S2E11: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Emer O'Doherty of Ireland

In this our eleventh (11th) episode of Season 2, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Emer O'Doherty of Ireland about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:37 - Meeting Emer!

3:50 - IP Short Courses

5:18 - Non-traditional students

8:55 - Art and Ceramics

13:58 - Being in the U.S. before

17:36 - Other courses taken

21:03 - Visa talk

23:00 - Feeling like home

27:57 - Trivia time!

34:49 - Final words of advice

Copyright © Seattle Colleges International Programs 2023. All rights reserved. For more information about being an international student at Seattle Colleges, please visit intl.seattlecolleges.edu

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich: 0:05

Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show Conversations with! where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us, and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu. Hey, everybody, it's Evan Franulovich. Welcome back to Conversations with! We're here today at the North Seattle campus yet again, which is great. We like to get out to the North and South campuses whenever we can. And we're here with one of our guests from... what... actually, are... we haven't had any Western European students doing the podcast so this is kind of a special occasion. Tell us where you're from and what you're doing here.

Emer: 1:37

My name is Emer O'Doherty, and I am from England... Well, I grew up in England, but my parents are Irish. So I kind of grew up in an Irish household in England.

Evan Franulovich: 1:49

In England, okay.

Emer: 1:50

So that's the reason for the Irish passport.

Evan Franulovich: 1:52

Oh, you have an Irish passport.

Emer: 1:54

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 1:54

Ok, great. Republic of Ireland, not Northern Ireland. Alright, cool. And you don't sound Irish?

Emer: 2:01

No. Well, I've lived my whole life in England. Apart from one year, I lived in Ireland. We tried it out for a year, the whole family, and then we we decided it wasn't... and we moved back.

Evan Franulovich: 2:11

Do they give you a hard time? Like say, "Hey, you have an Irish passport? You don't sound like you're Irish."

Emer: 2:15

Sometimes people question it. Yeah. But then I think the name... it's fine. Yeah. People just accept it.

Evan Franulovich: 2:23

So before we move on, and you can tell more, but like your first name is spelled Emer, is that correct?

Emer: 2:29

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 2:30

Just one R.

Emer: 2:31

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 2:31

And say it again slowly.

Emer: 2:33

So, in an Irish accent and an American accent you would say'Emer'

Evan Franulovich: 2:38

'Emer'

Emer: 2:38

But because I'm from Essex, and I don't really say my Rs, I say 'Emer'.

Evan Franulovich: 2:42

'Emer'

Emer: 2:43

Yeah. So it depends where you're from, how you would say my name, really.

Evan Franulovich: 2:48

Okay. Well, you said it yesterday to me when I ran into you, which was awesome. But you said it so fast. Like, I'm not really sure what I know what it's spelled like, but... Well, cool. So yeah, you grew up... Well, that's a nice area where you're from an Essex. You're not too far from the water. So, do you go to the beach a lot?

Emer: 3:07

Yeah, it was only like a half an hour drive. There's lots of fun things to do in South End. It's a cool place.

Evan Franulovich: 3:14

It seems like you're what... you're 50 kilometers from downtown London, just a few kilometers from the ocean.

Emer: 3:20

Yeah, I actually loved living there. Because we could so easily go into London and go to events and go to gigs and shows and stuff. But then very easily get the train home and be out of the city and be in good old Wickford.

Evan Franulovich: 3:33

Right? Nice. Very good. I've never been to that part. I've been to London, but I've never been out to the east side there. So someday, I would like to do that. Well, great. So you're here, you said you're studying. So did you mention it? Tell us again, what you're studying.

Emer: 3:50

I'm doing an international Short Course, which is actually in general studies. So it means I can pick and choose which classes I want to do. So it just turns out that most of the classes I have chosen have been art classes. And I've been very focused on ceramics and sculpture and like physical art.

Evan Franulovich: 4:12

Right. Now, is this something... Were you doing sculpture art before you came here?

Emer: 4:18

Not, not really. I've been doing art always like, making things I've always been very, very into like making things and before I moved here, I was actually doing a stained glass window course in London, like part time. And that kind of got me back into wanting to be back in education and learning more. Because when I left school at 18, I was done with education, did not want to go to uni, did not want to like see another revision book for years. Then now I'm in my 30s I'm back, ready to learn and willing to like take in information that I would not have been able to do when I was younger.

Evan Franulovich: 5:03

Okay, so between 18 in your 30s? It's a big chunk of time. What'd you do?

Emer: 5:09

Oh, all kinds of things. I've done lots of different jobs, trying to find what I want to do, really, and just kind of following life where it takes me.

