My brother sees this in soccer, reviewing and rewatching long match recordings trying to track his passes, positioning, and decisions. Similarly, I experience it in tennis, replaying points and trying to understand patterns in my mistakes or shot selection. But this process is slow, subjective, and honestly, sometimes unclear. We miss key moments, forget some plays, and even occasionally focus on the wrong details.

Currently, athletes rely on either:

• Raw footage (like VEO recordings)

• Basic stats (if they’re even available)

• Or memory and personal reflection

That’s where this idea comes in.

We started thinking about an app that could take sports footage, like VEO recordings, and automatically turn it into meaningful, personalized stats. Instead of manually scrubbing through many hour-long videos, the AI would detect you, follow your movements, and analyze what’s happening to generate insights about your performance.

For soccer, this could mean tracking touches, pass completion, defensive actions, and positioning throughout the game. It could show where you’re most active and how you contribute in different phases of play. For tennis, it could break down serve form and analyze it, rally patterns, shot selection, and track movement on the court. Rather than relying on your personal analysis and understanding of the game, AI could provide a detailed analysis, closer to professional level.

What makes this idea important is accessibility. Detailed performance analysis is usually limited to higher levels of sport, where teams have access to advanced systems and staff. For most athletes, that kind of feedback just isn’t available, and this kind of app could help close that gap by making analysis something anyone can access with just a recording. Furthermore, as teen athletes, this kind of access to personal analysis becomes much more affordable with in-app purchases, being an economically savvy alternative to an expensive expert to analyze your stats.

At a very broad level, building something like this would come down to a few key pieces:

• Detecting and identifying the player in the video

• Tracking movement across the field or court

• Recognizing key actions (passes, shots, rallies, etc.)

• Turning that data into simple, useful stats and visuals

Right now, this is just a concept, but it feels realistic given where AI is heading. The real challenge isn’t whether it can be done, it’s how to make it accurate, simple, and actually useful for everyday athletes.

At the end of the day, improving isn’t just about putting in more work. It’s about understanding what that work should be. If AI can help make that clearer, even in a small way, it has the potential to change how athletes approach their growth.

To continue our partnership with COAF, the Children of Armenia Fund, a nonprofit organization that supports rural Armenian communities by providing education, healthcare, and other essential resources, including athletic facilities. Many villages in Armenia lack basic sports equipment, safe fields, and structured programs. However, we believe sports shouldn’t be a privilege. They should be a chance for every kid to learn teamwork, confidence, and resilience, just like we have.

Even though my tennis season has come to an end, my brother’s soccer season is just kicking off, giving us an opportunity to raise money together. Starting next week and continuing through the end of December, we will be setting up a fundraising stand at every home soccer game.

For this fundraiser, we’re partnering with our school club, Titans Radio Podcast, which will play a major role by promoting, organizing, and helping run the fundraiser. The podcast will broadcast our message to the entire school community and encourage students to get involved. My brother is also part of the podcast club and serves as the Athletic Director of Content, which means he can help spread the word even further and reach more students through announcements, interviews, and features on the podcast.

This fundraiser specifically funds for agility poles, hurdles, ladders, cones, goalkeeper gloves, and sports bras for girls—equipment that will directly support training and improve athletic opportunities for young athletes in rural Armenia.

Additionally, my club, The Pad Project, has already collected $200 specifically for the sports bras, which aligns perfectly with our mission of promoting women’s health and essential needs. This contribution has helped kick off our fundraiser with a strong start and reinforces why this cause matters deeply to us.

Sports have shaped both of our lives, not only with trophies or statistics, but with friendships, confidence, and pure enjoyment. Every child across the world deserves those same moments, where they feel proud of themselves, where they hear their teammates cheer their name, and where they discover the confidence and joy that sports can bring. That feeling shouldn’t depend on where you happen to be born.

