A Pioneering Educationalist | Narine Sarkissian

The most inspiring part of her work at the Huntsman Chemical Corp. was her involvement in Jon Huntsman Sr.’s $50 million relief efforts in her home country Armenia, which was utilized to build schools and hospitals and employ thousands of struggling native Armenians in the newly independent country. Jon Huntsman’s real motivation in his work and accumulation of wealth was to give much of what he had to make people’s lives better, and that is what inspired Narine to leave the corporate world and put her entrepreneurship spirit to work.

On August 1, 2001, with her sister, Susanna Sarkissian-McPhilomy Ph.D., Narine opened the U.S. Ling Institute, LLC- a Salt Lake-based English as Second Language school having recruited only four students. In 2013, the equal partnership dissolved when her sister decided to relocate to Alexandria, VA, and start her private language school. “Since then, I have been the sole owner of U.S. Ling Institute which was accredited and certified by SEVP – The Student and Exchange Visitor Program, a program within U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, to manage foreign students and exchange visitors in the United States through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS),” she says. “The system is a critical tool in SEVP’s mission to protect national security while supporting the legal entry and stay of the more than one million non-immigrants coming to the United States for educational and cultural exchange programs.”

Starting with only four students, the school has become one of the best language and college preparation programs in Utah, consistently retaining its accreditation status and preparing international students for admission to American universities or career advancement that requires English language proficiency. Currently, the institution hosts students from 49 countries and has helped thousands of students to achieve their educational and professional goals.

Narine is an example of what a successful immigrant is. She is an example of why higher education is essential and how useful and necessary that could be for an immigrant. For people studying English as a second language, it is a privilege to have Narine as a teacher and mentor to learn regular and academic English. The way she speaks is highly elevated if we compare it with regular immigrants or even native speakers.

Good listener, ethical, and a constant motivator—Narine is well known for always having her door open for customers and employees. She truly feels that the policy of “open doors” makes a lot of difference in the business.  Anna Chuprova, the Academic Director of U.S. Ling Institute, states “As an employee, I can say that Narine will often open her heart to understand my difficulties and solutions, then quickly she will take action to make sure I will be encouraged to seek for changes and new opportunities for the business.”  Narine values each and every one of her administrative staff, all of whom agree, “Narine is willing to let her team take actions on their own and let them take the responsibility and risks which has been really a great way to help us grow and develop new skills to improve our daily jobs.” In the words of Princess Diana, “Everyone needs to be valued. Everyone has the potential to give something back.” Growing up in a male-dominated society where millions of women’s voices are never heard and often forced to silence, and doors are shut on their faces, Narine learned to ignore that as an obstacle for two reasons, “I can’t change my gender and I refuse to give up on my dreams. But as stated by Oprah Winfrey: Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

According to Narine, it is a wonderful time to be a woman in the United States of America. Barriers that once blocked women’s eligibility for leadership roles are being questioned, put on trial, and dismantled daily. “In Dr. Shawn Andrews’ book, The Power of Perception, the author explains that fewer women are in leadership not because of a lack of skills, but because of societal perceptions that women are just not “leadership material,” which many now know is not true. Women seeking leadership positions must continue to break down these false perceptions,” explains Narine. “The good news is, since women are now as well or more educated than men in the workforce, little can stand in the way of their rise to leadership positions. As an entrepreneur I see the future of the company in becoming a worldwide franchise opportunity for women entrepreneurs.