Evan Franulovich: 5:18

I think that's great. That's one of the great things about community colleges. We are a community college and a lot of people are like, what's a community college, but it's, you know, anybody can come really, it's easy to get accepted, it's easy to kind of reinvent yourself. And if you're a non-traditional student, like you are, you're older. I just interviewed yesterday and other art student... Have you met Quan Wong. He's a Chinese guy. He's studying art here. And he, he's like, my age, he's in his 50s. So it's like, it's always possible.

Emer: 5:54

I think Community College is even better for that as well. And I, I was a bit nervous about coming to an environment where most of the people are going to be like, 10 years younger than me. But it hasn't like all of the worries that I had, they were not needed. Like, there are so many other people who are around my age, or like, age doesn't really matter in community college, like everyone becomes friends with everyone.

Evan Franulovich: 6:19

It's true.

Emer: 6:19

And it's, it's been a really nice environment to like, be in.

Evan Franulovich: 6:25

So, okay, so you come to community college, but we are not exactly in your neighborhood. Seattle... We're on the West Coast of the United States. How'd you hear about us? And what motivated you to apply here? Or did you apply to other schools? And this is the one you chose? This is the only place you applied?

Emer: 6:42

It's the only place I applied. Yeah. So my reason for finding Seattle, kind of... there's many reasons that led me to being here. Probably the first one was I, when I was eight, no twen..., the first time I came to the US was on when I was 22. And I was working at a special needs camp in Washington. And that summer, I fell in love with Washington. And just like, just the nature, the trees, the mountains, I was just blown away by it all. And during that trip, I actually met my now husband, who... well, fast forward six years, we got reconnected. And then we're in a long distance relationship.

Evan Franulovich: 7:30

He's an American?

Emer: 7:31

He's an American. He's from Seattle, and ... So fast forward to 2021. I come to visit him, and then realize how much I love Seattle, and how much I was just like, I want to be here. And then, because I'd kind of got the like, learning bug again, from doing the stained glass window course. I was like, I'm up for going to college, I'm up for learning, and then Isaac actually went to Central College before he went to UW. So he was like, have a look into like, Seattle Colleges. And then I was looking at the courses and I saw ceramics at North, and I was like, "That's the one."

Evan Franulovich: 8:11

Wow, that's so cool.

Emer: 8:12

Yeah. So I put it on my vision board. And then ...

Evan Franulovich: 8:17

That's great. So is he still at UW?

Emer: 8:19

No, that... he went to UW a few years ago. Yeah. It was just like, uh, oh, I know, what's a good place. You could go to community college. And he was right.

Evan Franulovich: 8:28

All right. Well, I've heard a couple stories. I interviewed a girl from Norway who came here and her boyfriend was on the rowing team at UW. So that's why she picked Seattle Colleges. Do you plan... but she returned to Norway. She went back. Are you just planning to stay? Are you planning to go back? What's your long term plan?

Emer: 8:49

I am planning to stay, yeah, but I'm not planning to stay in college.

Evan Franulovich: 8:54

Right. Yeah. At some point...

Emer: 8:55

I'm kind of like now that I've kind of found ceramics. I'm like, I want to do this. I want to keep...

Evan Franulovich: 9:03

But ceramics. I mean, it seems to me. I'm not... I don't know much about it. But it seems to me you have you have to have an oven.

Emer: 9:09

Uh huh. A kiln.

Evan Franulovich: 9:11

So do you have a kiln?

Emer: 9:12

Well, actually, yes. Oh, well, I have one lined up. My mother in law, Isaac's mum actually found one on Facebook market. And yeah. So I do have one lined up. At the moment, I'm still using all of the college facilities because it's here and it's perfect.

Evan Franulovich: 9:29

Good facilities?

Emer: 9:30

Yeah. Real good. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 9:33

So if you're out there in you're listening to the show, and you're interested in art, maybe you're interested in ceramics or pottery or whatever. We have good stuff here at North Seattle College. I honestly don't know what's at South or Central. But everybody talks about art here at North, so...

Emer: 9:49

Yeah, and the the art community here is so great.

Evan Franulovich: 9:52

Really?

Emer: 9:52

Yeah. Really, really great.

Evan Franulovich: 9:53

Do you guys like get together? What do you do?

Emer: 9:56

Yeah, there's like an art club.

Evan Franulovich: 9:57

Really? Okay. Like is it... Do you meet like every Tuesday, I mean, how's that work?

Emer: 10:03

I don't really know if it's like a regular thing. I just whenever I see a poster up, like, come and do art with us, I just go. And it's great, like get to meet other art students who you wouldn't necessarily meet because you're in different art classes. And like the, some of the people that I met in my first first ceramics class, we still like meet up and hang out and like, go to the park and park and do painting and stuff. Like, meet other people who are interested in art and not necessarily the same art that you're making. But you have that, that like thing in common. It's really nice to like, just meet up and like, sometimes you're just sitting there in silence, just doing art and it's lovely just to be around other people who are into the same kind of thing as you.