We were expecting a difficult and crammed coding class, but it turned out to be about how art, identity, ethics, and technology all connect. We learned how to code in p5.js, using it to create generative art with code, used Teachable Machine to train our own AIs and mods, and even read texts like “A Cyborg Manifesto” that made us question what it even means to be human in a tech world.

In week two, things got real (and physical) with the Circuit Playground Express. We built interactive and tangible devices that lit up, reacted to sound, and even responded to movement. It was hands-on in the best way possible. Although there was some trouble having to take in so much information at once, it was fun to even test small codes on the circuit.

The final project was our favorite part of the class because we combined everything we’d learned to build something that felt personal and meaningful.

I created a a project about dance, a form of art I am extremely passionate about. On p5.js I made a silhouette-based dance camera using code and real-time input.

My brother created his project about sports, specifically soccer, which is his passion. He made an animation on p5.js about AI incorporated in sports using facial recognition.

We only had a week to build these projects, so they were rough drafts of our full vision, but we were proud to see how far we had come and how all our skills came together in the final assignment.

More than anything, Stanford taught us that technology isn’t just about building stuff, it’s about expressing who you are and asking better questions. We left feeling more creative, more curious, and kind of like baby cyborgs. In a good way.

Here is a rundown of our experience there— first, we went to the Women’s Support Center, which is where the team works from. Here, we had the chance to sit down with members of the Women’s Support Center, that we had only ever worked with remotely, for a meaningful discussion about women’s rights and how we benefitted and can continue to benefit their occupants. We were honored to donate and deliver hygiene products and pads—basic items, but ones that carry dignity and care.

After touring the center, they were kind enough to grant access to a limited number of us to visit their hidden women’s shelters. Few women and their children live in the shelters at a time, and it was so surreal walking through where they live. The shelter was made to be exactly like a house, with bedrooms for everyone, yet it had limited resources in a third-world country. It was upsetting, but also gave us a sense of hope that there are people working and helping those that need it.

Helping even in small ways gave us and them hope. It reminded us that even discreet, respectful action can have deep impact. This experience not only opened our eyes—it solidified our commitment to advocacy and care. Having made the direct contacts with boots on the ground, the upcoming school year will be a year-long opportunity to make more meaningful impact as far as product drive and fundraisers, now that we know a firsthand account of what is required.

-Colette

- Sandro

The class did seem kind of intimidating at first, and that was mainly because AI does sound pretty high-tech. But the instructors broke it down in a way that made sense, even to us teens. We learned about machine learning, training data, and how programs like ChatGPT actually generate responses. What amazed us the most was how easy it was to start using AI once we had the fundamentals down. It wasn't about being a technologist or a genius with code, it was about how to pose the right questions, give good directions, and know when AI would help and when to use your own head.

How to use AI as a tool, and not a crutch, was one of the most useful things in the course. They emphasized that AI is not intended to substitute your creativity or problem-solving, but enhance it. For example, now when we are writing essays or brainstorming for schoolwork, we use AI to put our ideas together or check the grammar, but we still do all the work ourselves. In that way, we don't cheat, we just get better at how we do things. It's similar to having an extremely helpful assistant, not a robot doing your homework.

We talked a lot about how AI is going to impact jobs, school, and even the way we talk in the next five to ten years. It's thrilling and a little frightening. But instead of worrying that AI will take our jobs, we're worried about how we can keep up. By learning how to use these tools now, we’re giving ourselves an edge that most other teens don’t have yet. It’s like we’re getting a head start in a race no one else knows has started. That’s honestly one of the coolest parts knowing we’re building skills for a future that’s already happening.

One of the favorites among our homework assignments in class was using AI to create a small website that could recommend books based on the interests of the person. It wasn't perfect, but it showed us what powerful tools we have if we use them in creative ways. It also led us to wonder how we might use AI not just to facilitate things, but to fix real problems in the world. Whether helping people to learn faster, improve their mental health, or just get through school less stressed, AI can do a lot of good if we approach it the right way.

