I haven’t been the person standing behind the podium in a couple years now so I’m a little rusty but it is truly my pleasure to speak to you all tonight. As some of my fellow AYF members may know, this is my last year in the AYF and I will be aging out at the end of 2026. While I am excited to see what other ways I will contribute to our Armenian community, I don’t think I can say that I feel prepared to close this chapter of my life.
The AYF has left such a lasting impact on me, and it has changed the trajectory of my path in more ways than I can even begin to explain. I always grew up kind of around the AYF but still on the outskirts; my parents were members when they were younger and I grew up hearing about the AYF, the ideals, values, and goals of the ARF. However, as a kid I was never actually a Junior member. I was never an AYF Junior, a Homenetmen scout, part of a dance group, etc. and I only ever went to AYF Junior Seminar a couple of times in middle school and high school. But those few times that I attended an AYF event, changed my life.
It was at Junior Seminar that I received a lecture on Camp Javakhk, which is a program that many of you have probably already heard of. I went home after Seminar, continued living my life, graduated high school, and started college, but that lecture stuck with me. My university that I attended had a study abroad requirement and I knew that there was an American University in Armenia, where the credits I took there would count towards my degree back in the US. So I planned it out, and for my senior year fall semester I decided to go to AUA in Yerevan to connect with my roots in a way that I hadn’t done before, by spending months on the ground fully immersed in my culture and living with my family in Armenia. Then, I remembered Camp Javakhk and the lecture I heard at AYF Junior Seminar years ago. I thought, if I’m going to be in Armenia from the fall semester up until almost Christmas, I might as well tack Camp Javakhk onto that and stay in Armenia for a full six months. It sounded like an interesting program and the mission was something that I felt passionate about, so why not.
I applied for Camp and this ended up being the catalyst for my AYF career. I did not know a single person when I applied and back then I was much more introverted so it was definitely something that pushed me out of my comfort zone. When I arrived in Yerevan and first met up with the rest of the Camp Javakhk participants, there was one thing I noticed about almost all of them. They were AYFers. Over the course of the two weeks that we did Camp, I got to know so many incredible people and became friends with people who I am still close to today. I watched these AYFers sing heghapokhakan songs, teach the kids at Camp, and speak in general with so much passion about our culture and our people, in a way that I had never seen before from the youth. Their passion mirrored what I felt inside for so long and it was amazing meeting people who had the same values as me about Armenia.
When I came home from study abroad, the first thing I did was sign up to be a member of the AYF. I went through the novice program, attended meetings, and was sworn in in early 2020. I started off as a regular Senior member, then I started tacking on some additional responsibilities as the years went on. I became our chapter’s point person to the Central Educational Council, I later joined the Central Educational Council, I then became a member of the AYF DC “Ani” executive, serving as the treasurer for one year, and then the chair the next. I volunteered to be on the AYF Olympics Steering Committee when it was hosted by our amazing community, I joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and then after completing graduate school I was elected to be on the Central Executive at the 2024 Annual Convention that was held in North Andover that year. When I think about the fact that I’ve only been an AYF member for 6 years, I don’t know how I did all that to be honest. Between work, school, and my own personal goals, when looking back and thinking about all the different responsibilities that each position I’ve held has required, I realize it’s been a whirlwind. Lots of stress, late nights, emails, group chats, speeches, protest planning, you name it. And yet, with all that said, I wish I did more. I wish I worked at Camp Haiastan as a counselor, I wish I was on other Central Councils, I wish I applied for the AYF Internship, I wish I was a director for one of our summer programs, and I wish I went to more Junior Seminars. This organization has given me so much. It’s given me leadership skills, public speaking skills, I’ve learned time management, how to organize events, fundraisers, how to be a good chaperone, I’ve learned about our culture and history, and I’ve made friends that I will have for the rest of my life.
I want to recommend something to all the AYFers who are here today. Take, take, take, everything you possibly can from this organization. Go to Junior Seminar, go to JWO, JAG, Junior Conferences, Senior Seminar, Convention, attend meetings and lock-ins with your friends, go to the AYF Olympics, be an AYF intern, but don’t ever forget to give back. Be a counselor at Camp Haiastan. Be a director at Camp Javakhk. Be on a Central Council, and work hard because it does make a difference. Use the tools that the AYF gives you, to give back. Because it’s the most fulfilling thing you will ever do.
My time in the AYF is coming to an end. In 8 months, I will age out. I have maybe 8 AYF DC meetings left. Junior Seminar is around the corner, and next thing you know it’ll be time for Convention and I’ll be saying something sappy on the last night while passing around the gavel that was once held by Garegin Nejdeh. When I first joined the AYF, I felt like there was so much I didn’t know and so much to do and learn. 28 seemed so far away that surely I had enough time to do all that I wanted to do. But the years pass by quickly. There’s only so much time that you have in the AYF, and it’s important to treasure it. Take advantage of it. And always, always remember to give back.
