Stella Alexanyan

Nationality: Armenian
Living in: Abovyan, Armenia
Programmes: ILP 2011, ALP 2012, Kitchen ILP 2013

"An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward."

After leaving all the success I had in my country I moved to a foreign country where sometimes the feeling of being nobody provokes even the strongest soul. In a new place everything is so different: new education experience, strangers in the street, new friends, different lifestyle. This always sounds exciting and in the beginning it is really so, then gradually I become a part of that “new”, finding surprisingly that I belonged amidst the inescapable nostalgia for my country and my past. 

Now, standing on the verge of new changes- finishing education and trying to find the right place for me to show my potential, I am scared. I guess the feeling of fear always accompanies changes. And right there, where everything seems not in the right places, I can access something that I call Joker- it is my experience with WYSE. It is so surprising how the positive emotions and thoughts I gained from an amazing community can really lead me even long after the programs. Being involved in many international programs and getting to know different people from all over the world WYSE always has special place in my life. 

All the practical skills I have learnt during WYSE programs, even cooking for 50 people have been so helpful. I use them in my daily life and I am so proud that many things I am able to do are because during the programs my WYSE family helped me to reveal my potential. Even now, with this fear in my heart and mind for the coming changes, I feel confidence that everything will be all right. It takes a moment to close my eyes to remember all the wonderful people I met during the program and everything I learnt from them, and then I am sure that my present situation is not my final destination.