Dorin Mirzaian is a sophomore, who was born and raised right here in Glendale, California. During her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her friends, drawing, and listening to music. Dorin is quite involved here at Glendale High School, where she is the president of Letters for Rose Club, a part of the junior varsity girl’s soccer team, and vice president of the sophomore class for ASB.
Dorin is serving as the Letters for Rose Club president for the first time. Dorin’s older sister Lia Mirzaian was the founder and president of the club, and right after Lia graduated last year, she passed down that leadership to her younger sister.
Lia encouraged Dorin to take on the role, because she didn’t want the club to die and be forgotten. Also, being a president is a great way to be involved in your school and activities, which is what Dorin wanted.
The main goal of the club is to write letters to the homes of elderly people. As club president, Dorin has to manage each elder community drive, making sure that everything is organized and in order.
Any topic can be addressed in these letters, including holidays, sports, or any other enjoyable subject. Every letter-writing drive has a specific goal. For example, the theme for the first drive was fall events, such as Thanksgiving and Halloween, and the theme of their winter drive included Christmas decorations.
Club members can write letters, in addition to making donations. One girl once crocheted hats for elderly homes one year, but you can donate anything, including bracelets, or anything else that will help the elderly.
Since this is Dorin’s first official year as club president, there will certainly be challenges. She occasionally has trouble coming up with new ideas and presenting them to her club members. Another challenge is that, occasionally when she hosts her club meetings, not many students show up. It can be challenging for her because she wants to hear suggestions for improving her organization.
However, one of Dorin’s most treasured club memories is from her first successful fall drive. She was overjoyed to find that people genuinely cared about the group and enjoyed it, as she received many letters of thanks.
Sadly, Dorin is currently unable to take her club on any field trips to visit nursing homes because of COVID protocols. Nevertheless, students gain community service credit for the letters they write, because a single letter may take up to two hours to complete.
One plan
that Dorin has for the future is to hold a club fundraiser. Even though she knows that her club members do not need any money for themselves, a nursing home has recently started a “prom for the elders” program, which will take place in June. Indeed, they will have to ask for some donations to pay for their decorations, and Dorin is hoping to hold a fundraiser soon, to help them with these expenses. For next year, Dorin wants to come up with some original and enjoyable ideas for her club, and she hopes to collaborate with nursing homes to find out if they have any further suggestions on how she might assist them. Beyond sending letters, Dorin aspires to do more and to find more ways to interact with the elderly.
Although this is only her first year as president, Dorin feels accomplished, and she hopes to do better in the future. That being said, she will continue to be the president into her senior year, and she hopes to pass down her club to someone who will be truly committed to the organization and its members. After high school, Dorin isn’t quite sure what her future will hold, but she is thinking about pursuing Computer Science as her major in college.
If you want to join the Letters for Rose Club, please email Mrs. Lisa Keefer at [email protected], or you can join their Remind account, with the class code @glenlfr. You can also follow them on Instagram: @ghslettersforrose.
Dorin hopes to see you at her next club meeting! Stay rosy, Nitros!
