Ten years ago, I was living a completely different life...

02:24:00 01.09.2025

Ten years ago, I was living a completely different life. I had just graduated with a master’s degree from the Physics Department at California State University and was continuing to teach physics at both college and university levels as an adjunct professor. I mostly interacted with foreigners and mostly spoke English (my Armenian was poor at the time, and the overwhelming majority of Armenian-Americans communicate with each other in English). Although I somehow managed to cover my expenses, I was living a relatively carefree life. My path was open to using my knowledge and abilities to advance both an academic career and work in scientific institutions. Yet, in reality, I was not happy; deep down, I felt that this was not the path I was meant to follow. I sensed that fate had something entirely different prepared for me.

I had long realized that one day I would have to leave my birthplace, California, and move to Armenia, and I felt that that moment was gradually approaching. I just didn’t know how I would do it, since I had neither family, a home, relatives, nor friends in Armenia. I had only saved enough money to buy a dilapidated small house on the outskirts of Yerevan and gradually renovate it—which is exactly what I did. I was convinced deep down that I had an important mission to fulfill in Armenia. Yet I could not explain it to anyone, because it didn’t make logical sense. For that reason, almost everyone misunderstood and criticized my decision. But I understood that I could not betray my inner voice. I did not want to spend my entire life full of regret and emptiness. At the end of 2015, I decided that I must take this crucial step, and the April Four-Day War the following year only confirmed that my inner voice was right. At that moment, I realized I had made the right decision and was on the right path. For that reason, I left my job (also turning down good job offers), and in November of the same year (2016), I bought a one-way ticket and moved to Armenia for permanent residence, beginning my journey into the “unknown.”

Ten years have now passed since I made that decision, and I do not regret it at all, despite having gone through military service, disappointments, betrayals, deceit, war, and many other hardships. That arduous path has strengthened my will and made my faith in my mission unwavering. It was from that struggle that the movement was born, which I founded three years ago alone, without any help, as an unknown repatriate and ordinary soldier, and which I continue to lead today. This only reinforces the confidence within me that our struggle will one day achieve victory.

At that time, I heard the call of the land, and with each passing year, its meaning becomes clearer to me…

#SicParvisMagna #FortisFortunaAdiuvat