Sirarpi was one of the first students to be admitted to Ayb School in 2011, when the school building wasn’t even ready yet. Our first-generation graduate, however, clearly remembers the admission procedure, the school website as well as the first media clips and booklets.
We have learned to pursue our dreams
Sirarpi confesses that she captivated the admission committee with her aspirations and dreams. “During the admission interview they asked me of the dream I had. I said I was going to own an airline company. Ayb is unique in a sense that they would never discourage us; quite on the contrary, they encouraged us to dream big and believed in us. However, after the war, I realized that all our goals and dreams had to be hereinafter adjusted to serve the benefit of our homeland. We should all w
ork hard to be useful to our country.”
We have learned to work
“Right from the first day, when we came to school and met the founders and benefactors, we, the 14-year-olds, were surprised to be treated like grown-ups and talked to as equals. At the same time, we learned to be disciplined and responsible at Ayb, not to avoid workload or fear new challenges. It was probably one of the reasons why I started working right from the first year at university. By the time of my graduation, I had already accrued 4 years of experience at various organizations and had the confidence that I could start my own business—a small, but a private one.”
Today, Sirarpi is a co-founder and executive director of Reezalt Creative Labs that specializes in digital marketing. The two-year old company has 10 employees, over 1
00 partner organizations, lorg-term expansion plans and a clear vision.
The mentor graduate; taking over the founders’ mission
Being one of the first mentees of Ayb’s mentorship program, Sirarpi is a mentor today. “I have two mentees within this program, and it is noteworthy that one of them is my mentor’s daughter. I regularly keep in touch with them; we call each other and discuss various topics.”
The first Aybian family
She says Ayb is like a big community family. It’s remarkable that the story of Sirarpi’s own little family started from Ayb. She met her husband Allen at school, dated him during school and university years; they established a company together and finally got married. In view of the mentioned, it is no mere coincidence that they chose Ayb School for their wedding photoshoot as well.