If I were to write the same article a few years ago, I would probably use a single case to illustrate the impact of ATC environment on my career. I use environment to integrate and incorporate not only teaching quality, but factors such as opportunity to meet the extraordinary people, apply knowledge in practical situations, and access the best teaching resources. This article is about that environment. A few snapshots from my own experience that I have learnt and experienced during two amazing years and afterwards. 

ATC is a product of a well planned project, which would not be possible without inspiration, motivation and hard work of the Armenian-American team. The institution which was developed since then, has hundreds graduates occupying superior positions at leading organizations in Armenia and abroad, and this is the best performance measurement for an educational institution. ATC graduates work for international organizations, multinational companies and financial institutions, where they advance their careers and receive above average competitive salaries. In the meantime, many students choose to advance their knowledge by continuing their education at the very best Universities in the world. For them ATC is unparallel foundation which facilitates their studies and position them in advantageous position.

I had a chance to be among the first graduates of the ATC. During my studies I had visited a few enterprises and agribusinesses in Georgia and Turkey. In addition, we were engaged in several activities such as research projects and organization of a variety of events such as conferences, tasting events and harvest festivals. Simultaneously I worked as computer lab supervisor. I had a chance to be taught by the very best local and visiting professors, who further on supported us in any undertaking. 

After graduating from ATC I have taken an extension team assistant and later on development project coordinator job with USDA Georgia. It was the first challenging job, where I had a chance to put my knowledge in action. Afterwards I have worked for the USDA project in Armenia, the Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development Foundation. I was appointed to the economist-marketing specialist’s position. This was a type of organization, where I had a chance to work with the best specialists in the field under excellent management. In 2010 I won a scholarship from the World Bank and went to advance my skills at University of Bristol.  

Currently I hold a position of investment and marketing manager at the Armenian Harvest Promotion Center and Monitoring and Evaluation adviser at the Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development foundation. At both organization I work with many ATC students and graduates I can surely say that any time I work with them; I know that I can delegate any responsible task. 

People normally feel happy when they enter a university. This was not the case with me when I was admitted to the Armenian Agricultural Academy (not the Armenian State Agrarian University). Moreover, I was upset about that and was looking for a way to be transferred to either the Yerevan State University or the Armenian State University of Economy. Fortunately, the transfer did not happen; my plans changed spontaneously after my first English class at the Academy, when the instructor told of the opportunity of upgrading our English language skills by taking English classes to be provided by an American instructor.

I am Vardan Vardanyan, an ATC graduate of 2005. Before moving to the ATC, I studied at the Armenian Agricultural Academy for four semesters and took dozens of subjects related to economics and agriculture. While this knowledge was a good start, I felt that I needed more knowledge to be in-tune with today’s evolving market economy and its new requirements. My doubts were waylaid very soon when I entered the Agribusiness Teaching Center. In the ATC, all the classes are given in English and the manuals and supporting materials are relevant to modern teaching, economics and business principles with an emphasis on ethical leadership, teamwork, creative problem solving, global perspectives and skillful applications of information technology.

Currently I work at HSBC Bank Armenia CJSC as a Business Banking Lending officer and I am in charge of attracting of new customers and managing of existing relationships by continuous portfolio monitoring, assessing and approving of customer creditworthiness and credit applications for medium and small enterprises.

In conclusion I would like to say that after obtaining education at the ATC and having successful career path at HSBC, one thing is very obvious for me now: lacking any kind of international capabilities can greatly hinder someone’s career in the long run. Therefore, the ATC is the best start to gain exposure, insight, knowledge and hands-on experience within a mature, real-life work environment, in order to ultimately face the career challenges and obstacles very easily.

 

 

I am Marina Safaryan, representative of the ‘first generation’ of the ATC. After my two years of studying Accountancy and Audit at the Armenian Agricultural Academy (not the Armenian State Agrarian University) I understood that there should be more interest and more precise content added to the years of my university study. How could I achieve this without doing much harm to the profession that I had already chosen?