Taking that class did not just teach us about artificial intelligence, it taught us how to think differently. We learned to work smarter, not lazier. We realized that AI is not to be feared, but to be learned and utilized purposefully. And we wish more teenagers our age would be just like us. Because let's face it, AI's here to stay, and it's way cooler to be ahead of the curve than behind it.

One area where technology is having a very pronounced effect is that of digital art. Rural artists, who in the past may have been limited to working in traditional media, are now able to access sophisticated software and hardware. With little more than a laptop or tablet, they can create stunning digital paintings, illustrations, and designs, opening up a world of creative possibilities.

Access to the internet has been a blessing to the majority of rural societies. It is no longer a luxury to enjoy high-speed internet but a complete necessity, and efforts toward broadband infrastructure expansion are making it within the reach of increasing numbers of people. The access is imperative to those who aim to delve into the internet platforms on which they can showcase their digital works, share tutorials, and communicate with other artists in the global creative community.

My sister and I also contributed to this because when we sold our NFT hoodies, the proceeds which we sent to COAF were directed to their digital arts program. This program is for the rural areas in Armenia, to help children there get the same opportunities which children like us are given.

Last but not least, the increased access to technology in rural areas is enabling individuals to unlock their creative potential. It's not just about creating art—it's about creating possibilities, breaking socio-economic barriers, and enabling rural communities to thrive in the digital age. By providing access to digital tools, we are unleashing a future in which anyone, anywhere, can be part of the global creative movement.

Focus is a key factor for one to succeed in business. As a high school student interested in business, I understand that I need to learn many skills. These skills include managing my time well and making good decisions about projects or investments. Business often means handling many tasks at the same time, which can feel too much. However, when I concentrate, I can decide which tasks are most important, stay away from distractions, and think carefully about how to get the best results. For instance, if I am working on a business idea, I will be able to focus on making a clear plan, doing research, and managing my resources. This will help ensure the business has a strong start. My sister, though she is just entering high school, can learn the importance of focus now. In developing focus, she can begin to develop important habits of leadership, decision-making, and organization that will help her in the future, whether she chooses a career in business or not.

Focus can also impact creativity. Creativity is not just about having ideas; it's about being able to work through the steps of making those ideas happen. Whether it is writing a story, creating art, or developing a new product, focus pushes me through challenges and distractions. For instance, when doing a school project or brainstorming ideas for a business, focus helps to keep things organized and the ideas clear. Without focus, creativity can easily get lost in confusion or procrastination. My sister can develop her creativity by learning how to focus. When she is drawing, writing, or learning to play a musical instrument, staying focused helps her turn her creative ideas into real results. By practicing focus, she will be able to learn how to use her creative energy and achieve more.

Lastly, focus is very important in my job as a competitive soccer player. Soccer is not just a physical game; it also requires strong mental focus. When I’m on the field, I need to pay attention to where I am, when to move, and how to work with my team. If I start to think about other things, I might make mistakes that can change the game's result. Staying focused also helps me get better during practice. When I am completely aware and concentrated, I can practice specific skills, like getting better at dribbling, shooting, or defense. Focusing helps me make small changes and notice improvements slowly. My sister, even though she doesn't play soccer, can still benefit from learning how to focus in sports. Focusing can help her with anything, from sports to keeping up with schoolwork. Learning how to focus young will teach her discipline and the value of staying dedicated to her goals.

Last but not least, focus is a powerful tool that will enable my sister and me to excel in our respective futures. Whether in business, creativity, or sports, focus helps us stay on track and reach our full potential. The earlier we practice focusing, the better, because the habits formed then will be vital in helping us grow and face new challenges. Learning to focus will help us make good choices, surmount difficulties, and achieve our goals, be it in school or otherwise. The more we practice, the better prepared we'll be for whatever success we may have in the future.

In the past year, we created digital Armenian characters and sold custom-designed hoodies to raise money for the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF), enabling kids in Armenia to gain access to digital media classes at no cost to them. We were specific about how those funds were directed to be used specifically for the digital arts program as a subset of COAF’s existing art program.

