First-generation student from Morocco graduates from NWACC with associate degree

BENTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — A first-generation student from Meknes, Morocco has overcome the odds and is set to graduate from Northwest Arkansas Community College on Monday.

Abir Zakri didn’t think she would make it to college and graduate.

But now, she will receive an associate degree in liberal arts and sciences from NWACC.

“I feel like I made an accomplishment, I guess, to be the first one to make it to high school and graduate and then go to college,” Zakri said.

Zakri was in an orphanage for five years and bounced around between different houses.

“Then I moved to this other place that’s called Village of Hope,” Zakri said.

She moved to Siloam Springs in 2020 at 19 years old because her guardians, who she’s known since she was 5, told her about Ozark Adventist Academy in Gentry.

“New life, you know, and trying new experiences, opportunities and, and of course, I took it because anyone who been in my place, who would want to do that? So I went for it, and I don’t think I regret it honestly. I think it’s good,” Zakri said.

Zakri didn’t have a typical high school experience compared to those around her.

She was older than most of the students and started halfway into the school year.

She also had to learn a whole new language.

“Changing everything to English was a little bit hard, but it was an adjustment to do that. So I think it got good now,” Zakri said.

School in the United States was a change of pace compared to what she was used to in Morocco.

“An orphanage can be really too loud sometimes. It also disturbs your studies a little bit. But, whereas here, it’s quieter and, with a family, not just with a bunch of people you live with or something like that. I’m really glad that I have them as my family,” Zakri said.

In the fall, Zakri will attend John Brown University and study criminal justice.

“I like learning about cases and trying to solve them and why the offender or the criminal did it. I’m sure there’s a reason behind it, not just the psychological,” Zakri said.

She will commute to campus because she says the dorms make her feel like she’s back in the orphanage.

“I want some space to myself. And since I had to do that my whole life,” Zakri said.

Zakri wants to thank her family for being there for her and Jeanie Peterson, who works in the adult education program at Northwest Arkansas Community College, for giving her a ride to campus.

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