On June 12th, St Gregory’s held its 52nd Graduates Communion and Breakfast
after church service. This was a special year because we were able to celebrate
students’ achievements from High School, College, and Advanced degrees from
the years we missed due to pandemic, 2020, and 2021, while celebrating the 2022
graduates this year.

The day started by attending Badarak with parishioners, graduates, and their
families all worshiping together. All graduates were greeted in the vestibule with
corsage or boutonniere. Der Torkom gave a sermon geared to the students and a
traditional group photo of our graduates was taken outside. The sun came out just
at the right time for a perfect shot.

Following Badarak, the attendees gathered in Tehranian Hall for a delicious
breakfast prepared by our very own Men’s club and spirited ladies. The room was
beautifully decorated with the graduates sitting together in the center of the room
surrounded by their loving families. The master of ceremony was a former
graduate, and Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Kurk Selverian. He opened
the program and welcomed the graduates and encouraged them to give back to
their church. He then introduced Der Torkom to give his message, which
encouraged all the graduates to consider Church their second home and to visit
often.

This year’s Breakfast speaker was 2022 graduate Dr. Katrina Selverian, Ph.D. in
Psychology from Fordham University. Her speech left us all inspired and
‘feeling’ refreshed to continue to strengthen our Armenian roots, and always feel
proud of who we are and where we came from. Afterwards, each graduate
attending the breakfast was introduced, given a gift book from the board of trustees
to commemorate the day, and recognized for their accomplishments.
The afternoon ended by giving thanks to Sandra Selverian and Majda Garabedian
for their dedication and contributions to the event. Our Church is a family and
acknowledging our youth’s accomplishments makes us all want to celebrate and
feel proud together.