Our journey began with a simple idea: using our artistic skills to create something that could inspire others. As teenagers living in America, entirely in the diaspora, we felt a strong connection to our roots and a deep empathy for those affected by the ethnic cleansing and genocide in Armenia.

We wanted to give back, especially to those teens who were forced to leave their homes because of the war and bombings with Azerbaijan. The result was a series of unique hoodie designs that we proudly printed and began selling at school and various community events.

To start, we launched a website on Shopify to list our hoodies. This platform made it easier for us to manage sales and ensure that the funds were directly allocated to our giveback program. Designing the website was a new challenge, but it taught us valuable skills in e-commerce and digital marketing.

Launching the e-commerce website was a huge learning opportunity independent of the give back program, as we had to learn many aspects of the business of marketability and the behind-the-scenes set up of the listings the details how to determine what figures and numbers and quantities and list prices made sense to cover our original printing costs and maintaining a profit to be donated. Another aspect of learning about an e-commerce website was having to figure out shipping and how that would work into our cost of goods sold as independent entrepreneurs. 

Throughout the year, we participated in a variety of events to promote and sell our hoodies. One of the highlights was the school Christmas boutique, where we set up a booth and attracted a lot of interest.

We also attended sporting events, setting up tables to reach out to sports supporters and the local community. Each event was an opportunity to share our mission and connect with people who were eager to support our cause.

In addition to selling hoodies, we worked closely with Haig Boyadjian, the Development and Fundraising Leader for COAF, prepared a care package for a local mixer in LA organized by COAF. This packages was auctioned off to raise further funds, extending our reach and impact. It was inspiring to see how our efforts contributed to the larger goal of supporting digital media education for kids in Armenia.

By the end of 2023, we had raised a significant amount of money for COAF and gained invaluable experience in fundraising. We learned how to transition from creating digital artwork to producing merchantable items, and we developed a deeper understanding of business and the art of fundraising. Our efforts not only helped specific displaced teens in Armenia, but also brought our community closer together.

Looking back, 2023 was a year of growth, learning, and making a difference. It was an initial experience that showed us the power of creativity and collaboration in addressing important issues.

As we move forward, we are excited to continue our journey, refine our skills, and find new ways to support the causes we care about. Thank you to everyone who supported us along the way—your encouragement and generosity have made this incredible journey possible.

We know most teens love a great hoodie, and thought this was a useful application of our NFT images to a tangible, real world setting. Supporting our hoodie sales would further our mission to spread creative Armenian art that sparks conversations, inspires young Armenian teens exploring the digital technology and unifies our community of teens and supporters. 

Our school is hosting a Christmas Boutique for supporters and parents of AGBU, the Armenian General Benevolent Union, on Thursday, December 8, 2022, and we decided to use some of our saved up money to book ourselves a booth and feature our hoodies for sale, as “the ideal Christmas gift not to be passed up.”  

We have worked on the design of the hoodies, the sizing and qualities to maximize our reach with our target audience in our community.

Luckily, we were able to secure a hoodie vendor who was able to accommodate various sizing, including children, youth and adults and are awaiting that order to be filled before December 8th’s deadline. 

The two hoodie designs feature the Armenian Boy NFT and Armenian Girl NFT, respectively. We hope to sell them at the upcoming boutique as part of our commitment to furthering the Armenian youth technology community.

Having created our first two NFT characters, Armenian Boy and Armenian Girl, in June of 2022, the next phase for us was to list the artwork on OpenSea for sale. OpenSea is a leading online marketplace for digital collectibles.

As teen entrepreneurs, we are always looking for new ways to innovate through technology, and to best achieve our dreams of raising awareness about our Armenian heritage and specifically the modern-day aggressions toward our country. It would help us the most to list our artwork for potential buyers and collectors to access. 

