“Are we heroes now?” This is the question that the Visual Armenia Development Foundation remembers Yura Manucharyan by, a student from Rubik Baghdasaryan Secondary School in Zovuni.

In 2023, Yura’s school won the “Smart-Boards for Worldview Schools” competition. He and his school friends carried out a project and became heroes by equipping their school with the latest technology.

However, Yura’s journey with “Worldview” began much earlier; since 2022, he has been using the “Worldview” platform daily, gaining new knowledge and inspiring friends with his curiosity.

Yura, who aspires to become a leader of the country, is currently engaged in “diplomatic” activities. He is a student ambassador for “Worldview.” Yura is confident that one day the platform will gain recognition worldwide, making his country known as well. He enthusiastically states that he will do everything for this purpose.

Yura says that “Worldview” has changed a lot in his life. Especially while working on projects in his hometown and surrounding areas with his friends, they discovered so many new things about the country’s historical and cultural monuments that they might not have known if they hadn’t conducted such in-depth research.

This is not the only additional value; he says that their friendship has changed and matured: “Through this entire process, I understood what friendship, collaboration, mutual support, and rejoicing in each other’s successes mean. As a result, I grew to love them even more. Collaborative work unites people; we are looking in the same direction,” says our ambassador-interviewee.

Yura was particularly impressed by his acquaintance with Hovhannes Ghazaryan, the Director of the Visual Armenia Development Foundation and the Founder of the innovative educational platform “Worldview,” at his school. The next meeting was during the certificate award ceremony for the competition victory. Recently, Yura was also hosted by the Foundation. The student says that Hovhannes Ghazaryan is a role model for him, and he has decided to also try his hand in the field of education and science in the future.

“After winning the Smart-board competition, I also met Mr. Ghazaryan at another event. He approached our student group, got to know our project, and wrote his opinion about our work. We were very inspired. I want Mr. Ghazaryan to support me and other students and be with us during various initiatives,” says Yura, noting that he will do everything expected of him to make the Foundation’s contributions to the education sector effective for himself and his friends.

Yura mentions that students do not need much to learn well—just to focus during the lesson, respect the teacher, be honest, and have the opportunity to learn with innovative educational tools and content. He wants all learners in every corner of Armenia to have equal educational opportunities and live in a peaceful country.