Evan Franulovich: 10:44

So you get out and away to do art as well? You do painting apparently? It sounds like.

Emer: 10:49

Well, I'm not. I wouldn't call myself a painter, but sometimes I like to paint things.

Evan Franulovich: 10:53

Okay. All right. Cool. So but your passion is ceramics. But does that include pottery? I said pottery, but I don't know if that actually.

Emer: 11:02

Yeah, so pottery is ceramics.

Evan Franulovich: 11:04

Oh, it is? Oh, Okay. When I think of ceramics, I think of like, tiles.

Emer: 11:10

Oh, yeah. I see what you mean. Because they're made of ceramics. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 11:12

Like more porcelain kinds of stuff. I don't know.

Emer: 11:15

You can make pots out porcelain.

Evan Franulovich: 11:17

Okay. Yeah, the Chinese did it. In but when I think of pot..., I grew up on the Oregon coast and a lot of artists out there, a lot of people making pottery. And what I think of is, like, they have a wheel and they're spinning it and then, you know, it's muddy, and it's tan and whatever. And then they paint it and glaze it or whatever. Is that what we're talking about?

Emer: 11:37

Yeah, that's what we're talking about

Evan Franulovich: 11:38

Kind of like that scene in 'Ghost'?

Emer: 11:40

Yeah, just like that scene in 'Ghost'... so many people use that as a reference. But yeah, basically. And also, I really enjoy hand building. So like not on the wheel, like just forming it with your hands or like making more kind of like, shapes out of it. Not necessarily round shapes, but like making things out of slabs and then attaching the slabs. I really enjoy that.

Evan Franulovich: 12:05

I'm not really sure what that means. I need a visual to really understand that. But that sounds cool. So is your family artistic? Did you... is your mom, dad, brothers, sisters, whatever... Or did you come from art? Or is this just kind of you and you're an outlier?

Emer: 12:20

Um, my brother is very artistic. Yeah. And my mum always encouraged my artistic like, -ness. I remember when I was younger, she would keep extra like things from the recycling because I would make things out of them. Like she would keep it like a separate pile. Like Emer might want to make something out of that. And I feel like that really encouraged me to like, oh, have all of these materials, what are we going to make. Yeah. So like, she always really encouraged my creativity.

Evan Franulovich: 12:51

That's really cool. Yeah, parents that do that are smart parents. That's great. All right. So I kind of understand your program now. You've done... I met you in the Fall, so that was your first quarter. The short term certificates are usually 3, 6, 9 12 months long... Yours is going to be a full 12 months?

Emer: 13:14

Yeah, so you can choose whether you're whether you do one to four quarters. Yeah. And I am doing four quarters, but I took the summer quarter as a vacation quarter, so technically, I'll be at North for five quarters.

Evan Franulovich: 13:26

Five quarters. Okay, great. And then will there... We just went through graduation down at the baseball field and you know, there were all the people do you actually graduate with everybody else? Will you do that?

Emer: 13:38

I don't think so because it's not a degree, it's just a certificate. Yeah. Which, I'm not like, bummed about I was here for the just the education of it. I don't really need anything from it. Because I'm not trying to get into sure the university or anything, I'm just doing it for skills.

Evan Franulovich: 13:58

So you were in Washington before. You did a camp, you said, right? And which city was that in? Was that out in the mountains?

Emer: 14:05

It was out in the little islandy bits. It was in a place called Born.

Evan Franulovich: 14:09

Okay. Oh, so it's out on the Puget Sound area?

Emer: 14:12

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 14:12

Cool. How long was that?

Emer: 14:16

I was there for three months,

Evan Franulovich: 14:17

Three months, that's a long time.

Emer: 14:18

And I did a month traveling afterwards, like all along the west coast.

Evan Franulovich: 14:22

Is that a... Oh, so you went like down to California.

Emer: 14:25

Yeah. And like...

Evan Franulovich: 14:26

Hitchhiking?

Emer: 14:27

No, I did a thing called Trek America, which I don't think exists anymore because of COVID. I think that was a company that kind of disappeared, but it was so much fun. It was like 12 other people in a minivan. And you camp at different campgrounds occasionally stay in a hotel, which felt like a dream after being in tents. But it was so much fun. I went to like Monument Valley and Yellowstone, and Vegas.

Evan Franulovich: 14:55

So you drove between...?

Emer: 14:57

I didn't drive, but like the tour guide drive. And he was he was great. He had so much knowledge about everywhere we went. It was really fun.

Evan Franulovich: 15:06

So there was no bicycles. It's not like they drop you off, you'd ride... That's a lot of territory.

Emer: 15:12

I was in the van the whole time I didn't. I was being driven.

Evan Franulovich: 15:16

And how long was that trip? Because that's a lot of territory you covered.