With our NFTs, we hope to bring high-quality artwork to the Armenian digital community and connect the gap between our characters in the blockchain and the rest of the world. The pair of Armenian Boy and Armenian Girl NFTs represent the idea that all Armenians, whether in the motherland or in the widespread diaspora share a common thread that overcomes distance and oceans.

We attribute our strong sense of identity and community to the spirit of our resilient nation. Each NFT displays specific physical attributes typical in our culture and plays up certain traits to amplify the Armenian voice in this new digital world. 

To ensure a proper listing on OpenSea, with our dad’s help, we determined a price per artwork and an overall quantity associated with each piece listed. Each piece is listed for approx. $150, and there are 921 available copies of each NFT. 921 represents 9/21/91 which is Armenian independence day.

Our NFTs are currently for sale on OpenSea. Allowing our supporters to follow our growth, while gaining ownership in the first debut of Armenian NFTs, will without a doubt boost the Armenian voice and influence in the digital marketplace.

As we work towards finishing middle-school, our long-term goals are to create a community to connect Armenian teens and launch several additional NFT characters to build our portfolio with various additional characters.

A year from now, we hope to re-invest in our community by sharing more characters, ranging from leading professions and careers throughout our community. 

These unique identifiers may be certain features, or specific colors or a particular style of art that brings focus to the NFT.

We have learned that the special footprint of the NFT governs its value and contributes to its popularity in rankings on websites such as OpenSea.

NFT’s may also unlock access to the digital universe and sometimes may also be used as entry to an exclusive event or investment opportunity. NFT’s may be purchased and sold with cryptocurrency, a popular form of digital currency. 

We set out to incorporate the deep roots of the Armenian people into the modern day virtual marketplace. We wanted to draw focus to our small yet mighty culture, to inspire both adults, but especially kids our own age seeking a path in digital media.

By way of our two initial NFT characters, we hope to bridge the gap between Armenians and today’s digital ecosphere. 

In the research stage of our project, we looked to different forums and digital marketplaces, such as OpenSea, and studied the top ranking 50-100 NFT’s, mostly looking for similarities among those leading artworks.

We picked up on a commonality in design, in that most of the popular NFT companies had one leading character who was transformed and tweaked into variations of itself for people to explore.

Each variation and form of these NFT’s seems to offer more relatable characters to real life. 

This allowed us to then further develop our own idea of the Armenian culture being made more digitally relevant with the power of our very first two, male and female, NFT characters.

We knew that we wanted both NFT characters to look similar in their profile silhouettes, with exaggerated cartoon-like dominant Armenian features showcased in a friendly form, in the hopes of appealing to kids our age and beginner level Armenians seeking to get into NFT’s. 

The design our characters began with detailing specific character features we wished to draw focus on, pronounced eyebrows and large dark eyes that represent all the injustice our culture has “seen,” given the Genocide of 1915.

We also considered color choices that were classic to our heritage, including deep plums and reds, evoking the power and symbolism of the pomegranate, a classic Armenian symbol of life. 

Initially sketching out our rough design on paper, we then began designing using an Apple pen, as well as a drawing tool called “script” in Procreate, a digital app to create our NFT, using pixels, adding in the details and editing over the course of two months to prepare our images for release. 

With our dad’s help, we finalized and published these two initial NFT’s in June 2022.

These two characters are only a starting point and we hope to add many more characters to our portfolio, so that all Armenians, particularly in the diaspora, outside our Motherland of Armenia, may be able to have a piece of their culture and ownership of a digital asset relating to their heritage.

Here’s our collection page for you to check out and the opportunity to be a part of (and even own): https://opensea.io/collection/built-in-armenia-448663351

We plan to stay consistent in our friendly form of design, with future characters significant to our culture, including grandparent figures, who will represent the familial ties and history we come from and traditions that bind the old to the new.

Being able to popularize our NFT’s essentially would mean that our community supports and promotes our brand and aids us in using digital technology to bridge old Armenian roots to the modern strength of the diaspora.