Feel Good Friday - Clubs & Classes That Shaped Us (Then & Now) 🎭🎶📚

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

Hello, Community! 
It’s finally Friday again, hope you all had a wonderful and productive week! 

This is my first Feel Good Friday article, and I’m super excited to kick it off with a warm, nostalgic topic:
Clubs and classes that shaped us - back then and even now.

 Growing Up Busy

I grew up in Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, and my parents believed strongly in one thing:

A kid should never stay bored - ever. 
And honestly, maybe they were right! It kept me safe, curious, and always exploring.

So, my childhood was basically a colorful carousel of clubs and classes:

 Dance classes for 6 years - performances, certifications, concerts… yes, full show mode!
 Theater group - where I got to act, express myself, and learn stage confidence (plus, tiny dramatic moments ).
 Drawing classes - pencils, paint, creativity everywhere.
 English classes - and then an even more creative combo:
 English + Drawing club! We would draw objects and then learn their names in English. Super fun and surprisingly effective!
 Swimming lessons - because why not add one more skill? 

 Fast Forward: College & University Years

That childhood habit of always being busy… stayed with me.
During college, I was taking English, Russian, and German courses alongside my regular studies. I wasn’t even working yet, but my schedule was already full!

Later at university, the tradition continued:
I joined different language-speaking clubs, met great people, practiced conversations, and kept feeding that “I must learn something new” energy.

 From Attending Clubs… to Creating My Own!

At some point I thought:
"Why am I attending so many clubs… maybe it’s time to open one?" 

And that’s how my very first Book Club was born - a cozy space for discussing modern books and authors. It shaped a small community around reading, curiosity, and connection. 

But of course… I didn’t stop there.
I began pottery classes (and yes, I still have several of my handmade pieces at home ).

Then I fell in love with the ukulele . Dreamed of having one… Got it as a gift…
And one day discovered that a Persian guy had opened a Ukulele Club in Yerevan. 
Guess what happened next?
Exactly: Club Addict Mode ON. 

 Now: Building Community with Atlassian

And now, as an adult, I’m fulfilling my love for clubs and community through something I proudly started myself here - the Atlassian Community Yerevan!  
Being its only champion brings me the same excitement I had as a kid joining all those clubs.

 Your Turn! 

That’s my clubs-and-classes journey - hopefully I didn’t mix them up too much. 
Now I’d love to hear from you:

 What clubs or classes shaped you as a kid?
 Which ones do you attend today?
 If you're a parent: which activities do you choose for your children?

Let’s share some Feel Good Friday energy together! 

Have a great weekend, Community!  

[Teodora V _Warsaw Dynamics_]

I returned to so many memories. I've been to a lot of classes trying "to find my thing", and I can say I am still searching for it. Starting with math, dances, singing in a choir, basketball, painting, photography, and business classes outside of school.

I am currently stuck in a mode of being a gym rat and I occasionally visit some functional training classes to improve my skills :) 

[Amanda Barber]

Oooh I forgot about my classes at the gym - I should count those as a "club!" Definitely my favorite club currently, too. 💪

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

@Teodora V _Warsaw Dynamics_ wow, that’s such a beautiful journey, it sounds like you’ve explored so many creative and active paths! In my opinion, still searching means you’re still growing, and that’s a good thing. 🌱 

I also forgot about my math classes with various teachers, none of them managed to finally make me understand it either. 😂

[Huwen Arnone _Deiser_]

Is this the beginning of a new friendship? @Teodora V _Warsaw Dynamics_ & @Anahit Sukiasyan 

Or are you good old friends, and I'm finding out just now? 🤨

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

@Huwen Arnone _Deiser_ don't worry, you haven’t missed anything. 😅 This is just the beginning. 😄

[Huwen Arnone _Deiser_]

Please keep me updated 🙊 @Anahit Sukiasyan 

[Amanda Barber]

Oooh, great topic, @Anahit Sukiasyan - thank you for your post! 

I was involved in Girl Scouts and band as a child. I'm a Girl Scout leader now and was a Girls on the Run coach for a few years but my kids have outgrown it so I volunteer when I have the opportunity but not as a coach for an entire season now! I am also part of a book club that has slowly evolved (perhaps devolved is the better word) into something that's more about hanging out than it is about reading and discussing books! 😂

My kiddos are involved in a number of music lessons, but their main group activities are robotics, orchestra, choir, and musical theater! My younger kiddo is excited to start volleyball next year through school and will be trying out a Ski Club for the first time this year, too!

