necessary, but now what? I
answered that question with something that I was raised with, my
brothers. Both of them subscribe to the philosophy that if you want
something in life, you must take it, no one is going to hand it out
to you.
Coming from Armenia recently, I've noticed a trend that Diaspora
Armenians love to expose: all the shortcomings of the 'homeland.'
We point out the negatives, yet are absent to suggest any constructive
solutions that could benefit the same news we are shooting down. After
a while, it just seems like we are playing 'whack-a-mole' with anything
that is trying to pop up from the ground.
Teghut, for example, has riddled the news this last year with
reports from every Armenian news media on the ground in the region,
and from Diaspora news outlets. Other than the efforts from various
organizations including the ARF-Shant chapter, whose continuous help
to bring 21st century protest and environmental advocacy methods
to the people has gained traction; there has been little discussion
about what lies beyond the protests. There has been an article almost
every week highlighting the horrid aftermath of the mining, if it
were to reach that level. The news also mentions how, for instance,
the mine will create temporary jobs, but at too high of a cost, because
there won't be a mountain to go home to after the mining is done. OK,
that's fair; but now what?
>From the people living in America, I expect more constructive plans.
We talk about destroying old-growth forests. What does that mean to
anyone outside of the United States who has taken a geography class?
We talk about preserving nature and the people. What about a
way to get both, but allow the latter to evolve. We protest about
environmental rights! What environment is worth living in if people
aren't present? Why do I keep picking on the Armenian-Americans?
Because we descend from the nation that took the idea of national parks
and made it part of the national identity. Why can't we imagine, 'The
Teghut National Forest,' full of campsites, excursions sites, guided
hikes, fishing hotspots, backpacking trails, and community lodges
where school children can visit throughout the year to learn about
environmental issues. Jobs in tourism, construction, cartography,
hotel economies, management, reforestation teams, conservation
officers, a botany institute, environmental awareness programs, and
international research could take the place of the miners. It won't
be the estimated $20 billion promised by the mining company, but it's
a start to build a sustainable and permanent future for the country.
People don't give themselves enough credit. Diaspora Armenians must
shake off the idea that to help Armenia grow and preserve the heritage
and advocate for the 'cause,' we must be 'rich, rich, rich!' As much
as money helps, it isn't what creates ripples. A fan of Chaos Theory,
I believe that everything is connected. From a geography teacher
of an elementary school in Boston, to a software engineer graduate
living in Gyumri, everyone matters to eachother.
Both professionals stated above might not donate large sums of
money to Armenian organizations, but imagine they meet and create
an interactive software for Armenian-school children to learn about
geography, weather patterns, and natural phenomenon, while at the
same time the software is in English and Armenian to help children
learn and refine both languages. I ask you, is that not change?
I'd like to take the time with the rest of this article to highlight
some aspects of change that many Diaspora Armenian-Americans don't
believe can help the country succeed. In an effort to rid ourselves
of the idea that only money buys change, we can start with thinking
outside of the rectangle shape of paper currency that we confine
ourselves to, and start investing our time and criticisms into ideas
that must grow and will develop. Enough of the excuse that we are
twenty years old; I'm even sick of saying it. We're twenty years
old as a country, that means this is the time to make new ideas
germinate and flourish into foundational beams to build on. This
isn't only the land of opportunity, it is the nation that breeds
scholars, logisticians, business owners, teachers, intellectuals, and
advocates. Put showing the world what we can do on the back burner;
that time will come. Let's show ourselves what we're made of; from
what ancient kingdoms we descend from. Let's give testament to the
kings and queens that live inside every one of us that we are what
create the ideas (and follow through with plans) necessary for change.
The main topics below are the first set of professions I chose
to highlight because most might ignore their profile descriptions
based on the fact that they are not the conventional steps taken to
'help the homeland.' Because if it's anything that you love doing,
it's going to make a difference in your life and influence those in
the same reality. We, the 'Armenians,' are the celebrated rugs we
cherish. Every Armenian is of a different thread, texture and color.
