What Yerevan’s Youth Are Thinking

Armenuhi Yeganyan

ImYerevan.com recently hit the streets to compile this photo series demonstrating some of the hopes and dreams Yerevan’s younger generation. The answers reveal a wide range of answers, both silly – like marrying Kate Moss – and heartfelt – like hoping for a kinder world. But what really impressed us was that no one we talked to seemed to be interested in being, as Bruno Mars so eloquently puts it, “a millionaire, so freakin’ bad.”

There is often a saying in big cities: “The city doesn't sleep because money doesn't sleep.” We're not exactly sure where that quote is from, but it’s pretty reasonable to expect that, in a city like Yerevan where money always seems to be an issue, asking young people “What is your biggest dream?” is a dangerous question. While some of the answers we got certainly require money to become reality, it was clear that money was not the only objective.

One girl dreamt of traveling the world. Another, to dance salsa. A third hoped to one day learn how to swim, while another, to see what sushi tastes like in Japan, rather than on the streets of Yerevan. Often, we keep silent about these kinds of dreams for the future because we wonder how they will be received by the rest of society.

We at team ImYerevan like to approach these matters a bit philosophically, if you don’t mind. We remind ourselves about the Roman philosopher Cicero, who said there is no greater achievement than an indifference of money, which should be spent only on developing kindness. We feel inspired by the young people in Yerevan and we hope that they continue to prove to us money should not form the basis of all of our hopes and dreams.