All that to say...we're busy...and well-rounded, haha! 😂

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

@Amanda Barber ahh I love this so much, thank you for sharing! 🌟 It’s amazing how your journey came full circle from being a Girl Scout to leading one, and from band days to cheering on your kids in all their musical adventures! Your home sounds like a wonderfully lively mix of creativity. 😄

And the book club evolution… that’s the true book club experience. 😂📚 Sometimes it’s less about the books and more about the people.

[Huwen Arnone _Deiser_]

@Amanda Barber similar path here with the Scouts and bands! Even though my experience was away from school 🙈

High five!! 🦾

[Huwen Arnone _Deiser_]

Damn! You were really busy as a kid @Anahit Sukiasyan. For me, I think it has been:

Past clubs or classes shaped you: I don't do well with classes because those are not actually made for the real world. I think I do better with a "learning by doing" mentality.

Right now, I can think about a couple of things, like swimming classes, drumming classes, although I lasted 3 months, that motivated me to learn on my own, cooking classes (well, it was a whole career), analytics and business school, "Boy Scouts," it wasn't the same thing, but similar. I learn a lot there, kinda Bear Gryllish. playing and hanging with bands (at school and outside), skating, and hanging with friends in the streets. There's no better teacher than that. ❤️

And today, I could say I'm into eventual (very specific) cooking workshops, gym (lately I feel like I want to also try pilates and go back to swimming), ACE Madrid, and creating content, unrelated to my current job. And mostly anything that catches my attention. 

As a father, I will encourage them to get into anything that helps them develop their social self, their body, and their mind. In these last two, something functional and other more artistic. Anything they feel attracted to.

I'm probably missing stuff, but that's it.

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

Wow @Huwen Arnone _Deiser_, you’ve had such a rich mix of experiences and that ‘learning by doing’ mindset shows. 😊 I love how everything you tried, even if it was short-term, ended up shaping you in some way. 
Also, drumming, skating, cooking, bands, Bear-Grylls energy… you definitely weren’t any less busy than me! 😄

[Huwen Arnone _Deiser_]

I'm old, so I've had more time to do stuff. That might be the difference, lol @Anahit Sukiasyan 

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

Are youuuu, @Huwen Arnone _Deiser_? 😱

[Huwen Arnone _Deiser_]

@Anahit Sukiasyan 

[Barbara Szczesniak]

When I was a kid, my older sister tried Girl Scouts and didn't like it, so none of the rest of us got to try it. There was a mom in our neighborhood who had 2 daughters, and she formed a girls club for girls around their ages. We would go to their house and learn about cooking and nature and have big sleepovers. I was also in bowling leagues and on softball teams from about 8 years old.

In high school I belonged to the math league—teams from area schools had meets where you had to solve math problems in different categories. Being a math nerd, I loved these. I also played on the varsity basketball team, where I learned the lesson of working really hard in practice and still sitting on the bench during games, since it was my first year on the team.

Over the course of my career, I've worked at a lot of very small companies, which are a kind of club if you do it right. 

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

That sounds like such a sweet childhood experience, @Barbara Szczesniak the neighborhood girls club feels almost like a homemade version of Girl Scouts, but even cozier! 😊 Such a beautiful journey, thank you for sharing! 💛

[James O_Connor]

Wow @Anahit Sukiasyan - you make me feel positively lazy!

I'd say that the number one club/class that shaped me in my childhood was Karate. I started learning when I was 9 or 10, and it kicked off a lifetime love and study of martial arts as well as teaching me some great life lessons about perseverance and indomitable spirit. Age and injuries have stopped me training as much in the last few years but it's definitely a passion that I want to pass on to my daughter.

[Anahit Sukiasyan]

Oh no, you’re definitely not lazy, @James O_Connor! 😄 Karate from such a young age sounds amazing, that kind of discipline really stays with you for life. It’s beautiful that martial arts became such a long-term passion for you, and even more special that you want to pass it on to your daughter. 🥋