International Student Donates Rug to UAM

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Photograph courtesy of Orkhan Rzayev

Old World Art—  Orkhan Rzayev stands with Mary Whiting with a hand-made tapestry from his home country,  Azerbaijan. Rzayev donated the rug to UAM.

   As an international student at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, Orkhan Rzayev not only considered how the university could serve him but also how he could serve the university.

   Hailing from Baku, Azerbaijan, Rzayev started his first year at UAM in August ... bearing gifts.

   “My Dad works at a rug company … and I said to my Dad I want a surprise for UAM,” he said. “I said I want to make rug.”

   Rzayev designed a rug for the university over the summer using Adobe Photoshop. The design he created served as a blueprint for the finished rug.

   “I gave the picture to my father and he took this picture to the rug company, and they made it for me,” he said.

   Rzayev said the rug took only 20 days to make once his design was submitted to the company. He presented the gift to the Admissions office and Mary Whiting, director of Admissions, upon his arrival.

   “It’s beautiful,” Whiting said. “It’s a treasure and we’re so proud of it! Orkhan and I communicated for several months before we started the paper work to get him here as a student. That’s really something special he did for the university.”

   Whiting said she has received other gifts from international students who have attended the university, including cookbooks, gold-plated temples, jewelry, perfume and candy.

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