Emer: 15:20

Yeah, we covered a lot of space in a short amount of time. Some places we were only there for like a day and a half or two days. I feel like it was like a 20 day trip or something.

Evan Franulovich: 15:30

Oh that's pretty good.

Emer: 15:31

...or 18 days.

Evan Franulovich: 15:32

Yeah, cuz I mean you can spend weeks just like at Yosemite, if you want. You know, hit the back country or whatever. But... so give you a taste of what's in the West.

Emer: 15:41

Yeah. And I fell in love with it. For sure. Like the trees blow me away.

Evan Franulovich: 15:46

The trees are awesome. Did you... well, you must have gone to the redwoods?

Emer: 15:49

No, that wasn't part of the trip. That is...

Evan Franulovich: 15:51

Girl!

Emer: 15:51

That is on my to do list.

Evan Franulovich: 15:53

You've got to go. If you like trees, that is like tree heaven. It's one of my mom's favorite places to go. It's just these amazing... or Did did you go to Sequoia National Park, because big trees in Sequoia. Did you go to Yosemite?

Emer: 16:09

No, not yet.

Evan Franulovich: 16:09

Oh, so... okay. So tell me the route you guys took again.

Emer: 16:12

So we started in Seattle. And then we went to ... through Montana. We went to like the the Gorge or something...

Evan Franulovich: 16:22

You went down to the Columbia River Gorge along Oregon and Washington.

Emer: 16:25

Went to Grand Teton and it was most... it was it was advertised as like a mountain trek. And we went to Yellowstone and...

Evan Franulovich: 16:37

Yeah, the Tetons are right there.

Emer: 16:39

Yeah. Monument Valley. And then...

Evan Franulovich: 16:42

Did you go up to like Kalispell and hit Glacier National Park?

Emer: 16:47

No, didn't go there, no.

Evan Franulovich: 16:47

No you didn't go that far North. Okay, I know what you did then. Oh, well, you've got some.... Well, you're gonna be hanging around, it sounds like, so...

Emer: 16:54

Oh, yeah. I've got plenty of places I still want to visit here. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 16:57

And you're gonna love, you're gonna love the Redwoods. It's really great. And it's right next to the water. It's so beautiful. I grew up on the Oregon coast, which is just a few hours north of Redwoods, so...

Emer: 17:08

I actually just got back from Oregon. We went to stay in a place called Rockaway Beach. By Cannon Beach.

Evan Franulovich: 17:14

Okay, I know where Cannon Beach is. Yeah.

Emer: 17:15

I loved it there.

Evan Franulovich: 17:16

That's a little north of where I grew up. I grew up in Florence, Oregon, which is smack dab in the middle. But yeah, we used to go... well, I played sports. So you know, we play these other towns and go up and down the coast. Beautiful. Did you hit the beach? Did you surf? Did you do anything?

Emer: 17:30

I didn't surf? No.

Evan Franulovich: 17:32

It's cold.

Emer: 17:32

Just enjoyed the beach. Yeah, it was very windy.

Evan Franulovich: 17:34

And there's sharks, of course.

Emer: 17:35

Really?

Evan Franulovich: 17:36

Yeah, we get... well, I where I grew up, a lot of people go surf at Heceta Head. And you know, every once in a while someone would get bit by a shark, so... Yeah, they're out there. But I mean, people still go surfing and they don't seem to bother them. All right, well, tell us in the course work that you do, you said that you do more than just art classes. What other kinds of classes have you been taking?

Emer: 18:02

The first quarter I took Spanish.

Evan Franulovich: 18:04

Oh, cool.

Emer: 18:05

Which I really enjoyed, but I found it difficult. I did find it difficult. I did Spanish in secondary school in England, so I had a little bit of knowledge behind me. But I'm glad I did it. I really enjoyed it.

Evan Franulovich: 18:19

And useful here.

Emer: 18:20

Yeah. And what else have I taken? I took... American Sign Language one and two, which I loved. I really, really love that. Highly recommend that course if anyone is at North. That was such a good course. It was online. And the teacher is fantastic. And it was just, I loved it.

Evan Franulovich: 18:38

Well, if you ever meet my wife, my wife is an ASL interpreter. That's what she does. Yeah.

Emer: 18:43

Oh, so cool.

Evan Franulovich: 18:43

So I get to see... At our wedding, she signed this song for us. It was so cool. It makes me...

Emer: 18:49

Yeah. Oh, that's really cool.

Evan Franulovich: 18:51

Yeah, it's really great. I don't sign, unfort... I'm, I speak other languages. But I would like to sign I just never take the time to learn. So I've got a great resource in the living room.

Emer: 19:03

It's okay, you'll get to it.

Evan Franulovich: 19:04

I'll get to it. Someday, when I lose my hearing, I'll have to do it. So cool. So ASL, Spanish...

