My Private Armenian School (Fall 07)

by Mary Etmekjian

Where will you send your kids to school? The pros and cons of Armenian Private School are important to consider when it comes to preparing for a career in a higher institute of learning.

Regardless of where an Armenian child receives their education, they will flourish as an Armenian-American if determination, persistence, and the Armenian spirit have been properly instilled within that individual by their parents.

My name is Mary Etmekjian and I have attended a private Armenian School since I learned how to walk.

As a resident of Hollywood, Rose and Alex Pilibos was a convenient, safe, and proper place for me to receive my education.

There, in addition, to receiving the proper curriculum appropriate for my age, I learned how to read, write and speak Armenian fluently. More importantly, I experienced the Armenian American culture in ways that were supplementary to my experiences at home.

As great as this may seem, the flip side must also be considered. Sometimes I felt as though I was receiving a second class education at a hefty private school price.

Unfortunately private Armenian schools do not always have the luxury to pick and choose qualified teachers from a large pool of candidates.

Some teachers were outstanding, while others were under-qualified. Some teachers stuck around for decades, leaving a legacy, while others came and went with the seasons.

A common argument against private school is that students are sheltered in a bubble that does not prepare the student to the outside world. When that bubble pops, the student falls on his or her face and needs a crash course on life.

This is not entirely true. In a sense, the small size of a private Armenian school is one of its greatest features. Allow me to elaborate.

The size of my graduating class was 63. Yes, I know what you are thinking since most of you had graduating classes closer to 10 times larger than mine.

However, the 63 people I graduated with were not only my classmates, or my friends, but rather, most were family. Many of us had seen each other every day for at least 6 years.

This close knit family we belonged to served as a support system. It allowed me to learn how to voice my opinions, taught me how to become a leader, and how to care for others and to be cared for.

It is true that this was not representative of the world outside of Rose and Alex Pilibos, however, the experiences at my second home was a stepping stone to the real world.

Learning how to be social, how to lead, and how to speak my mind in a small group of people that cared for me was like learning how to ride a bike with training wheels.

Without the training wheels I could have fallen and decided to never ride a bike again.

What people consider the biggest flaw of Armenian Private Schools should be considered one of the greatest strengths.