Paris Summer Intern Program Successfully Wraps Up Its 7th Season

From the beginning of July until mid-August, 12 students of Armenian descent from Armenia, Canada, France, Russia and the United States came together to participate in the 2009 Paris Summer Intern Program (PSIP). The program, which is concluding its seventh season, is a unique experience for students who are able to expand their professional knowledge and learn about their Armenian identity through special events, lectures and outings coordinated by PSIP staff.

This year's students worked at a number of leading French institutions, including Association Française de la Relation Client, France Loisirs, Institut Supérieur des Métiers, Grant Thornton, Groupement Interprofessionnel International Arménien, Kalayciyan Architects, Lefèvre Pelletier & Associates, Musée d'Orsay, Pierre and Marie Curie University, and Radio France Internationale.

During the summer, students met with Hovhannes Guevorkian of the Representation of the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh in Paris, who discussed the political fault lines in the Caucasus; historian and author Claude Mutafian, who spoke about Armenian history; and professor, historian and director of the AGBU Nubarian Library Raymond Kevorkian, who addressed recent efforts at Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. Interns also had the opportunity to visit the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia in Paris, where they met with General Consul Vahe Vahramyan and Diplomatic Attaché Ara Mkrtchyan.

In addition to lectures, PSIP-organized events and activities strengthened the networking and social component of the Paris program. Students attended a reception organized in their honor at the Alex Manoogian Cultural Center, where they were welcomed by AGBU Europe Chairman Alexis Govciyan. The students also spent time with AGBU Youth members, who showed the interns around Paris, while giving them a taste of daily life in the French capital. Among the landmarks visited were the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, Versailles, and two sites in Normandy (Trouville-sur-Mer and Honfleur).

Students lived in the Maison des Étudiants Arméniens, which is a residence hall created in 1928 by AGBU's first president Boghos Nubar. Since its founding, the building has housed several generations of international Armenian college students who arrive in Paris to complete their post-secondary education.

Business student and PSIP participant Hayek Harutyunyan, who interned at the French Association for Client Relations, acknowledged that leaving home allowed him to "understand the challenge of preserving your Armenian identity outside of Armenia, and the effort it takes to keep it." Sveta Ohyanyan, a student of Roman philology, interned at the Musée d'Orsay, where she was "very happy to be working a prestigious museum and greatly improve my French, especially spoken French." Aren Manoukian, a biomedical science student at the University of Montreal, interned at the Pierre and Marie Curie University. The program, he said, gave him an incredible opportunity to work hands-on in a laboratory with fellow researchers.

Every summer, PSIP director Zarouhi Odabashian sees the formative experience PSIP can be. "An internship allows students to affirm their career choice and helps them position themselves in their area of specialty," she said.

After a successful session, AGBU's Paris Summer Intern Program is already preparing for an exciting 8th year in 2010. For more information, visit students.agbueurope.org/psip.

Sponsored by AGBU France District, the AGBU Paris Summer Intern Program (students.agbueurope.org/psip) was established in 2003, placing young aspiring Armenians in seven-week internships working for leading organizations in Paris.