But in the process of the weave, we all add to the unity and patterns
created. Every thread counts, no matter from the corner of the weave
to the center of a pattern, we all make a difference in our own ways.
Digital Revolution E-commerce has become a stand alone economy within
itself. Such websites like 'Amazon,' 'Ebay,' and 'Overstock,' which
have brought together vendors from all over the globe, and allowed them
to set up shop from where they are and sell their products to anyone,
anywhere in the world have dominated the Internet sphere. There is
room for growth, but not only small growth, but rapid expansion
and refinement; a digital revolution not unlike the industrial
revolution that put so many superpowers on the map during the turn
of the twentieth century. There is a benefit to digital data, and
that is its abundance, and absolute ease of transport. Digital data
is one aspect of 'import/export' that allows the user, or creator,
to transfer as much of it as they'd like, for cents on the dollar.
Thereon lies the truth of the export of data. Data such as: scientific
research in medicine, chemistry, physics, as well as the jobs in the
service sector that we will briefly preview below.
Graphic Design According to the United States Department of Labor
and Statistics, graphic design jobs averaged $48,140 in 2010. In
the United States alone, and according to the same data, there were
less than 200,000 people that indicated their occupation as being
graphic designers.
What does this translate to you as a graphic designer who wants to
live in Armenia, but be paid an American salary? Opportunity.
The website, www.elance.com, is by far the greatest example of the
potential for a graphic designer to make their fortune from their
computer, as long as they have the skill set necessary to meet client
demands and an Internet connection. As the websites states, "Elance
provides instant access to the world's top pool of rated programming,
marketing, creative and administrative contractors...hiring on
Elance is easy, just post a job and receive competing proposals from
qualified contractors." The contractor in this case is the graphic
designer, or the over 80 professions listed on the site. Designers
are encouraged to refine their online profile to be competitive and
attractive to clients, as well as showcase their experience, projects,
and recommendations.
The benefit of going down this career path, and living in Armenia is
the untaxed data being sold to clients. You're paying Internet fees
and the costs of living (rent, groceries, electricity, etc). But,
since you're still dealing with clients from the America's, Europe,
Asia, the Middle-East and Russia, you're getting paid the same as you
would in the United States. But in this case, there are no office
building owners to raise your lease, no worry about location, and
there is no risk of extortion or corruption.
There are countless examples of who would require these services.
Small businesses in need of logos, brochures, fliers, and information
pamphlets. The Department of Tourism needs more animated themes on
their websites to attract tourists. Schools, universities, existing
businesses need better graphics to refine their image in the eyes of
potential partnerships and business ventures. With an international
clientèle, your business can grow to include internships for locals,
where you can train locals to work for you, and multiply your success.
Software engineers/computer programming Software, like graphics and
the digital creative arts is likewise, digital data. You don't need
a store on the street to sell it, it doesn't need to come in a box,
nor does it need to be transported by ship or plane. Software and
computer programming do much more than create a product that can be
sold on the international market. In a country like Armenia where
such knowledge is abundant in the universities, it is one aspect of
data that can help solidify the foundations to our prosperity as a
country. The potential to hire able bodied employees is abundant,
even if your skills are more business management; you can be a puzzle
master and fit the pieces together; bringing together the talent and
marketing their skills to the global economy.
Software and computer systems are taken for granted in countries
where everyone always seems connected. It is this way in such
countries because such software is profitable. With clients looking
for conveniences in website functionality, enhanced audio programs,
design applications, navigation systems, and smart-phone applications,
the world of the Digital Revolution was born. Those interested in
such fields have the advantage to be connected to the world that
demands these things. In Armenia, where students are required to be
analytical, one could bring together groups, "digital think-tanks"
of sorts, and build wonderful software for Armenia, Russia, Europe,
Asia, and North and South America.
