Aizada - Kyrgyzstan

Aizada is a super star, who overcomes challenges and achieves everything she sets out to do. I've known her since she was 13 and she walked into my 8th grade English class when I was a brand new teacher in her village in Jon-Aryk, Talas, in Kyrgyzstan. She immediately distinguished herself as an exemplary student - one of the brightest and hardest working students I taught - regularly getting our monthly "Super Star" awards for academic performance. Aizada was determined to master English, participating in after-school and summer English clubs 4 days a week, where we covered challenging English concepts like idioms ("I'm on cloud nine!") and phrasal verbs ("no, you don't throw up the trash, you throw out the trash!"). In her free time, she would take home and study my grammar textbooks on her own. We were preparing for a test that, if she passed three rounds, would mean she could study for a year in America - a once in a lifetime opportunity no one in her village had ever had before. When the time arrived, we traveled 6 hours to the capital city, Bishkek, so she could take the first round of tests. To our surprise and disappointment, after all her hard work, she didn't make it to the second round. But I've never been more proud of Aizada than I was of her response to the disappointment. She said to me (after some tears, of course): "You know, I think this is good for me. I'm used to getting first place, so this helps me know what it feels like not to win. It's ok. I will work hard and study and try again next year. And I will show America who is Aizada!" True to form, she bounced back, did try again the next year, and won. Her year in America was so much fun, filled with adventures together in Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Washington, DC, and Disney World! Now, 11 years after we first met, she is back in Kyrgyzstan, living in Bishkek with her husband and three children. She studied chemical engineering at university after graduating from high school in America and works as an engineer for a Turkish company. She is a star, who keeps shining brighter and brighter.

When spent a year in America I heard lots of opinions about Muslims. I am so proud of my host mom and other friends that they really respect Muslims. She did not eat pork for year. I have read Bible, Book of Mormon's and The Koran. I did not see a big difference. They all teach you to be a good person, love people, love nature, etc. Terrorism is not about Islam.