Invest in Nare's future at UMN!

"If something goes wrong, fix your ponytail and try again."

Hi, I am Nare Galstyan

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved to play soccer. In those days, I truly believed that the boys in my neighborhood would let me play with them if I tried hard enough, but they rarely did. As I’ve grown older and faced more and more discrimination based on my gender, I’ve started to see how many harmful gender stereotypes surround us and do not allow us to speak up for our rights as women. These stereotypes put both women and men under pressure and push them away from creating a positive future for themselves. Ever since my youth, even just trying to play soccer as a young girl, I have been doing everything to fight against discrimination and human rights-related issues here in my home country of Armenia.

For the past years, I have made it my mission to improve the civic education and communication available to young people in Armenia. That’s what inspired me to get my bachelor's degree in Intercultural Communication at Brusov State University. I mainly had an excellent educational experience, but even living in the 21st century, where we expect democracy and equality, I still kept hearing ideas such as “women are not as smart as men.” I saw that gender inequality, discrimination, and human rights violations still have abysmally deep roots in our society. So, I realized that I needed to receive a better education to achieve more impactful results.

Having a voice to speak up and share my opinions is extremely important. That has been the motivation behind many organizations I have been involved with, such as working with the rural nonprofit organization Children of Armenia Fund (COAF). This is where I participated in debates about finding solutions to discrimination and other problems in Armenia. Due to my community service work and academic achievements for two years in a row, I received scholarships from COAF to cover 100% of my tuition at Brusov State University. Moreover, working as an intern at UNICEF helped me understand how many children here suffer from domestic violence and that the government does little to help them.

Without enormous efforts from people who see the problems, I know that discrimination and human rights violations will persist as the accepted norm. That is why I was filled with hope when I received my acceptance letter from The University of Minnesota to pursue my master's degree in Human Rights. I chose the University of Minnesota because I am offered a chance to deeply study human rights and be prepared to face complex challenges and overcome them through this program.

I have worked two jobs throughout my academic career while keeping my academic records high and participating in different programs and initiatives to fight for human rights and women’s empowerment. Unfortunately, the differences between developed-developing worlds make it difficult for me to continue the journey alone. Now more than ever, I need your help to make this journey of learning and exploring possible. I am currently receiving a scholarship that covers 50% of my tuition. All the donations made here will be used to cover living expenses, books, and other university-related expenses.

I truly feel even the smallest actions can bring about significant change; for example, after being rejected by the boys in my village, I created my own all-girls soccer team that played more than ten games against teams from other villages. After that, I started to see a shift in how our girls were treated in my village. The change I saw gave me hope, and made me feel that with the right educational background to pursue it, I would be able to create even more positive change for my community and Armenia.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who will donate, share, and even read this till the end.

Thank you!

Nare Galstyan

For information on UMN please visit: https://twin-cities.umn.edu/