Six months ago, this day seemed so far away, and now I am writing my last blog as an ANCA – WR intern. I remember the first time I came to the Western Region office for my interview. The office was empty when I walked in and I was so nervous, I thought I was going to faint. I met with the Executive Director, William Bairamian. As if I was not already intimidated enough by him we went into the giant conference room for the interview. After the interview, I was sure I didn’t get the internship, since I couldn’t answer some general knowledge questions. Apparently, I had answered some other questions correctly since I got the internship.

I have said before that I was never really involved in anything too Armenian and my parents disliked that. Now, they mention something that happened in Armenia and I give them a detailed report about it, since I have read about it from more than one news source. They are definitely very happy that I had the opportunity to do this internship.

Before I started working on this blog, I went back and scanned all of my blogs and I feel like what I wrote is just a small portion of what I have experienced at this internship. I have met so many people who are very smart and interesting. I have worked with different people and participated in countless events. Before I found out about the ANCA I did not know of any Armenian organization that does so much. This internship has given me the chance to learn a lot. There were times that I felt it was too much, but I decided to stay and follow through with my choices. I am already planning on what I will be doing with ANCA after I come back from Armenia.

There were so many events that I was able to participate in other than all the main ones I have written about. I have gone to so many festivals, parties, and community events that I lost count. I was of course working at the ANCA booth, but I was able to explore. Each event opened my eyes to what type of impact ANCA has in the community, but the most eye-opening event was the Telethon, because I was able to speak to donors. I got to speak to people who cared so much about the Armenian Cause that they were patiently calling in and donating money. Since the telethon was a nationwide event, there were more people working on event planning. For any other event that people participate in, there is only a handful of people who are planning it all. The small number of people working on events always shocked me. Now that I have had an insider’s point of view, all I can say is ANCA has so many dedicated staff and volunteers who make sure things get done. I am very glad to call myself one of ANCA’s volunteers.