Emer: 19:10

And I've done sculpture for two quarters as well, which has been a fantastic class. Paula, who is the teacher, she is so great, I really, really enjoyed that class too. And I'm doing that again this quarter. I'm doing... I'm going to do ceramics, sculpture three, and Intro to Photography in September, because I want to learn a bit more about how to photograph the things I make, because that'd be helpful in the future.

Evan Franulovich: 19:37

Right, for sure. Yeah. Is your plan to, say, open an online store and sell your stuff? Okay.

Emer: 19:44

Absolutely. Yeah, I've kind of had this dream of opening... I've had this dream of having like a creative like homemade shop, since I was probably about 18. And I've known what I wanted to call be called I want it to be called'Dreamer' with two E's, like Emer, and... I've kind of been searching for what I want, what I want my product to be. And for a while it was dream catchers and I've kind of been like trying lots of different things. And now I'm thinking, pottery.

Evan Franulovich: 20:18

Have you already started selling some things?

Emer: 20:20

No, not yet. No, try to be honing my craft so it's good enough to sell.

Evan Franulovich: 20:26

Well, you don't hone too much because I see some crazy things on the internet and they sell. People sell all sorts of stuff. It's amazing. And it's so easy. I mean, you'll probably end up I'm guessing with your on site and stuff. But like, I know, a lot of people use... what is it? Etsy, or something like that to sell wares and people make pretty good money. They're able to either supplement their income with something they're really passionate about, or whatever. So...

Emer: 20:55

Yeah, that is the plan. I haven't been able to start doing that yet because of what visa I'm on. I'm not allowed. I wouldn't be allowed to do that.

Evan Franulovich: 21:03

You're on a F-1 visa.

Emer: 21:04

Yeah. So when, in the future, when I have the permission to work in the US. Absolutely. That is my plan.

Evan Franulovich: 21:13

Right. Will you have to leave the country in order to come back on a different visa? Or can you change it within?

Emer: 21:22

I can change it within. I will have to actually stay until it's sorted. So I won't be able to go back to the UK until I have a green card.

Evan Franulovich: 21:30

Bummer. Get to hang out.

Emer: 21:33

I mean, I am sad because I miss a lot of people. But it'll be great. Yeah. And it will... actually my friend is coming to visit next week, and I'm so excited to see her. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 21:42

What are you guys gonna do?

Emer: 21:43

I'm gonna take her up to the Space Needle.

Evan Franulovich: 21:45

Of course.

Emer: 21:46

And we're gonna get to paddleboarding.

Evan Franulovich: 21:48

Oh, yeah.

Emer: 21:48

And just show her around the city.

Evan Franulovich: 21:51

Yeah, cool. And you have a car?

Emer: 21:54

No, but Isaac does.

Evan Franulovich: 21:55

There you go. So you can get out and see the mountains and stuff...?

Emer: 21:59

Yeah. I want to take it to Alki as well.

Evan Franulovich: 22:01

Right. Yeah, yeah.

Emer: 22:02

That's why me and Isaac got married.

Evan Franulovich: 22:04

Oh, well, if you're married, why are you here on an F-1 Visa? Why don't you have a...

Emer: 22:10

Because we weren't married.

Evan Franulovich: 22:12

Oh, you weren't married?

Emer: 22:12

We're newly married.

Evan Franulovich: 22:13

Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay, so I have a good friend right now. He... we were I was living in China for four years and I was working with this guy and he met a Chinese woman and, you know, they applied for her visa and it's taking for EVER. Is yours taking forever? Is it just a long...

Emer: 22:34

We're still in the process of gathering all of the information that we need. So I haven't fully sent it off yet. So I... but I am in anticipating it taking a while.

Evan Franulovich: 22:46

Yeah, yeah, it's a slow process. So get comfortable.

Emer: 22:49

Yeah. And that's why I went in on spring break. I went back to England, because I knew it was gonna be a while before I could go back. So I did a trip back to see everyone before I was stuck here for a while.

Evan Franulovich: 23:01

Right, right, right.

Emer: 23:02

I say stuck. But I'm very happy to be here.

Evan Franulovich: 23:05

I mean, I didn't grow up in Seattle. I grew up on the Oregon coast. But I... it feels like home here. It's very nice.

Emer: 23:11

Same for me as well. I was very surprised at how quickly it

Evan Franulovich: 23:12

Really?

Emer: 23:12

I was like, Yeah, I'm meant to be here kind of a felt like home for me. Like, within a few weeks. feeling, which was lovely. And also very great for my parents to hear as well, for them to hear that I'm so happy here and so comfortable here.

Evan Franulovich: 23:32

Well, especially if you read the news, you know, America is... it sounds like chaos all the time but it's really pretty chill here.

Emer: 23:39

Yeah, yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 23:40

So don't believe the newspaper.