This is an example of internal growth, where the resources come from
the country, and your ability to bring together the will necessary to
create a successful business. As with graphic design, your costs are
minimal, as you must pay for some of the research you seek to refine
and make it profitable.
It may come as a surprise, but there is no 'MapQuest' or 'Google maps'
in Armenia. Meager if not any resources exist that tell the world a
business exists in Goris, Ijevan, or Sevan. No ability to give the
opportunity of podcasts for the politically active or independently
creative. There is no such thing as 'WebMD' for Armenians. There are no
systems designed to record weather patterns or Geographical Information
Systems (GIS) used to substantially strengthen the efficiency in
agriculture and irrigation methods. Even if there were, the people
living in the country who could benefit from the information have
limited access to it. There is existing software in America, Europe,
even Russia, and one way or another it can be acquired by Armenians,
but then there could be a technical miscommunication in the language
that won't allow such existing products to function to their full
potential. That's where the next category of professionals comes in.
Translation People might take for granted the fact that anywhere
in their travels, they have had the advantage of finding someone
who speaks English. Either in a bakery in Marsailles, France, down
to a manufacturing city such as Guangzhou, China - English is spoken
wherever people have found that it leads to better business. Yet, such
is not to claim that English is the only business language necessary
to allow ones business to increase, but for the sake of this article,
it will be.
As a native English speaker, who also understands Armenian, you
put yourself at a very valuable position in the country. You make
yourself the mouthpiece in which Universities, Government departments,
Corporations, and small-businesses can speak through.
You are the person who makes available University research to the
Western world, and build a bridge for government programs such
as tourism. You can be the liaison between a joint program between
Caltrans, California's hi-tech transportation department, and Armenia's
transportation department. Your skills in translation can help bring
to light 3000 year old histories that a team of anthropologists in
Armenia have compiled, or to translate the latest middle-class finance
solutions used in advanced societies. Your skills can be used for the
two professions mentioned before, to promote the services of a graphic
designer, and help market the product of a software engineer. You
can be the arbiter of creativity as you weave the poetry of Baruyr
Sevag and Siamantos into products that the whole world can know about,
and can inspire a Diaspora Armenian to search their ancestry between
the lines of those poets' translated texts.
Communications/Marketing Digital connectivity is one concept that
the world is still new to.
Just observe the popularity of email, and the ability to communicate
faster with the globe at the push of a button. Websites like 'Myspace'
and 'Facebook', which allow a deeper connection to be built between
people. Now 'Facebook' has turned into the fastest and most intimate
form of communication available. Websites like 'HuffingtonPost'
have local and global news stories within minutes of the and events
happening, while it constantly updates. There is one thing that is
perpetual in the world: information is always in demand.
A great advantage to being in Armenia and exploring the career section
of the communication branch is that you are in a country that is at the
center of Asia. You are closer to Europe, Industrial East-Asia, Africa,
and the Middle East. With the latter of these locations, consider the
path of a journalist or photographer. Not as a conflict journalist,
but one who is keeping up with Syria, Egypt, Israel, and post- war
Iraq. This path is only if you're ambitious to be a correspondent of
news to the Western world - who is hungry for news from these regions
because of the key roles they play in foreign policy.
These things have secondary advantages. Perhaps you start to rise as
the main source of media in Armenia for Diaspora Armenians wanting
to know what goes on daily in Armenia (but written in English). Your
team grows and you ask the Graphic designer for a website and logo.
You recruit camera operators, and ask the software engineer to help
refine a high-definition video editing software. Your reporters start
to learn English as they help write stories, and report the news so
that it can be posted on 'YouTube', or besent to Armenian new outlets,
Al Jeezera, and the RT network. In effect, your news story has helped
three occupations keep their jobs, while strengthening your own. Why
not work with businesses that are already established, with Western
marketing practices that allow the business and your own expertise
to grow simultaneously.
