Mher Yerznkanyan (CS ‘20) spent his military service in the D-20 platoon in the Martakert region as the commander’s assistant, helping with calculations, artillery and radio communication. When the war started, he felt his future slip away.
“All my plans vanished when we all understood that a serious battle had started,” said Mher. “On April 5, my parents thought I had been killed because they read about the death of a soldier who had a similar name.”
After completing his time in the army, Mher returned to AUA to continue his education, where he felt welcomed by everyone, from the instructors to his classmates, especially during the special reception “Banaki Qef.” Although it took some time for him to get back into the mindset of a student, he feels he has grown professionally and personally by studying at AUA. He followed in the footsteps of his parents, a network administrator and a programmer, and is pursuing computer science. Last summer, Mher started a startup called Smarty Green, which won the Climate Teck Hackathon, and he also participated in Digitech Expo, Sevan Startup Summit and Web Summit.
For him, AUA is a large community of smart and courageous people who are not afraid of challenges.
“Because of my scholarship, I can concentrate on my education and one day help Armenia,” said Mher. “I cannot imagine myself living in another country since Armenia is my motherland and there is a lot of work to be done here.”