“Do your best when fulfilling anything; live having self-respect and remember that failure is not defeat yet; moreover, it is a lesson for not stumbling on your path ahead”, said Historian Vartan Gregorian in his address to the Avedisian School students and Teachers. Mr. Gregorian, “Aurora” Global Humanitarian Award Co-Founder and Selection Committee member, and President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, visited the AMAA Khoren and Shooshanig Avedisian School in Yerevan on October 23 accompanied by School Benefactors Edward and Pamela Avedisian.

After giving a brief overview of his respectable scientific and public path in the past, Mr. Gregorian answered the audience’s diverse questions, such as his views on school, education, philanthropy, and volunteering. Some of the questions were about his Armenian childhood and family and his ties with the Homeland.

Vartan Gregorian and School Benefactors Pamela and Edward Avedisian

Vartan Gregorian, Pamela & Edward Avedisian and School Principal Melanya Geghamyan

“You owe it to yourself to make Armenia become the strongest country in education, banking, new technologies, medical and other priority areas. So, whatever you do in life, do your best. Live in self-respect; accept any failure not as a defeat but as a lesson on your path. Learn and enjoy the opportunities you have. And, remember that the future of the Armenian people is in your hands,” said Mr. Gregorian in his closing remarks.

Following the difficult selection by the organizers of the “Aurora” Prize this year, three of the volunteers selected to assist the ceremony represented the Avedisian School. Two School twelfth graders Gohar Varderesyan and Aleksander Mnatsakanyan as well as alumna Milena Galstyan were chosen for performing their noble and responsible volunteer work honorably and with excellence.