Your ability to reach out to the world and communicate with the
international community, the Diaspora and Armenia also adds its own
marketing factor. Sometimes it's not about having the right major, or a
specific skill set other than being interested in promoting a product
or service, and being able to bring what we learned in high-school
economics to Armenia. Coming with the idea that you can bring to
light the skills of the young, intellectual professional graduates
is already something that pays dividends for you as a developing
professional, and them for their own portfolio and experience. You
can work with the country to market businesses, tourist sites, and
special programs that Diaspora Armenians or European tourists might
otherwise not be aware of. The winter resort town in Tsakhkadzor,
the 359 bird species of Armenia, and Archaeological sites from the
surrounding epicenter of civilization.
Rock-climbing the monoliths in the Syunik province, wine tasting
in Areni and Ararat, Sevan lake summer cycling, and Tatev Monastery
tours in the south. Everything is connected, and I hope by now you
realize that no matter what you do in Armenia, it's going to make
a difference. Not only because I say it should, or know it will;
but because we are the threads that make the weave in this reality
possible.
As for myself, so that you know I've put my money where my mouth is
(and it tastes surprisingly good), I'm working with a software designer
to create a phone application to be released in December.
The vibrant graduate is from the engineering school of Yereven,
Polytechnic Institute; and boy is he diligent when it comes to work.
Patrick Bairamian is a recent graduate of University of California
in Santa Barbara. He traveled to Armenia with Birthright Armenia.
From: Baghdasarian
BY PATRICK BAIRAMIAN
http://asbarez.com/104500/change-we-dont-believe-in/
August 2nd, 2012
The author during his recent visit to Armenia poses with "dadig"
Growing up with two older brothers has its advantages, regardless of
being three boys who like to disappear in the mountains for days at a
time and give our parents the mini-heart attacks associated with the
worry if something happened to us. But, those times of being around
them have taught me, the youngest of the bunch, values that build
the core of most of my personality. Take for instance, change.
As Armenian-Americans, we perpetually talk about change. Every day
an article comes out, or a discussion is sparked about the change we
need in our: communities, cities, government, people, politicians,
organizations, businesses, schools, the new generation and the
'homeland.' With all this talk of change, comes the fervent flavors
of opinion. After every opinion calling for "change, change, change,"
one would assume the reader, or participant to be fired up.
But fired up at what? It was early on that I realized I was supporting,
and even participating in the opinion stream, and nothing else. We
all wanted change, but that's all we could do to achieve it; recognize
change needed to happen. OK that step was necessary, but now what? I
answered that question with something that I was raised with, my
brothers. Both of them subscribe to the philosophy that if you want
something in life, you must take it, no one is going to hand it out
to you.
Coming from Armenia recently, I've noticed a trend that Diaspora
Armenians love to expose: all the shortcomings of the 'homeland.'
We point out the negatives, yet are absent to suggest any constructive
solutions that could benefit the same news we are shooting down. After
a while, it just seems like we are playing 'whack-a-mole' with anything
that is trying to pop up from the ground.
Teghut, for example, has riddled the news this last year with
reports from every Armenian news media on the ground in the region,
and from Diaspora news outlets. Other than the efforts from various
organizations including the ARF-Shant chapter, whose continuous help
to bring 21st century protest and environmental advocacy methods
to the people has gained traction; there has been little discussion
about what lies beyond the protests. There has been an article almost
every week highlighting the horrid aftermath of the mining, if it
were to reach that level. The news also mentions how, for instance,
the mine will create temporary jobs, but at too high of a cost, because
there won't be a mountain to go home to after the mining is done. OK,
that's fair; but now what?
>From the people living in America, I expect more constructive plans.
We talk about destroying old-growth forests. What does that mean to
anyone outside of the United States who has taken a geography class?
We talk about preserving nature and the people. What about a
way to get both, but allow the latter to evolve. We protest about
environmental rights! What environment is worth living in if people
aren't present? Why do I keep picking on the Armenian-Americans?