Emer: 23:41

They give out a bad message, but it's actually great fun here.

Evan Franulovich: 23:44

You haven't had any problems?

Emer: 23:45

No.

Evan Franulovich: 23:46

People are nice?

Emer: 23:46

Yeah, absolutely.

Evan Franulovich: 23:48

Guys just come to the States. It's not a big deal. You know, I talked to... when I was in China, I talked to parents and they were so concerned about their son or daughter getting shot or you know, and I'm like, Guys, it's not... You're reading the headlines. It's yeah. Cool.

Emer: 24:09

That's what sells - the headline.

Evan Franulovich: 24:11

That is what sells - the headlines. So okay, so have your parents come to visit? You have your friend coming, but your parents haven't been here yet.

Emer: 24:18

No, not yet. I think they plan to soon.

Evan Franulovich: 24:20

So when you did your wedding, was it just a small thing?

Emer: 24:24

Yeah, it was really small, yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 24:26

Are you're gonna redo it?

Emer: 24:27

We are actually, we're gonna do a bigger, like more of like a celebration in England in a few years time.

Evan Franulovich: 24:35

Cool. Very cool. And... you and I were talking before the show started and we were talking about have you found anybody else from your part of the world? Nobody else, right?

Emer: 24:49

No one. I think since... I've been here for a year now and I think even outside of college, I've met two English people.

Evan Franulovich: 24:57

Oh, just in Seattle?

Emer: 24:59

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 25:00

So come on guys.

Emer: 25:01

Very... Yeah. Haven't been anyone from England, at all.

Evan Franulovich: 25:04

Right? If you're from Ireland or from England or wherever, just don't worry about it. Come on over. It's a great time. Well, so you,... most of the students I interview of course, English is not their first language, but it is your first language.

Emer: 25:19

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 25:20

Do you... You blend, obviously, because you look just like every other American. But obviously, when you start speaking people... so do you get a lot of traction, do you get a lot of conversation starters because of your accent?

Emer: 25:32

Yeah, people often they're like, like double take... like You should say, "Yeah, I'm from Australia." They don't know the speak again, like... you don't sound like you're from here. And often people aren't sure where I'm from, because I don't have like the poshest of English accents. And I think an Essex accent can sometimes sound a bit Australian. So sometimes people are like, "Are you from Australia?" No, Essex. difference. Well, I used to work for Staffordshire University and Oxford Brookes and Stirling when I was... Yeah, one of my friends went there actually, after school.

Evan Franulovich: 26:13

It was great. I mean, I was teaching for their branch campus at Chengdu University. But it was great, because I was an American working with a lot of British people. And so we always gave each other a hard time about a) my accent and how I spelled things... We'd give each other a hard time.

Emer: 26:30

Oh, yeah. It's fun to do that. Yeah. Yeah. And like pointing out the funny ways of Isay

Evan Franulovich: 26:32

It's a great time. things, and... me and Isaac do that all the time, taking ... out of each other. Like, that's not how you say that's... And it's really great, because your education system in England is just set up so differently than the American system.

Emer: 26:51

So different.

Evan Franulovich: 26:52

So even though you know, we share a common language, we look similar. It's quite a bit different I discovered.

Emer: 26:58

Very very different. And also university is very, very different as well. In England, you focus on a specific thing. Whereas here used to do so many different classes, like, for years before you actually... Yeah, before you actually choose the thing you want to do. Whereas in England, when you leave school, when you're going to university, you've already chosen the subjects you want to do. And then you, all of your classes are based around that subject.

Evan Franulovich: 27:24

So if I go to say, University of Stirling, and I get done with the first two years, and I say, you know, I don't really want to be an engineer anymore. I want to go into art. Is it easy to change your major?

Emer: 27:34

Yeah, I think so. I've heard of people doing that. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 27:37

Okay. Some places that's not so doable. Like in China, their university system is set up, where if you start down this track, that's pretty much what you're doing. At least that's kind of my understanding. But yeah, one of the things I like about...

Emer: 27:50

That's daunting.

Evan Franulovich: 27:51

What's that?

Emer: 27:51

That's daunting.

Evan Franulovich: 27:52

Right? When you're 18? I mean, I don't know what I want to do. Forever.

Emer: 27:55

No, I still don't know.

Evan Franulovich: 27:57

I know, right? It changes every few years for me. Oh! Do you hear that? That means it's Trivia Time ... So this is part of the show where we ask five questions. And you know, if you get them all right, then you're on our Wall of Fame. Whoo. If you don't, no big deal... Live a shame a little bit. Don't let it bother you too much. Okay, first question... Now, this is a tough one. So but it's from your part of the world. So... in Wickford, Essex, Wickford is an area that was inhabited in the prehistoric times by a tribe of Britons called the what? The Britons were called... the tribe... It is a really hard question.

