MELKONIAN – A PART OF MY SOUL

When I first heard the news about Melkonian, the first thing roaming through my mind was, this cannot be happening. I could not believe my own ears, who in their right state of mind could terminate such a precious asset to the Armenian community?

Melkonian has from its birth brought the Armenian youth together, trying to maintain the Armenian spirit, despite the many atrocities it has faced. Melkonian has throughout its nearly 80 years aimed to bring youths world-wide together to provide a home and an education. How can one put a price on this gift we, as Armenians, have been so fortunate to receive?

I have shared the fate of many young Armenians, who due to their location have not had the opportunity to become enriched with the Armenian culture. Melkonian has contributed in changing many lives including my own.

In Denmark, it is hard to pass on Armenian values to your children while trying to adapt to a foreign country.

My parents had a wish to send me to Melkonian at the age of 11. But it didn’t materialise, we even went to Cyprus, but I was too young and refused. Years flew by and a good friend of mine, who does not possess any Armenian blood, but related to Armenians by marriage, took the initiative to attend Melkonian in 1997. I was surprised, amazed, impressed and not to mention embarrassed. This guy, who has Scandinavian roots, who had been raised with such a different culture went to attend Melkonian!

He came back during Christmas break and I was extremely curious to know everything about it, so I practically attacked him with questions such as what was it like living there? What are the people like? How is the educational system? Where did people come from? How strict is it? How does it differ from what we are familiar to?

The only thing he could do was praise Melkonian, and everything he said was so positive. Due to all the wonderful things he stated about Melkonian, I figured, why not give it a chance?

At the time I was about to graduate from 10th grade, which is the last grade here in Denmark, and I was perplexed, since there were so many things I wanted to do, but could not make a final decision. In addition to that I did not know who I was. I mean I knew I was half Assyrian and half Armenian. But what does that consist of? I was probably more Danish than any of the above, but among my friends I was different in some sense. I had very few Armenian friends, due to the lack of Armenians. Sure there were Armenian lessons every Friday for 2 hours, but as I recall, there would always be a number of disagreements on who was going to teach us Armenian, due to the dialect issue, we Armenians have to deal with. Therefore Armenian school was sporadic for many years, and people hardly came.

I was in a stage of my life, where I had to locate my identity. I wanted some answers. And the only way I could do that was to be surrounded by my own people, and obviously that was not going to take place in Denmark.

The following year, 1998, at the age of 16, I commenced my journey along with my parents, again. But this time with the intentions of staying.

We arrived approximately one week before school would start. We stayed in a hotel in Larnaca called the “Kition” hotel. From the minute we entered with the rest of the Danish group, the receptionist took a look at our passports and asked: “Touk Hay ek?” All 3 of us could not believe what we heard. The Danish guide could not comprehend what was going on and kept asking; “What language are you speaking?” The receptionist just replied; “A language you don’t understand!”

I guess fate works in mysterious ways; apparently this hotel was built and managed by Armenians. The following evening, my parents and I went to the bar upstairs to enjoy a drink and talk about how we were going to approach this. To our surprise the bartender in the bar was a fellow “Melkoniantsi”, who had graduated in 1979. He introduced us to a group of young people sitting at another table, who were all “Melkoniantsis.” They came over and introduced themselves, they were so kind, polite and open-minded, nothing like I had expected they would be.

I was a bit sceptical, since I did not know what to expect and how to react, and on top of that I missed Denmark. But I must say I was positively surprised.

The following day we went to Nicosia to see the school and take care of all the practical things. A friend of my father’s came with us, he was familiar with the school. It was strange being back there again, after 5 years, although nothing seemed familiar. This sweet and funny woman showed us around and my first impression was not good, since it was nothing like what I was used to seeing in Denmark, but I kept it to myself. Then I saw that friend of mine talking with his friends, he came and asked my opinion and the only thing I could say was: “This will be a year worth experiencing.”

We returned to Larnaca in the evening and the following day we were invited by one of the girls, we had met the previous evening. I was looking forward to it.

They took us with open arms, and they were exceptionally hospitable. The girl was so sweet and I guess she could feel how nervous I was, so she started showing me pictures from the school and her friends and telling me about life there. It was wonderful. When we were about to leave, she said all the “noregs” (newcomers) at the school get appointed to an older sister or brother, she said: “If you want you can tell them to assign me to be your sister” It warmed my heart. And to this day, we still consider each other as being sisters. That is an immeasurable feeling to have, when one is an only child.

