BY: HRAK MAGDESYAN
I knew this summer was going to be great because I was arriving in Armenia for the third time, first time with the AYF on two separate camps. One of them was the AYF Youth Corps, and to say the least, I was the most excited I’ve ever been in the homeland. Being involved in the AYF for almost half of my life and knowing about Youth Corps as a badani (junior) has always inspired me to participate in the program. Once I found out Gyumri was one of the locations of Jambar, my heart knew that I wanted to get to know the kids from there along with experiencing the life of the city. I’ve never been to Gyumri prior to this year for Youth Corps, and when I found out I was going to participate there, I knew my experience was going to be different then anything I’ve ever experienced.
When arriving in Gyumri with my fellow counselors, we all knew that we were going to have a great experience, it was in the air. The morning of jambar, walking into the Shirvanian Youth Center seeing all the kids and their smiles, greeting us politely in the mother tongue, it was a feeling I haven’t felt since last being in the homeland. Getting to know the campers in my group was truly a blessing. The connections I built with the campers is something I’ll never forget and I will always cherish. On our last day of Jambar, when taking pictures, signing shirts and saying my goodbyes, I had to take a step away and get my emotions together. I hope that this upcoming summer everything goes to plan and I get to see my fellow younger brothers and sisters again in the beautiful city of Gyumri. They’ll always have a special place in my life and I’m forever thankful to have met them. This was my first camp experience as a counselor, and being with the counselors I fortunately had in Gyumri helped me tremendously during the program itself. I can’t thank them enough for the support they gave me and the pointers I received. As for the outside life of Jambar, I knew half of our group from AYF and the other half I just met for the first time. Living the life of Gyumri with them for two weeks was one of the best experiences of my life. I’m glad to share these memories with my fellow counselors that I can now call friends, and ungers who I got to know more. All ten of us have something in common and that is the future, our youth, and thanks to the AYF West and its Youth Corps program, they can make this possible. Youth Corps, this isn’t a goodbye, it’s a see you later.
