A Singular Experience for Two Jerusalem Armenian Students

“We need a sizeable Armenian population in Jerusalem”, said Vasken Panossian and Karin Hagopian, both born in the Holy City. These two 17-year-old senior high school students from the Sts. Tarkmanchatz School, who have strongly expressed the desire to continue to study and live in Jerusalem, came to the United States and partook in the Summer Conference program at St. Nersess Armenian Seminary for 10 days in July.

The two Jerusalem students with Primate Khajag Barsamian

This innovative project of bringing students from Jerusalem to New York to participate in the St. Nersess program was conceived and planned by Rev. Mardiros Chevian, Dean of St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral, five years ago.  “It allows two students each year who are doing well academically in their studies to experience something exceptional and exciting. It also raises the prestige of the Sts. Tarkmanchatz School, and inspires the next class of students to achieve this goal.”

Father Mardiros, who secures funding for this project from anonymous benefactors, emphasized that the St. Nersess summer conferences, where he was the director from the late 1970’s to the early 1990’s, is the ideal place where these students can gain more knowledge about their faith, meet other young people, and form lasting friendships.

“These students, upon their return to their school, relay their excitement about the program to their friends and other students,” he pointed out. “The experience is equally enlightening for the Armenian American youth that they meet. As the number of youth coming from Armenian Jerusalem grows, there will be a core group in Jerusalem of young people who have shared the same experience.  There is great excitement among other students to participate in this program.”

Like a family environment

For Vasken and Karin, the experience was “awesome, inspiring, and exciting,” the said. “St. Nersess was like a family environment, emphasizing teamwork and cooperation. We got closer to God, learned more about the culture in America, and made new friends who are like family.”

Mariam Sarkessian, one of the young American Armenian participants in the St. Nersess Summer Conferences, “loved being with the Jerusalem youth. Their presence at the session gave a true feeling of international unity for the Armenian community. I could see few differences that separated them from the American Armenian youth who also attended the session.  These Jerusalem teenagers undoubtedly made an amazingly wonderful impact on everyone’s experience at the session.”  Mariam emphasized that she is now encouraged to visit Jerusalem and the Armenian Patriarchate, and support the survival of the community.

The St. Nersess experience for Vasken, whose paternal ancestors hail from Ourfa and Van, and whose mother is Christian Arab, made him feel “closer to his Armenian side.”  Karin’s family is originally from Marash. Both students hope to attend Hebrew University next year.  Vasken’s goal is to become a CPA, and Karin’s to pursue a career in medicine.

Both had praise for the very high level of academic education at the Sts. Tarkmanchatz School, whose principal is the Very Rev. Norayr Kazazian. Under his leadership, many improvements have occurred and are taking place in curriculum and the facilities, including new labs in chemistry, biology, computer science, and the renovation of the entire building.

“It’s the only Armenian school in Jerusalem, and it’s one of only three schools in the whole country where the British International Exam is given,” Vasken related. We learn four languages, with many courses in English, and get individual attention. It’s almost like tutoring,” Vasken revealed. “It’s our second home,” added Karin.

When Vasken and Karin came to the Diocese headquarters in New York, they were welcomed by the Primate, Archbishop Khajag Barsamian. They also had the opportunity to visit the Armenian Home in Flushing, N.Y.  “I expected to see old people with illnesses,” remarked Vasken. “When I heard their stories and saw their wisdom, I was moved. I felt the love, caring, and compassion. It changed me 180 degrees.”

Exchange and fellowship

The Very Rev. Daniel Findikyan, dean of the St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, noted that “for the past several years, we have enjoyed the presence and participation each summer of two young people from the Armenian community of Jerusalem at our summer study conferences. What a joy it is to see them forge friendships with the American Armenian kids at St. Nersess. As dean of the seminary, I am very proud that through the efforts of Fr. Mardiros Chevian who coordinates the program and secures the funding to support it, St. Nersess can be a place for this sort of exchange and fellowship within the embrace of the Armenian Church.”

And Rev. Hovnan Demerjian, who served the direction of the session that the two students attended, noted that “Vasken and Karin were outstanding representatives of Sts. Tarkmanchatz School’s best and brightest. They brought so much to the session B, and took a piece of St. Nersess back home.”

The concept of this program was inspired by Fr. Mardiros’s trips to Jerusalem where he met with Patriarch Torkom Manoogian and inquired as to how he could help the Sts. Tarkmanchatz School. Upon hearing Father Mardiros’s proposal to bring students from the school to the St. Nersess summer conferences, the patriarch offered his blessings and approval.

“It is an outstanding program because it establishes ties between the youth of the Diocese and the youth of Jerusalem to discuss with their peers their depth of faith and their Armenian heritage. Based on the experience of the past five years, the results have been very positive,” Father Mardiros commented. “What they take back will help them share and support each other as they grow in their professional and Christian backgrounds. It also strengthens their commitment to the Armenian presence in Jerusalem and tightens ties between the young people here and there.  It is a small contribution to the growth and progress of the leadership of the Sts. Tarkmanchatz School.”

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