Arevik Badalyan-Drewek worked as a journalist in Armenia. She also worked at the Armenian branches of the British Council and the World Bank. Currently, Arevik lives in the USA and is studying at one of the best universities in the country, Duke University. Aravot Daily interviewed her as part of its “Femini” series.
Aravot Daily asked Arevik Badalyan-Drewek if she believes that success is a result of a hardworking and ambitious attitude, or if she believes that it’s a matter of luck. She said that she considers herself to be ambitious and that she has been successful as a result of hard work. “If you have a goal, you need to put all your strength and energy into achieving that goal. Of course, the way circumstances align in your favor also plays a huge role here.”
She also said that if something does not work out for someone at a certain stage, it’s only temporary. For example, she said that it was a dream of hers to study in the USA. She applied for many scholarships only to reach the testing or waiting phase and not receive any. However, now she is studying at one of the top ten universities.
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According to Arevik, who is studying for a master’s degree in Public Administration at Duke, Duke prioritizes the applicant’s work and life experience. “Now I think that it is a good thing that I did not get accepted when I applied in the past because I needed to have that experience in order to be successful.”
She added that she did not take difficult exams to get accepted. They simply looked at her life experience, knowledge of English, two essays, and her 3.98 GPA. Aravot asked her to compare studying in Armenia versus studying in the USA. She said that she studied in Armenia 15 years ago and she hopes that a lot has changed since then. Then, she said that her current university reminds her of paradise because all the right conditions are provided for students.
Arevik also has a vlog where she discusses her life experiences in different areas. She said that she wanted to provide other people with the information she knew when she moved to the USA.
She is also surprised when people decide to leave Armenia and they ask her how they can come to America and what they need to do. This is especially due to the fact that immigrating is very stressful, risky, and costly. “No matter how much people may think that life in America is easy and that money grows on trees, that’s not true. I also speak about this in my vlogs. It will be difficult, but if you have made the final decision to do it, then this is my experience.”
Regarding young people who want to get their education in the US, Arevik Badalyan-Drewek believes that it is a good decision that will enable them to come into contact with other ethnicities and reevaluate their own system of values.
Arevik Badalyan-Drewek considers herself to be a self-sufficient person. She said that it is important that she is at peace with herself and that she will never lose her desire to dream bigger and achieve her dreams.
Gohar Hakobyan