The days passed by so quickly, and before I had a chance to look around, I had moved in to a room in dormitories, and was almost ready to start in my new class. My initial roommates were a girl from Bulgaria and one from the States. It did not take long before my roommate from the States and me mingled. Our mothers were there cleaning our rooms telling us not to be sad. We were both “noregs” and felt the same way.

We ended up in the same grade, due to our lousy skills in math, even though we were both convinced we would be placed in a higher grade. Despite all the moving, changing roommates and begging the supervisor, we eventually also ended up with a room of our own.

We did not take long to establish new friendships with the pupils at school and in the dormitories. And it also did not take a long amount of time before we realised that we could not live our lives like we had back home.

Being an only child, this was a radical change for me. But adapting to it was not an issue. Having all these new “sisters” and “brothers” and knowing we stood together and were always there for each other not even with a minute distance was an astonishing experience. And the fact that we all came from different backgrounds made it both educational and interesting.

No need to point out that I discovered I was more Danish than I thought. And whenever there would be discussions about Armenia and Armenians I was not able to participate due to my lack of knowledge. I remember once, I was in the process of reading “The diary of Anne Frank”, and my above mentioned roommate disappointedly looked at me and took the book out of my hand and told me: “You don’t know about your own people and culture and you are reading about others?” She gave me her “bible”, Peter Balakian’s, “Black Dog of Fate” And I started reading it. It filled me with sadness, rage and happiness. Sad due to all the hardships Armenians had faced, rage, because I had not been told about it, and happiness, since she forced me to read about it, and I will be forever grateful.

That book inspired me to read more about Armenian history and as a result I ended up writing my final history project in college in Denmark about the Armenian Genocide, 2 years later. This was partially due to the fact I wanted to know more and because I felt the need to do it for my own sake.

Attending Melkonian for merely a year made a significant difference in my perception of life, and how I have chosen to carry it on. Melkonian has equipped me with all the necessary tools I need to face the future. Melkonian is not only an institute of academic development, but also a place where you experience personal development on several levels. Although Melkonian is a world of its own with limited place, you will be surprised at how much knowledge and experience you gain from living within the society of Melkonian.

It has taught me my language, my culture and the sense of belonging. Furthermore the encounter with Melkonian has showed me the value of lifelong friendships with people world-wide and most importantly located my identity as an Armenian – and a proud one.

The friendships created within the walls of Melkonian are not like any friendships I have experienced. The bond between us is tremendously strong; the reasons for this are many. We have experienced each other intensely in every thinkable situation, which has created a large understanding among us and brought us closer together. Every year Melkoniantsis get together world-wide, whenever they have the chance they arrange to meet.

I was recently in the States, where I was so fortunate to meet my old roommate, and an old classmate and a girl that graduated the year I was in Melkonian. Even though years had passed since we had met, we had matured and started a new journey in our lives. But in the presence of Melkoniantsis it was like it had always been, the same jokes, and it was like we picked up where we had left off. No matter where in the world you go, if you encounter a fellow “Melkoniantsi” it brings about an indescribable feeling. Even though you are not familiar with the person in front of you, a special bond occurs, namely having attended Melkonian. No matter what location, generation or what living standard you belong to, Melkoniantsis around the world make us one big happy family, who will always be there for one another regardless.

Cyprus has always been a sphere of interest and thus very eligible to the majority of nations within the Middle East, due to its location and its many resources. Being right in the centre of 3 continents, the location of Melkonian could not have been in a more appropriate place. Where in the world can Armenian schools receive so much support from a government like Melkonian has obtained in Cyprus? And who will trust their children to a less safer place than Cyprus? Where is such an interior freedom to be found?

There is a lot to be said about Melkonian both positive and negative. But in this case the advantages prevail over the disadvantages. All the shortcomings that are claimed Melkonian has in the present can be improved in time and with effort. It should certainly not be characterised as a foundation for the closure of such an extraordinary institute of both academic and personal education. And what about those, whose lives were practically saved, when Melkonian commenced its journey? How will you explain taking this away from them?

Practically five years have passed as I sit here reminiscing about my year in Melkonian. I still feel as if it was yesterday. My feelings for that school are so unbelievably powerful and they will never fade away due to what I experienced during my stay and how I keep visiting Cyprus on every given opportunity and the outcome of all the established friendships.

What about those who have spent five, six or even more years there? Or worked there for several years? How can I put myself in their shoes? And how can the AGBU possibly make such a drastic decision? Isn’t the AGBU supposed to think in the best interest of the Armenian communities?

I hope by reading these words you will reconsider the future of Melkonian and thus not make irreparable choices. You owe it to the young Armenians spread around the world!

Alice Torkomian, Denmark, Attended Melkonian 1998-1999