Hatred. The dictionary defines it as; intense dislike or extreme aversion or hostility. It is a word that we are told not to use as children.  Although it is a feeling we constantly experience, as adults we are expected to suppress it and move on with our lives. In a world where political power is often measured by military strength, hatred can become an avid part of our lives, whether we like it or not.

There are countless reasons as to why people hate each other. In my personal experience I have been hated for being Armenian, for being “too opinionated” and for many other reasons. As a child, I was taught by my parents to ignore it; however, the “opinionated” side of me instinctively wants to retaliate, especially when it is hatred towards my heritage.

As I grew older, I learned to develop my own way of dealing with other people’s negativity. One thing that has helped me is constantly remembering a quote by Winston Churchill which reads,  “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” Remembering this important message, I try to channel my negative feelings towards hatred and use them as a strengthening mechanism. No matter what anyone says at the end of the day, when I look in the mirror, I want to feel good about myself regardless of other people’s opinions.

The reason I chose to write this blog entry about hared is because, last week, my fellow intern’s post was met with a great deal of negative; as well as, positive criticism from the Armenian public. Although some of the hate mail was pointless, some hit home as well. I saw in front of my eyes how simple words can potentially affect someone’s life. I may be young and relatively naive, but I always assumed that since we Armenians are a minority, we should try our hardest to stick together. Instead of putting up barriers within our own culture. The majority of American Armenians that were not born here and immigrated, did so in order to seek a better education and overall live better lives with our families. However, I do not see the point in taking this hard step if we do no use all the things America has taught us for the betterment of ourselves and our culture. I chose to do this internship because I believe that it will help me not only connect with my culture, but also learn how to stand unified with fellow Armenians. We need to stand united as a people in order to have one STRONG voice throughout the world.

Although hatred will never be fully diminished, we can try to lessen to the best of our abilities. Every person is entitled to his or her own opinion. Disagreements or differing points of views are not valid excuses to hate someone. We are supposed to be a civilized society and yet every chance people get they are inclined to hatefully lash out instead of living and letting others live as well.