The lobby of the administrative building of the Medical University was festive on March 21. Future Iranian doctors spared no effort to make their New Year, Nowruz, memorable.
The beautifully decorated traditional table did not leave the university students indifferent: on it one could see 7 foods starting with the Persian letter “sin”: sib (apple, which is a symbol of beauty and health), sir (garlic, which also symbolizes health), sabze (greens symbolizing the awakening of nature), senjed (a symbol of love and patience), samanu (sweets made from wheat symbolizing abundance and hard work), seke (a coin, symbolizing prosperity), and sumach (spice symbolizing sunrise and the rebirth of life).
A mirror and candles, symbolizing enlightenment, are also placed on the festive table, a small aquarium with red fish, which is a symbol of life and goodness, an egg, which is also a symbol of life, wheat with the meaning of harvest and goodness, and their holy book.
Nowruz is celebrated for 12 days, starting from March 20, which is the first day of spring in the Persian calendar.
YSMU Rector Armen Muradyan congratulated future Iranian doctors, their families and relatives: “The first day of spring, which you celebrate as the New Year, is also very important for us. I wish that during this new year you will be full of health, success, these 7 symbols, and your relatives, who are far away at this moment, know that you are solving a very important problem in your life: you are receiving an education in Armenia, in Yerevan, as a result of which you should be useful to your people, the people where you will live and work for many years.”
Alireza Sanjar, Head of the Student Parliament’s Research Department, clinical resident in maxillofacial surgery whose father was also present at the celebration, also congratulated his fellow students, wishing them health, success, and prosperity.
According to Melanie Khachatryan, advisor to the Research Department and second-year Iranian-Armenian student at the Faculty of Dentistry, the students were away from their families on this holiday, but the atmosphere at the university was so warm that the gap was filled.
There are currently 153 Iranian students studying at YSMU.
