Noemi Agagianian
Sunland, California
After training for a year with the organization Students Run L.A., she completed the Los Angeles Marathon in March.
In middle school, Agagianian set a goal for herself to run a marathon before graduating high school. The group Students Run LA helped her train by encouraging participation in city races and leading three to four practices a week for aspiring runners. The training started with short distances and gradually progressed to an 18-mile “friendship run.” After training for a year, Agagianian completed the Los Angeles Marathon in March.
In high school, Agagianian was also involved in Interact, a volunteer organization that is part of the International Rotary Foundation. As co-president of Interact, she helped lead the Students’ Anti-Drug Walk, in which hundreds of students peacefully walked across town to create awareness for the growing drug problem in her community. She also worked on the Mexico Orphanage Project, which involved fund raising and trips to an orphanage in Ensanada, Mexico, to donate money and clothes and spend time with the children. “[Interact] was a great way to learn about the community and to get involved,” she says. "