What makes Armenia attractive to millennials? Why do they decide to repatriate, change their lifestyle and enjoy being in a long-term relationship with their homeland? Where do they study, work, and what impact can they have?

These questions and more were answered in Araz Kekejian’s interview, sharing her experience as a millennial repatriate from Beirut, Lebanon. She moved to Armenia in 2016 and is currently Project Manager at Repat Armenia’s partner bank, Ameriabank.

Born and raised in Lebanon, Araz graduated from Armenian school, while staying active in the Armenian community. She studied Computer Science at the Lebanese University and worked for different companies in the meantime. 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, we met an interesting repat from Russia; he’d traveled around the world and admired how Armenians in the Middle East felt that ownership, respected the responsibility of their heritage. Those from the West, however, in Europe and America, do not have the same sense of pride as per his observations. This is interesting to note. However, putting the emotional attachments aside, what is it that made you repatriate to Armenia? 

 

Yes, I have seen this as well. In Lebanon, while there is diversity, we consider ourselves Lebanese Armenian, always stressing our identity. In France, for example, you consider yourself French for the most part, not just a citizen of the country. Nobody will ask you where you come from there. You are French for those living around you as well. It is a very different culture. As for my moving, life occurs. I kept thinking that if I stay, the likelihood of meeting non-Armenians is much higher, falling in love with a non-Armenian is more likely, and changing the flow of my life would have been easy. I decided to try Birthright Armenia, coming to Armenia for a full year. I simply fell in love with the country.

The day I arrived was the beginning of something new, something different. I felt an energy, as if I was different. Of course, those feelings were not enough for me to just move. However, I’d left my job, was done with my studies, and Birthright Armenia had me buying a one-way ticket. I planned on staying for around ten months, but there were so many opportunities I came across in that time period that I began thinking about my future. What started off as a passion trip suddenly had the potential to construct the basis of the rest of my life. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was giving a workshop at Girls in Tech about data mining. It’s an amazing thing about Armenia that it’s so easy to connect with people. I started my workshop there and posted a photo, after which I was contacted and told my profile interested them very much. Soon, I was having a coffee with my current boss and HR specialist. It was a very informal meeting and it went great. Now, I’m a project manager. Currently working on a chatbot, as well as an NLP model which works in Armenian. Our key strategies are in Agile and data-driven projects. It’s more like a startup, working with Machine Learning developers, as well as Full-Stack. Interestingly enough, I was not originally planning on working for a bank; I come from an IT background. But now I know I’ve made the right choice, seeing how Ameriabank is oriented towards digital future. When I met Artyom Shamtsyan (Chief Innovation and Digital Officer), I really liked him as a person. I was really impressed by his experience as well as that of my team members.

Who you work with is extremely important and I felt welcome and involved form the very first day at Ameriabank; it’s so comfortable here, and my co-workers are so friendly and helpful. There are so many advantages here in terms of professional growth and development, flexibility of my schedule and the ability to improve the quality of my work. You will get help whenever you need it. Plus, I live only ten minutes away. I am happy at Ameriabank.