Because we descend from the nation that took the idea of national parks
and made it part of the national identity. Why can't we imagine, 'The
Teghut National Forest,' full of campsites, excursions sites, guided
hikes, fishing hotspots, backpacking trails, and community lodges
where school children can visit throughout the year to learn about
environmental issues. Jobs in tourism, construction, cartography,
hotel economies, management, reforestation teams, conservation
officers, a botany institute, environmental awareness programs, and
international research could take the place of the miners. It won't
be the estimated $20 billion promised by the mining company, but it's
a start to build a sustainable and permanent future for the country.
People don't give themselves enough credit. Diaspora Armenians must
shake off the idea that to help Armenia grow and preserve the heritage
and advocate for the 'cause,' we must be 'rich, rich, rich!' As much
as money helps, it isn't what creates ripples. A fan of Chaos Theory,
I believe that everything is connected. From a geography teacher
of an elementary school in Boston, to a software engineer graduate
living in Gyumri, everyone matters to eachother.
Both professionals stated above might not donate large sums of
money to Armenian organizations, but imagine they meet and create
an interactive software for Armenian-school children to learn about
geography, weather patterns, and natural phenomenon, while at the
same time the software is in English and Armenian to help children
learn and refine both languages. I ask you, is that not change?
I'd like to take the time with the rest of this article to highlight
some aspects of change that many Diaspora Armenian-Americans don't
believe can help the country succeed. In an effort to rid ourselves
of the idea that only money buys change, we can start with thinking
outside of the rectangle shape of paper currency that we confine
ourselves to, and start investing our time and criticisms into ideas
that must grow and will develop. Enough of the excuse that we are
twenty years old; I'm even sick of saying it. We're twenty years
old as a country, that means this is the time to make new ideas
germinate and flourish into foundational beams to build on. This
isn't only the land of opportunity, it is the nation that breeds
scholars, logisticians, business owners, teachers, intellectuals, and
advocates. Put showing the world what we can do on the back burner;
that time will come. Let's show ourselves what we're made of; from
what ancient kingdoms we descend from. Let's give testament to the
kings and queens that live inside every one of us that we are what
create the ideas (and follow through with plans) necessary for change.
The main topics below are the first set of professions I chose
to highlight because most might ignore their profile descriptions
based on the fact that they are not the conventional steps taken to
'help the homeland.' Because if it's anything that you love doing,
it's going to make a difference in your life and influence those in
the same reality. We, the 'Armenians,' are the celebrated rugs we
cherish. Every Armenian is of a different thread, texture and color.
But in the process of the weave, we all add to the unity and patterns
created. Every thread counts, no matter from the corner of the weave
to the center of a pattern, we all make a difference in our own ways.
Digital Revolution E-commerce has become a stand alone economy within
itself. Such websites like 'Amazon,' 'Ebay,' and 'Overstock,' which
have brought together vendors from all over the globe, and allowed them
to set up shop from where they are and sell their products to anyone,
anywhere in the world have dominated the Internet sphere. There is
room for growth, but not only small growth, but rapid expansion
and refinement; a digital revolution not unlike the industrial
revolution that put so many superpowers on the map during the turn
of the twentieth century. There is a benefit to digital data, and
that is its abundance, and absolute ease of transport. Digital data
is one aspect of 'import/export' that allows the user, or creator,
to transfer as much of it as they'd like, for cents on the dollar.
Thereon lies the truth of the export of data. Data such as: scientific
research in medicine, chemistry, physics, as well as the jobs in the
service sector that we will briefly preview below.
Graphic Design According to the United States Department of Labor
and Statistics, graphic design jobs averaged $48,140 in 2010. In
the United States alone, and according to the same data, there were
less than 200,000 people that indicated their occupation as being
graphic designers.
What does this translate to you as a graphic designer who wants to
live in Armenia, but be paid an American salary? Opportunity.