Emer: 28:49

That is hard!

Evan Franulovich: 28:50

Sorry, I...

Emer: 28:51

The only thing I really know about like, Essex history is that Colchester was the first ever city and I don't know what they were...

Evan Franulovich: 29:00

Got a long history there. Well, they're called the Trinovantes.

Emer: 29:05

Oh, I've never heard that word before.

Evan Franulovich: 29:07

I had never heard it either, so...

Emer: 29:09

And they were Wickford?

Evan Franulovich: 29:10

Yeah, so that's what it says, the area inhabited in prehistoric times by a tribe of Britons called the Trinovantes.

Emer: 29:16

I'm going to look into that.

Evan Franulovich: 29:18

There's my trivia for that part of the world. Okay, maybe that's not really a question that should count because it was so hard. Okay, let's do something easier. You go to school at North Seattle, and they have an animal associated with the campus. What is the mascot for North Seattle?

Emer: 29:34

Tree Frog.

Evan Franulovich: 29:35

Yeah, that one's easy. Okay. And then you are doing a short term certificate in General Studies. There are four other short term certificates that are available. Can you name one of the other ones? What areas do they focus on? This is kind of hard. But since you went down that path, I thought maybe you...

Emer: 30:00

I do remember seeing them in the little drop box.

Evan Franulovich: 30:02

Yeah, yeah, there's five of them total.

Emer: 30:07

Feel like one of them was like a paramedic kind of...

Evan Franulovich: 30:11

Paramedics...

Emer: 30:12

But it wouldn't have been called that...

Evan Franulovich: 30:14

No, not... there's actually there's not even a health-related short term. So that's really interesting. I'll just give you the answer. It's business in a global society, MBA prep, which is most of the people I talked to, computer science and technology, and cultures and communication. So... but yours is kind of cool, because you can design it.

Emer: 30:33

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 30:34

Is there any... Are there any boundaries or restrictions on what you can and can't take? Or you can just do whatever you want?

Emer: 30:41

As long as you do 15 credits each quarter? That's... yeah. Do what you like. That's why I chose it.

Evan Franulovich: 30:47

That is... It's really great. All right,

very good. Next question: 30:50

There are different ways that students can find housing here at Seattle Colleges. Can you name one way that people, students from overseas can get housing? What are what's one option for international students?

Emer: 31:11

Host families?

Evan Franulovich: 31:12

Host families! Exactly. Kind of tough. Yeah, they can do host families. We call them homestays, host families... Can get an apartment. Get a roommate kind of like... I'm guessing you're in an apartment. Is that true? And then we also have the dorms at Seattle Central. So... even if you go to North, you can stay in the dorms. It's just a short subway ride. All right, good. Next question. Seattle has a really good public transportation system. Name two methods you can get around the city without owning a car.

Emer: 31:47

The One line.

Evan Franulovich: 31:48

The one line, exactly. The subway. And the buses, excellent. See, it's not so

Emer: 31:51

And the buses. hard. Very good. All right, next question: There are three national parks that surround our city. Can you name one of the national parks? Olympics.

Evan Franulovich: 32:07

The Olympic National Park. Very good. Just for fun, do you know the other two?

Emer: 32:11

Mount Rainier.

Evan Franulovich: 32:11

Mount Rainier. And the other one is north of here, hint hint. It is really beautiful.

Emer: 32:26

The mountain that's up there, right?

Evan Franulovich: 32:31

There's a lot of mountains. It's called the North...

Emer: 32:34

Cascades

Evan Franulovich: 32:35

Yes, North Cascades National Park. And interestingly, little trivia here, it's one of the least visited national parks in our nation. I mean it's up there in the top 10 of the least visited.

Emer: 32:47

It's funny that you say that, I think I'm going to it on Monday.

Evan Franulovich: 32:49

You should definitely go. It's really... My wife and I just went up a few weeks ago, and there weren't that many people there, which was great. It was a beautiful day. When you go around the north side go up to Mount Shuksan, where the ski area is, the Baker Ski Area.

Emer: 33:06

That's what I was trying to think of, Mount Baker. That was the mountain I was trying to think of.

Evan Franulovich: 33:10

So yeah, there's Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. They're just right next to each other. It's just really, really beautiful. All right, last last question. Normally, I ask the last question is, what was the last movie you saw? But in your case, since you're an artist, I'm gonna say, Who is your biggest influence? Like artistic influence? Is it like Van Gogh? Or is it maybe a musician? Or is it like, Who inspires you to do what you do?

Emer: 33:39

You know, I don't think it's a specific artist. I think it's other artists, in general. I get very inspired by other people, and what other people make. That inspires me to make what I want to make.

Evan Franulovich: 33:54

Nice.

Emer: 33:54

I wouldn't say I'm inspired by a specific person, just by creative people in general.

