Zody Rafieva came to Searcy from a country in Asia, Tajikistan, through the foreign exchange program. Rafieva said that she pictured the states to be different than they are, but a good different.

“I was thinking about the U.S. and how it would be different like in movies. In real life, it is feelings and everything that is different,” she said.


She has even taught some of the teachers by coming to school and she has got them interested in other parts of the world.


“I didn’t know very much about Tajikistan before she came to my class. But, I’ve been able to study up on it a bit and I’m just amazed by parts of the world that maybe we don’t think about every day. They are just so interesting and so worth knowing about,” said English teacher Sherri Farhatt.


Zody was given the chance to take some elective classes that are not available at her old school.


“In Tajikistan, I was a bit of a boring person because I always liked studying things like science. But here, I’ve done a lot of things like art, T.V., and things like that,” she said.


Rafieva has taken advantage of her opportunity to learn about a new culture and language.



“My English has improved and that is a very important part because language is everywhere and knowing language is good,” said Rafieva.


Learning a new language is difficult, but, like anything, hard work can lead to improvement.

“As I found with a lot of the exchange students, they are very driven and they really work hard to understand the language and to understand their studies. She does a lot better than some of her classmates. I’m just always overjoyed when I see that,” said Farhatt.


Rafieva has had a huge impact on her peers and teachers.


“When she leaves I’m gonna remember her laugh. It was so contagious and the littlest things that would make her laugh, make me laugh, just because she laughed,” said freshman Sarah Jensen.



“She seems really quiet, but she participates in class. She’s got a quiet voice, but a lot to say,” said Farhatt. “She smiles all the time.”


Rafieva will miss many things about Searcy when she leaves.


“My host mother is nice to me and I love my friends and school activities here. I will miss everything,” said Rafieva.


Zody will be going home in June after being in Searcy for a year.