 

The chance came all of a sudden: for the first time in the history of the Agricultural Academy, the Rector’s Office provided the best 2-nd year students the opportunity to simultaneously receive the second specialty in the newly opened Agribusiness Teaching Center. It was thrilling to study agribusiness and marketing in a totally different, promising environment with a U.S. curriculum, in English, a totally different student evaluation system and with instructors from the US. And there was even a definite risk involved.

 

This was how I became an ATC student back in 2000.  The two years in the ATC were difficult ones. Learning many chapters from the textbook instead of the usual lecture writing, weekly, midterm and final exams, quizzes, discussions during the classes, homeworks, and team debates were constituent parts of our ATC life, each of these making up some percentage of our final GPA. All this was making us to soberly and dynamically go forward in our study since we understood that each step is a part of the next step. Thus we forgot about trying to become a specialist by only listening to lectures. Reading the up-to-date textbooks, together with other forms of independent work is a student’s today’s input in his or her own future. The ATC makes you pursue and reach more than you could imagine before coming to here. The knowledge and experience acquired at the ATC provide the opportunity to successfully start a career or continue your education in leading U.S. and European universities.

 

I am now working as an accountant with the Grant Thornton AMIOT LLC whish is one of the leading companies in Armenia in the field of audit and business consultancy. My position gives me the opportunity to work with several agencies simultaneously. I have stable knowledge and skills in marketing and management. I communicate freely in English and have an excellent command of different computer software.

 By Ani Movsisyan

 

There are quotes that inspire many, quotes by which people live and which represent wisdom and experience of centuries and lifetimes; there are also quotes, which stem from a certain experience. I learned this particular saying during one of the international events that I took part in and I found it very profound. The reason I started my ATC story with this sentence is because it is very much related to what the ATC is about. 

 

I represent the ATC Graduate Class of 2006. Doing my final year at high school I was determined to major in economics and while preparing for state admission exams I was introduced to a unique educational institution that partnered with an American university, offered western type of education in agribusiness and marketing, classes in English and modern teaching methods. The idea appealed to me instantly and that is where I found myself a few years later – in the Agribusiness Teaching Center. 

 

Embarking on the educational journey, the ATC has been shaping us along the way preparing and armoring us for our destination. Through its highly-qualified professors, rich and up-to-date curriculum, new and interesting approach to lecturing and teaching, designed to make study process more informative and engrossing, computer lab, weekly seminars, field trips, internships organized both locally and abroad, the career center, the ATC unveiled many opportunities for our self-actualization and armed us with highly valuable knowledge and skills much needed in the modern fast-paced job market. We learned to work as a team, to utilize our knowledge to the best of our abilities. We also learned that hardworking pays off and that theory without a sound practical experience is analogous to a leaking barrel. Unless you strengthen the theoretical baggage of knowledge with practical exposure, unless you give a student a chance to apply information absorbed from the lectures during internships or team projects or in any other way, the barrel of knowledge will not be sustainable. That is what the ATC has given to us – a deeply harbored educational base instilled with practice. 

 

I am currently employed with the Cafesjian Museum Foundation, which aims at developing a world-class international museum of art and a cultural center in Yerevan, Armenia. Representing all mediums of art in its impressive permanent collection and appealing traveling exhibitions, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts aims to “bring the best of the world to Armenia, and, present the best of Armenia to the world.” By maintaining its unique identity while bringing art from around the world, the Cafesjian Center for the Arts opens a new channel of communication between the public and art in Armenia. (www.cmf.am) 

 

I also serve as a member of the Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Alumni Europe organization (www.ja-ye.org), which similar to the ATC Alumni Association unites together the JA-YE graduates from all over Europe. Spearheading the creation of a JA-YE Alumni Association in Armenia, I similarly acknowledge and value the role that we as ATC graduates can play in further development and prosperity of the ATC through networking and keeping our contacts alive. Each one of more than two hundred graduates that ATC gave in eight years since its establishment have a different story to tell. The ways they perceived and experienced this unique cultural institution, which is one-of-a-kind in Armenia, may be different, however everybody is united by the strong bonds of family feelings, appreciation and ways of giving that we associate with our ATC. The ATC became a remarkable milestone for us. 

 

I will conclude my essay with another saying that I have been exposed to: “Coming together is a beginning… Keeping together is progress… Working together is success!”