Fresno State Students Walkup and Tatarian Enjoy AUA “Summer Study” Program

Sosse Baloian

Staff Writer

Early this summer, second-year Mechanical Engineering student Sarkis Tatarian and senior Landscape Architecture Design student Michaela Walkup attended the American University of Armenia’s “Summer Study” program in Yerevan. During the six-week program, both enrolled in one general education course and were housed in apartments close to the campus. At the end of each week, Tatarian and Walkup met up with two other program participants to go on excursions throughout Armenia.

The Kashian Family Foundation has, since 2016, been a generous underwriter in providing Fresno State students the opportunity to spend either a semester or summer abroad at the American University of Armenia. The Kashian Family Foundation grant provides students with tuition, full room and board, transportation, and educational expenses while in Armenia.

The American University of Armenia (AUA), founded in 1991, offers graduate and undergraduate education courses taught primarily in English. The AUA Main Building was previously used as a meeting house for Soviet elites. Walkup described the building’s remarkable marble staircase and velvet plushy seats in admiration.

Tatarian and Walkup spoke highly about their professors, Khachatur Gasparyan and Tatevik Arakelyan (Pyschology 120) and Ken Martin (Photojournalism). When I asked about the most influential person they encountered on the trip, both responded with grateful comments about their instructors. Tatarian said that Dr. Gasparyan told him, “don’t think about what other people think. Just let them do what they want. Just live your own life.”

This was the first time these Fresno State students had traveled to Armenia. They described Yerevan as a densely-populated city with a safe environment and lively nights. Outside of the city, one might feel a culture shock from witnessing the vast, rural landscape. Walkup shared a first-time experience in which her car was stopped by a herd of cattle crossing the street.

Tatarian’s most memorable experience was visiting the areas where his parents grew up. “I heard stories about my parents’ past that I had never heard before,” he says after traveling to his mother’s hometown of Gyumri. 

For Walkup, the day she spent going to Khor Virap was a journey forever ingrained in her memory. Walkup befriended her taxi driver, Gago, who had also never been to the Khop Virap monastery, where St. Gregory was imprisoned in the fourth century. Not only does the monastery symbolize a vital piece of Armenian history, but the all-powerful view of Mount Ararat draws your attention to its commanding beauty.

Walkup said her biggest take-away from Armenia was the attitude that “less is more.” “When going to a person’s house they likely had a 20-year-old oven, a 30-year-old refrigerator. Their plates were clearly a pattern from the 80s, but they don’t feel this need to keep up with the Joneses,” said Walkup. “Everything had its place, all of their things had value. There was an atmosphere of modest dignity in an Armenian home. As long as something works then why throw it out. It was something that I very much respected while over there.” 

Tatarian and Walkup highly recommend that Fresno State students travel to Armenia through the AUA “Summer Study” Program. For a freshman or sophomore, Walkup “would absolutely, one hundred percent say [to] do your General Education there and have the time of your life.” 

Tatarian encourages students who enjoy experiencing new cultures to study abroad and to learn about the Armenian heritage.