AGBU Launches University Outreach Program

In September 2010, AGBU launched its University Outreach Program, a program aimed at building and strengthening relationships between AGBU and the numerous Armenian student groups at universities around the world. The new position of University and Youth Outreach Coordinator has been filled by Daniel Antreasyan, who has been part of the AGBU family since he was a seven-year-old camper at AGBU's Camp Nubar, where he also serves as the Assistant Director. Antreasyan's responsibilities include administering, coordinating, and expanding AGBU's University Outreach Program in order to reach students at various universities. The program will assist students with their Armenian club programming in addition to promoting AGBU youth projects. Antreasyan will act as the point person for AGBU's youth, athletics, and scout groups, as well as coordinator of the Regional and World Games. These programs -- which include sleep-away camps, scout camps, schools, internships, and youth trips -- are the foundation through which young Armenians will establish roots with AGBU, and hopefully maintain a lifelong relationship with the organization. The University Outreach Program will be collaborating with college students and professors throughout each academic year to organize events such as seminars and workshops to promote professional and social growth among students. Attendance will be free at these events, which will take place at either the AGBU headquarters office in New York or at respective college campuses. On October 26, 2010, first University Outreach workshop took place. Entitled "Preparing to Succeed," the event was led by Gracy Sarkissian, an NYU graduate who now works as the Assistant Director of the NYU Career Development Center and manages Employer Services for the university; she is also a Camp Nubar alumna. At the workshop, Sarkissian covered the essentials of writing resumes and preparing cover letters, and offered advice on how to give a top-notch interview. Nirva Aydin, a student at the School of Visual Arts, said, "The workshop was very informative because Gracy not only spoke about resumes, but also about how to have a successful interview. These two things are the most important part of getting a job, so getting this advice from someone with experience really helps young adults build their professional skills." On the heels of the rapid growth of social media and the recent release -- and subsequent success -- of the film "The Social Network," the second workshop took place on January 11, 2011, entitled "Embrace the Space." The networking seminar was run by Serge Kassardjian, who currently works in Google's New York operations. Kassardjian graduated from Stanford University, and holds an MBA from Harvard University. He is an alumnus of the New York Summer Intern Program, and he currently serves on its Advisory Committee. Kassardjian gave an informative, in-depth presentation on the ins and outs of the world of online professional and social networking. He discussed social websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and explained the profound impact these sites have on job searching and self-marketing. The Google executive also discussed proper email etiquette, which generated many questions from attending students. "The Internet is taking over the world, so you might as well know how to put yourself out there -- professionally, of course," said Raffi Babikian, a student at Baruch College. He continued, "Before the workshop, I only had Facebook, but now I'm working on my LinkedIn profile and plan on creating a Twitter account soon to help get my name out there. This seminar helped me see that these are great tools for networking and finding a job." Sarkissian and Kassardjian are just two of the thousands of young Armenians for whom AGBU has provided avenues for professional and social development and cultural enrichment. These young Armenians continue to give back to the organization and help AGBU restructure itself to address the global changes of the 21st century. The plan for the University Outreach Program going forward is to continue reaching out to as many students as possible, offering events that will allow them to grow professionally, network, and give them opportunities to participate in various summer programs AGBU has available. Please visit the AGBU University Outreach fan page on Facebook, facebook.com/agbuunioutreach, for more information.