The website, www.elance.com, is by far the greatest example of the
potential for a graphic designer to make their fortune from their
computer, as long as they have the skill set necessary to meet client
demands and an Internet connection. As the websites states, "Elance
provides instant access to the world's top pool of rated programming,
marketing, creative and administrative contractors...hiring on
Elance is easy, just post a job and receive competing proposals from
qualified contractors." The contractor in this case is the graphic
designer, or the over 80 professions listed on the site. Designers
are encouraged to refine their online profile to be competitive and
attractive to clients, as well as showcase their experience, projects,
and recommendations.
The benefit of going down this career path, and living in Armenia is
the untaxed data being sold to clients. You're paying Internet fees
and the costs of living (rent, groceries, electricity, etc). But,
since you're still dealing with clients from the America's, Europe,
Asia, the Middle-East and Russia, you're getting paid the same as you
would in the United States. But in this case, there are no office
building owners to raise your lease, no worry about location, and
there is no risk of extortion or corruption.
There are countless examples of who would require these services.
Small businesses in need of logos, brochures, fliers, and information
pamphlets. The Department of Tourism needs more animated themes on
their websites to attract tourists. Schools, universities, existing
businesses need better graphics to refine their image in the eyes of
potential partnerships and business ventures. With an international
clientèle, your business can grow to include internships for locals,
where you can train locals to work for you, and multiply your success.
Software engineers/computer programming Software, like graphics and
the digital creative arts is likewise, digital data. You don't need
a store on the street to sell it, it doesn't need to come in a box,
nor does it need to be transported by ship or plane. Software and
computer programming do much more than create a product that can be
sold on the international market. In a country like Armenia where
such knowledge is abundant in the universities, it is one aspect of
data that can help solidify the foundations to our prosperity as a
country. The potential to hire able bodied employees is abundant,
even if your skills are more business management; you can be a puzzle
master and fit the pieces together; bringing together the talent and
marketing their skills to the global economy.
Software and computer systems are taken for granted in countries
where everyone always seems connected. It is this way in such
countries because such software is profitable. With clients looking
for conveniences in website functionality, enhanced audio programs,
design applications, navigation systems, and smart-phone applications,
the world of the Digital Revolution was born. Those interested in
such fields have the advantage to be connected to the world that
demands these things. In Armenia, where students are required to be
analytical, one could bring together groups, "digital think-tanks"
of sorts, and build wonderful software for Armenia, Russia, Europe,
Asia, and North and South America.
This is an example of internal growth, where the resources come from
the country, and your ability to bring together the will necessary to
create a successful business. As with graphic design, your costs are
minimal, as you must pay for some of the research you seek to refine
and make it profitable.
It may come as a surprise, but there is no 'MapQuest' or 'Google maps'
in Armenia. Meager if not any resources exist that tell the world a
business exists in Goris, Ijevan, or Sevan. No ability to give the
opportunity of podcasts for the politically active or independently
creative. There is no such thing as 'WebMD' for Armenians. There are no
systems designed to record weather patterns or Geographical Information
Systems (GIS) used to substantially strengthen the efficiency in
agriculture and irrigation methods. Even if there were, the people
living in the country who could benefit from the information have
limited access to it. There is existing software in America, Europe,
even Russia, and one way or another it can be acquired by Armenians,
but then there could be a technical miscommunication in the language
that won't allow such existing products to function to their full
potential. That's where the next category of professionals comes in.
Translation People might take for granted the fact that anywhere
in their travels, they have had the advantage of finding someone
who speaks English. Either in a bakery in Marsailles, France, down
to a manufacturing city such as Guangzhou, China - English is spoken
wherever people have found that it leads to better business. Yet, such
is not to claim that English is the only business language necessary
to allow ones business to increase, but for the sake of this article,
it will be.
As a native English speaker, who also understands Armenian, you
put yourself at a very valuable position in the country. You make
yourself the mouthpiece in which Universities, Government departments,
Corporations, and small-businesses can speak through.
