A 17-year-old girl from Marts village of Lori, passionate about physics and math, says she might build a robot one day. Meet Mariam Khachatryan, one of the oldest “inhabitants” of our COAF SMART Center. 

If Mariam builds a robot, it would be a trash-collecting one. “If the waste lying on street roads was collected by a robot on a daily basis it would significantly ease people’s lives,” she says, standing on a road in her home village and picturing that process in her mind. 

The novelties she got acquainted with during the SMART Mechanics program have given her new ideas for her village. For instance, the use of technology in agriculture. “In Marts, most people still don’t use modern technology in gardening,” says Mariam, thinking that expanded use will facilitate physical activity and increase efficiency.

Just like many of her agemates, Mariam is still in search of a future profession. “To be honest, every time I finish a program at SMART, I decide to pursue that field in the future, and it keeps changing,” she says. 

During her three-year journey at SMART, she learned Chinese, got acquainted with traditional drawing, performing arts, yoga, and her favorite field, engineering. The Chinese program has broken many stereotypes about China in her․ Painting has taught her to be free, performing arts — to quickly assimilate with her teammates, learning yoga — to manage fear and not avoid poses that seem difficult to her. The “journey” goes on․․․