17-year-old Mariam Grigoryan dreams of becoming a director and telling Gyumri’s story to the whole world.

Mariam is from the village of Arapi in Shirak Marz. She’s spent her time at TUMO trying to explore herself and chase her passions in every imaginable field. “Four years ago my parents brought me to TUMO to study painting, but once I was here I realized all the different things I could do. Through self-recognition I’ve tried to create websites, I’ve made music with my own hands, and I’ve been studying animation,” she says.

Mariam is currently preparing for her university entrance exams. She plans on applying to the Gyumri branch of the Yerevan State Institute of Theatre and Cinematography in the Department of Cinematography. “At TUMO I was very involved in filmmaking, photography, and writing. My interest in these three areas determined my career choice.” I had some doubts about my screenwriting skills but after I read one of my scripts in front of my family and we all wound up crying! Now I understand the basics of filmmaking, can take photos and videos, and can write screenplays. In fact, if I keep developing my skills I won’t even need a staff to help shoot a film,” she laughs.

“I want to study abroad as well. I already have some good universities in mind. But I’ll definitely be back, more skilled as a director. Our city is very cinematic’ and I want to show it to the whole world,” Mariam says excitedly.

Fun Fact

“In one of our new media courses we were creating digital newspapers about old and new Gyumri. I was presenting differences between old and new dance styles in Gyumri. I was planning on just describing these differences but wound up dancing myself. I love folk dancing.