ANOUSH ARSHAKYAN: Love for Life means Life-long Learning, Sharing, and Creating Together.
When we talk about dedication, passion, and excellence, we imagine individuals who love life, are curious and want to push the boundaries of what is “possible.” Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation’s creative copywriter, economics expert, and lifelong student Anoush Arshakyan is one such individual.
Blessed with a happy childhood filled with book reading and artistic pursuits, Anoush describes her grandmother’s influence and upbringing as the driving factor behind her capacity to focus intensely on honing her communication skills, passion for linguistics, and acting talent. She describes her first performance starting as early as age three and a wonderful experience it has been.
Anoush’s taste in a wide range of music genres reflects her vibrant personality and curiosity to welcome change in this world.
Her passion as a child was to enjoy nature, the outdoors, staring at the scattered stars in the sky, and she imagined what it would be like to live there, beyond the visible universe. This passion morphed into a love of astronomy, which she admits is still with her to this very day. However, Anoush took a different academic path; she became an economics student at the State Economic University of Armenia and then studied for two years at the National Association of Art Critics. This led her to their dream job; she began to engage in art management.
AWAKENING THE WRITER INSIDE
Before she took on the role of a writer, Anoush was lucky to be educated at the N10 Gymuri school, where French was the dominant language. She soon became a polyglot, able to speak French, English, Russian and Armenian, all to a high level. She saw his ability to use words to reach out to people and understand the world around her. Because in life, as in poetry, words have an incredible power to build or destroy.
A BLESSING THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Being a parent is life-changing; Anoush describes this unique experience as a gift to see and discover everything again through your child’s eyes. Your ability to dream, imagine, and hope revives and brings you renewed energy.
Anoush loves instilling in her daughter the love for arts, creativity, and the discipline to get things done well, as taught by her grandmother. Fundamentally, good parenting is constantly learning new things about your child and yourself.
Perhaps what most surprises and delights Anoush are the innocent and profound questions her child asks. “Mom, why should I study?”. Anoush’s answer was immediate and straightforward. “To realize your dreams.” For Anoush, this statement applies to everyone throughout our lives. Anoush believes in continuous learning and always strives for excellence.
WOMEN AS AGENTS OF POSITIVE CHANGE FOR ARMENIA
Anoush’s varied life experiences have taught her that the society you live in has to be in a good place for its individuals to thrive. That has accompanied her through her life journey, even now.
If people don’t use their creative talents and wealth to do good in this world, they might as well consider themselves blind. For her, Armenian society needs to recognize the role of feminine power more than ever before. Female inner strength is wise, happy, fearless, and fair. This is what makes us stable and adaptable to life challenges. We observe, care, and always learn the many ways to be inclusive of every person and find the best outcomes. Many people don’t understand or see this type of strength. Many men are uncomfortable seeing women in positions of authority.
It will take time for Armenian society to adopt a new mindset, and Anoush imagines that if everyone plays their part. With an open mind, together, we can build a community where all talents and strengths are equally recognized and celebrated.
Love, peace, and spirituality are essential. Anoush offers some wisdom for everyone struggling to come to terms with themselves. Love yourself first, and then all the external love in the world will be yours. It’s cliché but so very true. People base their entire lives and purpose on what others think of them, which can be limiting and may be one of the reasons we see so much bitterness in people.
The best way to go after what you want is to work diligently and consistently with joy. Remind yourself why you want to do something and slowly build up the tolerance to set aside naysayers and go on with your work.
“Creating a culture that champions collaboration and teamwork can allow ordinary people to do extraordinary things.”
–Vazken Kalayjian
When everyone is united around a shared vision with a spirit of collaboration, barriers are overthrown, and bridges are built over them. Any real change, especially societal, requires us all to unite and do our best. One theoretical way to make that culture of collaboration is to engage people in doing tasks that demand the collective efforts of many. Of course, this must happen through democracy and freedom of choice.
Lastly, Anoush believes in the power of education and the new generation’s enthusiasm. These two things are enough to transform Armenia. We must learn from our experiences and build the courage to reform and improve existing institutions and societal governance.
Additionally, Anoush values peace in her heart, peace in our homes and country, and peace with our neighbors. It pains her to see her country going through the suffering of war. We need peace first and above all.
A search for truth and meeting exceptional people on her path are the factors that contributed to the development of Anoush’s worldview and that she tries to pass on through her way of life and writing.
FAB LAB ARMENIA: WHERE EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
Anoush calls her volunteering opportunity as a copywriter at Fab Lab a fairytale coming true, an “Anoush in Wonderland” type of story, to be exact. She learned about Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation’s work through her acquaintance with Babkhen Chugaszyan.
What mainly attracted her was the creative energy that the place is known for. She saw new and limitless opportunities to enrich her artistic experience with new ideas and perhaps apply this potential in creating unique art installations and other works of visual art. For Anoush, Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation is a true blessing because it is a “Wonderland” where you can build “almost anything” working with a local and international network of creative people. Open-minded people come together to learn and create in a technology-rich environment.
There’s no limit to the human imagination, and Anoush lives by that motto daily at Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation. The diversity of people working at Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation fueled Anoush’s creative drive and writing.
For example, Anoush is already thinking about how she could create a device that could capture dreams. Yes, you read that right. Anoush believes that so many intriguing thought patterns develop when we’re in a deep sleep, and it would be a shame not to find a way to harness those thoughts and apply them in the real world.
For everyone aspiring to become students at Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation, Anoush has the following to say:
“Studying at Fab Academy is difficult and long work. First, this is about working on yourself, learning self-discipline and time management; then, you get a chance to change internal chaos into a creative resource. Finally, your efforts are rewarded with the knowledge that you arrived where you wanted to be.”
–Anoush Ashakyan
So, future alumni, be prepared. Studying at Fab Academy is not your run-of-the-mill college experience; you need to get used to the demanding exercise of going from idea to prototyping. You learn to make things you never knew you could do, and you also learn from everyone around you and even people in other labs and countries who share your interests. You gain a great network of friends and people you never imagined meeting.
For those of us with a creative and innovative bent that want some of our crazy ideas to materialize, Anoush quotes the physicist Neil Tyson when he says, “A scientist is just a kid who never grew up.” Too many people and students forget what it means to let our natural curiosity nourish the inner child.
“A scientist is just a kid who never grew up.”
–Neil Tyson
Your lifetime learner’s job is never to let the inner child inside you die. And suppose you think Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation is all about machines, electronics, coding, 3D printing, laser cutting, 3D modeling, and programming. In that case, you will be missing the magical and critical element of collective human ingenuity and the need to share and grow with joy together; the place welcomes people from all walks of life and with all kinds of ideas.
Fab Lab Armenia Education Foundation in Dilijan is there for you if you are curious to explore your dexterity in handling art, science, and technology.
#fablab #maker #makerspace #diy #dprinting #design #makers #lab #fablabs #labrador #lasercut #innovation #dprinter #fabrication #impression #digitalfabrication #robotica #coworking
