“Relq has helped me to move forward and confront a new reality”, Seda Shahnazaryan

Because of the 44-day war, Seda Shahnazaryan, 37, a refugee from Artsakh, lost everything: her home, her job and her brother. Traumatised by this shocking turn in her life, Séda fell into a deep depression until one day she discovered Relq, the inclusive and supportive digital school in Armenia. She then decides to take her life in hand and build her future.

Before the 44-day war, Séda Shahnazaryan lived in Oukhtadzor, a small village in the Hadrout region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Every morning for the past 14 years, the humanities teacher would rush to the village school to impart a solid knowledge of history to her students. Her long but pleasant day ended at home with her three children. “Like many people, we lost everything because of the war and were forced to leave our home. I also lost my job, which I loved so much. But the most traumatic loss was my brother. It was a very difficult time. I shut myself off from the world. I didn’t know what to do, I couldn’t see any way out,” says Séda Shahnazaryan. “Fortunately, one day I came across an advertisement for Relq, a free, inclusive and supportive digital school in Armenia. I saw it as a place where I could have fun and get back to a normal life. I really had to give myself the means to get out of this depression and move forward for my three children.”

For Seda, the strong point of the Relq training was the practical learning: project-based courses to develop autonomy, curiosity and resilience. She admits, however, that she had many doubts throughout her training. “As a historian and educator, I was completely unfamiliar with the world of IT. The Relq training was therefore as complicated as it was interesting. I had many moments when I felt desperate and unmotivated, but thanks to the teaching staff and the other students at Relq, I was able to overcome all these difficulties, and I graduated”, adds Séda.