My name is Hasmik, which is the Armenian name for Jasmine. I graduated from Utah Valley University (UVU) in hospitality management, and I’m an academic advisor in the Woodbury School of Business (WSB) at UVU. The best part about my job is helping students like me to navigate through the university experience. Sometimes students just need a small push and guidance from someone to know they can succeed. I live for the feeling I get when someone graduates after I’ve helped them overcome their challenges. Moments like those make me reflect with gratitude on my own life journey and experiences at UVU.

I was born in 1991 in Artashat, Armenia, the year the Soviet Union collapsed, and grew up in a small village. My dad lost his job when I was born because our country faced devastating financial consequences after the Soviet Union fell. Armenia had to create its own currency which caused the value of the money to go down. Lacking sufficient funding, a lot of companies laid off a sizable number of their employees. My dad and his cousin started a small business, while my mom worked as a teacher, which did not pay well. Their jobs didn't bring in enough money for food, so we started to grow our own vegetables and fruit in our yard. With two children — my brother and me — our family was always struggling for money.

Despite living in poverty, I was always a happy kid. I never felt there was a problem or that we were poor, since almost everyone was. Now I realize how hard it must have been for my parents to raise and provide for their children. When I was in third and fourth grade, I attended an elementary school where my mom worked and started ballroom dance lessons, which led to my passion for dance.

When I was 11 years old, my parents decided to move to Moscow, Russia because my dad found a job in a construction company there. Before moving to Russia, they decided to visit my dad’s aunt in Moldova, a small country in the middle of Europe between Romania and Ukraine, for a couple of weeks. She offered to take care of my brother and me so my dad could go to Russia on his own and work for a few months, save money, and then move us there. Unexpectedly, my dad’s new job ended up not working out, so we stayed in Moldova. Living there was a difficult transition for me and my brother for the first three to four years. People speak Russian and Romanian there, and we knew a little Russian and no Romanian. My parents put us in a Russian school, and there we were able to learn Romanian and English as well.

Having darker skin, Moldovans called me “dirty blooded” or “dirty gypsy.” One day, while heading to my dance class in Moldova, I went to the trolley station where a woman from across the street screamed about how I should not be in Moldova, that I should go back where I came from so no one marries me and perpetuates dirty blood within the nation. After times like that, I was grateful for ballroom dance. It was my escape — from the racism, bullying, and poverty.

When I graduated from twelfth grade, I studied pharmaceutical technologies for two years. Then my dad’s aunt moved to Utah when her son got married here. His wife used to attend UVU, and he thought it might be a good fit for me, so he applied to UVU for me so I could study English as a second language at the English Language Learning center. I planned to come study English for one year and then go back to Moldova and continue my university education there.

When I came to UVU, however, and started the English program, I was impressed with the student-professor relationship. I wasn't used to professors taking extra time outside of class to explain complicated concepts. The fact that faculty would respond to my calls or emails when I had questions was exceptional care that I never had back in Moldova.

I felt like UVU was a place for me. But my parents couldn't afford to help pay the tuition for international students, so I found a student job in dining services as a custodian, cleaning the floors of the Valley View Cafe on the second floor in the Sorensen Student Center. After two years of working in dining services, I got promoted to supervisor and oversaw Rockin’ Robin’s and Pizza Hut.

While working there for approximately three years, I did not know what to major in. Because I was so busy trying to pay for my education, I didn’t talk to someone who could provide guidance. One day when I was working at Rockin’ Robin’s, a customer received a mistaken order, so when he came back, I fixed it right away. It turns out, the customer was Douglas Miller, a faculty member in the hospitality management department in the WSB. He complimented me on my problem-solving and customer service skills, which he said would serve me well in UVU’s hospitality management degree. He gave me his card and invited me to talk with him in his office on campus. After five months, I finally went to talk to him and got excited about the employment opportunities the degree could lead to. From there, I felt eager about the decision to move forward as a hospitality management major.

While going to school, I met my husband in Provo and we got married in June 2017. He applied for me to receive permanent residency and that gave me the opportunity to work full time at UVU or anywhere else. My husband encouraged me to apply for the full-time general manager position at the new Chick-fil-A on campus. Out of six candidates, I was hired and was in that position for almost four years. I worked full time while in classes and then graduated in summer of 2021.

I applied for and was lucky enough to participate in the Utah Valley Senior Executive Leadership Forum (UVSELF), which is an 11-month-long program that provides career exploration experiences for faculty and staff who have contributed to excellence at UVU. Fellow participants and I engaged in learning activities related to higher education leadership. President Astrid S. Tuminez was my mentor. I am so grateful to have been able to learn from and feel supported by such an incredible leader. I also got to meet and work with members of the president's cabinet and understand how decisions are made at UVU.

After Thanksgiving of 2021, I was hired to be an academic advisor. I feel so lucky to have graduated, gotten a new job and a new office in the Keller Building. How lucky can I be? It is crazy to work with people who helped me when I was in school — I never thought that my advisor would become my coworker. In my future, I can see myself as an owner/operator at Chick-fil-A, and I would also like to get an MBA. But for now, I’m soaking up the incredible opportunities my current position allows.

I want to say thank you to all my professors, advisors, and UVU Dining Services, all of whom have really supported me and played a big part in my education and experience at this university, and in my life. To UVU students, I would say: always ask questions. That is one thing that I wish I told myself when I was younger. I feel like a lot of people are either shy or they don't want to bother others. But asking questions is going to make you think and inspire ideas. Then, when you listen to people's answers and ideas, you can gain a profound understanding and connect with others.