Photo courtesy of Nick Charkhedian
A little over 100 years ago, my great-grandparents faced forced deportation. Along with more than a million other Armenians, the lands we had lived in for hundreds and thousands of years were left behind — and not by choice.
My grandparents and parents lived in Lebanon and Syria — next to countless other Armenian refugees — away from home. By the time I came into this world, my family was in the United States, surrounded by a wave of Armenian refugees who fled the Lebanese Civil War — once again, away from home.
My siblings and I are second-generation Americans. Living in America has always been our reality; however, for some reason, I hesitate to consider it home. I have visited Lebanon and Armenia, and while each had elements that felt like home — the food, the language, the music — it still didn’t feel like what I thought it would.
I could go back to our native lands in modern-day Turkey — I know where it is. But I also know that if I go back there and find myself without my family and community, it will be nothing more than a cool trip. It won’t be home.
This magazine’s theme is home. As simple as that may sound at first, it can be complex for so many different reasons.
After editing all the articles in this magazine, I was constantly reminded of a saying I’ve heard all throughout my life: “Home is where the heart is.” It started to sound repetitive, and hearing it made me start to cringe, but that doesn’t change that people from all over said that it resonated with them.
When I thought of where I find home, I thought of a feeling, not a place. I thought of memories, family, friends and moments in my life.
Some stories in this magazine are fun topics that are aimed at resonating with a large majority of the Pepperdine community — stories about famous Malibu homes, homemade recipes and growing up homeschooled. I also wanted to include topics that were tough to swallow — being unhoused, having to constantly move around and losing your home to a natural disaster.
Home can be pretty, and it can be ugly. It can be secure, and it can be anything but.
Diving into this magazine taught me just how much I don’t know about home.
My search for home is far from over. I hope this magazine serves you well for wherever you are on your own quest.
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Contact Nick Charkhedian via email: nareg.charkhedian@pepperdine.edu or via Instagram: @nickcharkhedianjournalism