Harutun Kevorkian
BY MARY NAJARIAN
In the 1940s, life was tough in Aleppo Syria, and to support a family of seven, both my father and my mother had to work. My father worked two shifts so that we would be able to go to school. Many children in the neighborhood did not go to school because their parents could not afford the tuition. My siblings and I were the lucky ones.
My father was self-educated, and highly valued the importance of learning. As an eleven-year-old boy, he survived the genocide under the most inhumane and unspeakably horrible conditions. His goal in life was to make sure, his children had a better life than he had. He believed that education paved the way to a better life.
Even though my parents could not give us much in material things, they were very generous in gifting us invaluable advice. My father was adamant in not only giving us advice, but also in making sure that we took it.
There are two, distinct, memorable of my father’s advice that I still carry in my heart and in my mind.
1. “Every day you must learn something new.â€