You are the person who makes available University research to the
Western world, and build a bridge for government programs such
as tourism. You can be the liaison between a joint program between
Caltrans, California's hi-tech transportation department, and Armenia's
transportation department. Your skills in translation can help bring
to light 3000 year old histories that a team of anthropologists in
Armenia have compiled, or to translate the latest middle-class finance
solutions used in advanced societies. Your skills can be used for the
two professions mentioned before, to promote the services of a graphic
designer, and help market the product of a software engineer. You
can be the arbiter of creativity as you weave the poetry of Baruyr
Sevag and Siamantos into products that the whole world can know about,
and can inspire a Diaspora Armenian to search their ancestry between
the lines of those poets' translated texts.
Communications/Marketing Digital connectivity is one concept that
the world is still new to.
Just observe the popularity of email, and the ability to communicate
faster with the globe at the push of a button. Websites like 'Myspace'
and 'Facebook', which allow a deeper connection to be built between
people. Now 'Facebook' has turned into the fastest and most intimate
form of communication available. Websites like 'HuffingtonPost'
have local and global news stories within minutes of the and events
happening, while it constantly updates. There is one thing that is
perpetual in the world: information is always in demand.
A great advantage to being in Armenia and exploring the career section
of the communication branch is that you are in a country that is at the
center of Asia. You are closer to Europe, Industrial East-Asia, Africa,
and the Middle East. With the latter of these locations, consider the
path of a journalist or photographer. Not as a conflict journalist,
but one who is keeping up with Syria, Egypt, Israel, and post- war
Iraq. This path is only if you're ambitious to be a correspondent of
news to the Western world - who is hungry for news from these regions
because of the key roles they play in foreign policy.
These things have secondary advantages. Perhaps you start to rise as
the main source of media in Armenia for Diaspora Armenians wanting
to know what goes on daily in Armenia (but written in English). Your
team grows and you ask the Graphic designer for a website and logo.
You recruit camera operators, and ask the software engineer to help
refine a high-definition video editing software. Your reporters start
to learn English as they help write stories, and report the news so
that it can be posted on 'YouTube', or besent to Armenian new outlets,
Al Jeezera, and the RT network. In effect, your news story has helped
three occupations keep their jobs, while strengthening your own. Why
not work with businesses that are already established, with Western
marketing practices that allow the business and your own expertise
to grow simultaneously.
Your ability to reach out to the world and communicate with the
international community, the Diaspora and Armenia also adds its own
marketing factor. Sometimes it's not about having the right major, or a
specific skill set other than being interested in promoting a product
or service, and being able to bring what we learned in high-school
economics to Armenia. Coming with the idea that you can bring to
light the skills of the young, intellectual professional graduates
is already something that pays dividends for you as a developing
professional, and them for their own portfolio and experience. You
can work with the country to market businesses, tourist sites, and
special programs that Diaspora Armenians or European tourists might
otherwise not be aware of. The winter resort town in Tsakhkadzor,
the 359 bird species of Armenia, and Archaeological sites from the
surrounding epicenter of civilization.
Rock-climbing the monoliths in the Syunik province, wine tasting
in Areni and Ararat, Sevan lake summer cycling, and Tatev Monastery
tours in the south. Everything is connected, and I hope by now you
realize that no matter what you do in Armenia, it's going to make
a difference. Not only because I say it should, or know it will;
but because we are the threads that make the weave in this reality
possible.
As for myself, so that you know I've put my money where my mouth is
(and it tastes surprisingly good), I'm working with a software designer
to create a phone application to be released in December.
The vibrant graduate is from the engineering school of Yereven,
Polytechnic Institute; and boy is he diligent when it comes to work.
Patrick Bairamian is a recent graduate of University of California
in Santa Barbara. He traveled to Armenia with Birthright Armenia.
From: Baghdasarian