Evan Franulovich: 34:00

Cool. Now, have you been to the Seattle Museum of Art?

Emer: 34:04

No, I haven't.

Evan Franulovich: 34:05

Girl, you gotta get down there. Yeah, it's just downtown. Not too far from Pike, Pike Place. It's a great museum, check it out. And I think on certain days, it's free. So check out their website. Maybe it's like Mondays or... I don't remember. But yeah, it's really great. Well, cool. Let's, we're almost done with the show here. But I always like to give an opportunity for you to say, or to give a little of your wisdom, like if there are people in let's just say, Great Britain, the islands there, you know, and they're thinking about coming to the United States to study, but they're not really sure. What kind of wisdom could you give them? What kind of advice would you give?

Emer: 34:49

I would say, if you're thinking about it, go for it. Because just immersing yourself in a different culture, even though you probably think our cultures are very similar, they are very different.

Evan Franulovich: 35:01

Very different.

Emer: 35:02

Very, very different and in such beautiful ways as well. So like, I have learned a lot about myself and even about my own culture in comparison to this culture. So I would just say, go for it, because there is so much to learn and so much to see here. And it's... Seattle has like, everything, like, weather wise, like, and like nature wise it's just prime. And also, for people like me who are thinking about getting back into learning who haven't done it for years, go for it.

Evan Franulovich: 35:41

Yeah, hear hear.

Emer: 35:42

Like... it's never too late to learn something you're passionate about.

Evan Franulovich: 35:48

Right? So if you're in your 30s, and you think, Oh, I won't be able to get a student visa to go to the United States, because I'm too old. That's just not the case. You can definitely get your visa. Real fast, because that's always one of the questions I get from people is, you know, what's the visa process like? What was like for you? I mean, when you went in, you had to go to the embassy to do an interview, yeah?

Emer: 36:09

No, I didn't.

Evan Franulovich: 36:09

Oh, you didn't?

Emer: 36:10

I didn't because I had already because because of working at the camp, I had already had an American visa. So they just needed to see that Oh, ok, she's been given a visa before so they didn't need me to come in to do an interview. So my visa process was so easy. Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 36:30

What, uh, what about the first time when you came to the camp? Was that... what kind of visa was that?

Emer: 36:34

That was a J-1. Yeah, that was... I had to go to an interview for that. I was very nervous.

Evan Franulovich: 36:41

I'll bet you were.

Emer: 36:42

But it was absolutely fine.

Evan Franulovich: 36:44

Really?

Emer: 36:44

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 36:45

What kind of questions did they ask? Like, where are you going to live?

Emer: 36:49

Yeah, I was just asking what I was going to do, really. And like, when I was going to come back, and it was nothing too much. It was like maybe three questions and that was about it. Like, it wasn't, I made it so much worse in my head.

Evan Franulovich: 37:03

Of course, guys in mirrored glasses.

Emer: 37:06

Like they were going to interrogate me. So I heard about getting the job at the camp in October,

Evan Franulovich: 37:08

That's right. They have a light up. Those Americans are crazy. Wow, that's really cool. Yeah, I hear all sorts of different visa stories. It's really interesting. You know, some countries like India, for example, sometimes it'll take like 120 days before you can even get your interview. So you have to wait and wait. And wait. You have to really plan ahead. But was that the case for you? How long did it take for you to get your interview appointment? I think, and then I was in America in June. So I think I had, I had my interview... well, as soon as I got offered the job at the camp, I like started doing the process straightaway. But I don't remember it taking very long at all. A couple of months, three months maybe? Three or four months. Yeah. So you have to plan ahead a little bit but not too much.

Emer: 38:06

Yeah, I would say don't leave it, though. Start it. Start doing all of the paperwork as soon as you can.

Evan Franulovich: 38:14

And the nice thing about Seattle Colleges... I don't know if you know this, is you can actually apply five quarters in advance, which is over a year. So if you are in a country where - you should check the website, the State Department has a site shows you how long it takes to get an appointment but - if you know it's gonna be a while you can apply way at a time and get in. So that's cool. Great to meet you. Great to hang out. Good to see you again. Yeah, yesterday was so good. I got ran into you.

Emer: 38:41

I know that was so crazy.

Evan Franulovich: 38:44

All right. Oh, you're also working on campus too, right. How's that going?

Emer: 38:48

Yeah, love it. Work in the Wellness Center on the front desk.

Evan Franulovich: 38:51

So there you go, guys, come to Seattle Colleges, you get a job on campus. It definitely helps. Alright, so many questions. I could ask you, but I gotta wrap it up. Great to meet you. Thanks for coming in on this Friday afternoon. All right. See you around. Conversations with! is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, or YouTube at SeattleCollegesIntl, that's SeattleCollegesIntl, and be sure to check out all of the shows here on Conversation with! Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.