International Education Week: International Photo Contest Winners

2 min read

By Aigiun Guseinova, MBA ’14

During November 11-15, 2013 AUA joined the celebration of International Education Week and hosted various events and projects. As part of that great occasion, the Center for Student Success organized an International Photo Contest where participants submitted various pictures showcasing international/global ideas. On the completion of the voting process two winners were selected based on the number of the points received: Ani Manukyan, BAB ’17, received first place and Melina Nazarian, MBA ’14, took second place.

Ani Manukyan, a first place nominee and first year undergraduate business student, took the photo of her necklace with the inscription “With God all things are possible” a year ago while preparing for the university entrance exams. Ani expressed her necklace represented great importance and meaning for her as it always supported her through hard and exhaustive times of her life. Ani shared some of her personal ideas and feelings with us, “This photo is about hope and belief. And the most crucial thing is to believe in yourself, realize that you are your own God and all the things depend on you and your actions. You should believe in yourself and your own abilities”.  While submitting her picture, Ani didn’t expect to win the contest. The reason of her presenting the picture was to show her world to the students. Ani thanks everyone who had been very supportive to her and understood the concept of the picture depicted.

Melina Nazarian, a second place nominee and second year graduate student in business and administration program, presented a picture of Kandovan during the International Photo Contest week. Kandovan is an ancient village near the city of Tabriz, Iran. It is a manmade cliff dwelling with an existence of 800 years and is still inhabited. Kandovan village is said to have been partially formed by volcanic remains from a strong Mount Sahand eruptions hundreds of years ago. Melina expressed her great interest in photography and comprehends it as a way to share the feelings we experience in real life. Through her picture “Lost in Loneliness”, Melina wanted to depict the lonely feelings of a man who was an inhabitant of the village.  As she saw that man sitting in front of his place, Melina felt he was lost in his loneliness and didn’t care about the hundreds of visitors passing by. That could be the exact feeling Melina wanted to convey through a picture, for she believes there is no word(s) that can describe such a feeling. Her picture, named “Reflection”, became the first winning nominee during a photo contest she took part in Iran. Melina expressed her great happiness that she could touch the feelings of so many people through her picture.

The Center for Student Success congratulates the winners and thanks all students who participated in this year’s competition.

Satineh Harutyunyan presenting the award to Ani Manukyan

 

Aigiun Guseinova presenting the award to Melina Nazarian

 

“With God all things are possible”

“Lost in Loneliness”

 

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.