S3E21: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Jen Tu of Vietnam

In this our twenty-first (21st) episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Jen Tu of Vietnam about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Jen!

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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.

Evan Franulovich  1:08  
Hey everybody! Welcome back to Seattle Colleges 'Conversations with!' We're right back here at Seattle Central College. We have another great guest from Vietnam. Super excited to introduce you to her, or actually, I'll let you introduce yourself. Tell them who you are, where you're from exactly, country and city, and what you're studying.

Jen Tu  1:29  
Hello, everyone! My name is Jen Tu, or you can call me Jen. I'm from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. And currently I'm studying Business. This is my second year at Seattle Central College.

Evan Franulovich  1:39  
Business, wow. So what do you want to do with that degree? 

Jen Tu  1:42  
I want to transfer to UW Foster Business School... 

Evan Franulovich  1:46  
Okay. 

Jen Tu  1:46  
...in this spring, and I'm thinking of studying finance.

Evan Franulovich  1:50  
Oh, okay. So there's 3 UDub campuses in the area. Are you wanting to go to... 

Jen Tu  1:55  
In Seattle. 

Evan Franulovich  1:56  
In the Seattle campus.

Jen Tu  1:56  
Because only in Seattle, they have the foster for business school.

Evan Franulovich  2:00  
Okay. And have you already started the application process?

Jen Tu  2:03  
I'm doing the personal statement. 

Evan Franulovich  2:05  
Okay.

Jen Tu  2:05  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:06  
And how's that going for you the personal statement?

Jen Tu  2:09  
Honestly, for me, I'm not a person with good writing, so, it took me a lot of time to think, like, what should I put it in it? What should I take it out? Especially, what to like, highlight, what I have.

Evan Franulovich  2:20  
Rght, right. 

Jen Tu  2:20  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  2:21  
Did you have to use any of the resources we have available on campus? Like, I know we have people that can help you with personal statements. Is there any writing tutor?

Jen Tu  2:31  
Writing tutor.

Evan Franulovich  2:32  
Oh, you did? 

Jen Tu  2:32  
Yeah. I asked the writing tutor to, like, review my personal statement, and I also talked with the professor some of, like, my advisors, like, how do you think? 

Evan Franulovich  2:41  
There you go. 

Jen Tu  2:42  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  2:42  
That's great. So if you're getting ready to write a personal statement, do what she did. That's really great idea. 

Jen Tu  2:47  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  2:48  
Cool. And then when do you know down the road, when will you actually hear whether you've been accepted to UW?

Jen Tu  2:55  
For Foster School they have two applications. First, I have to get into UDub first. 

Evan Franulovich  2:55  
Okay. 

Jen Tu  2:58  
And then have to take another test, like a writing test, take a test. If I have like, three of  five, I'm accepted to the Foster and have another personal statement for foster. 

Evan Franulovich  3:15  
I didn't know that. That's really interesting. 

Jen Tu  3:17  
A lot of things to do because of Foster is, like, really professional schooling for business. That's what have, like, a lot of application stuff to do. 

Evan Franulovich  3:22  
All right. 

Jen Tu  3:23  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  3:23  
And so I'm guessing they make their decisions based on a number of factors. GPA, what you do. You're not doing OPT then, you're going to go straight from here to there. 

Jen Tu  3:35  
Yeah, to just transfer school. 

Evan Franulovich  3:37  
Gotcha. And you work on campus? 

Jen Tu  3:39  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  3:39  
So, you're getting some experience. What are you doing on here? 

Jen Tu  3:42  
On campus, currently, I'm the international ambassador at Central my role is marketing and big event coordinator. 

Evan Franulovich  3:51  
That's really cool. 

Jen Tu  3:52  
Yeah. And also volunteering as a TA teaching assistant for Accounting 201. 

Evan Franulovich  3:58  
I didn't know that. That's really great. How's that going?

Jen Tu  4:00  
For me, I don't know about like, when I was young, I thought, I'm not really good at teaching others but after that, I think, 'Oh, I'm good at it'. Teaching presentations, helping with the assignments. It's pretty fun honestly. 

Evan Franulovich  4:15  
Yeah, that's really cool. How did you did they approach you and ask you to be a volunteer, or did you go and ask if you could volunteer?

Jen Tu  4:24  
Well, my professor, Professor Chin, she asked if, like, any one of us want to be the volunteer for the TA, but we have to have, like, good GPA for that course, so we can be a volunteer. 

Evan Franulovich  4:33  
Wow. 

Jen Tu  4:33  
And for me, I'm credit volunteer. So, like, register for like, two credit in person. 

Evan Franulovich  4:33  
Oh, you get credit for it as well. 

Jen Tu  4:33  
Yeah, I register for credit. I had to pay for that. 

Evan Franulovich  4:35  
Okay, yeah, so you get to pay to be a volunteer. 

Jen Tu  4:44  
Yeah, yeah, yeah. At first, I thought it was a job, but it's not a job. It's just like volunteer. And I think it's fun, though, I host office hours by myself. So if anyone students have questions, just come and meet me and just, like, talk to them. And I also have, like, go to the class, help them with assignments. 

Evan Franulovich  5:10  
That's really cool. Are you pretty busy? Did people come and see you? 

Jen Tu  5:14  
Not really. 

Evan Franulovich  5:15  
Hey, guys take advantage of this. That's a great thing.

Jen Tu  5:18  
Yeah, because they are afraid to talk with me. They just go to the office hour with the professor. When the professor's there, they came, but without her, nobody came.

Evan Franulovich  5:30  
Wow. Well, we'll spread the word that they can use you as a resource. 

Jen Tu  5:33  
Yes.

Evan Franulovich  5:33  
That's really cool. The question I always get from international students... Well, first of all, they asked me if I've heard of any jobs that are available. How did you hear about the international ambassador job?

Jen Tu  5:46  
Well, at first I was looking for the front desk job. That's why I came to the IP room, because I'm interested in students. 

Evan Franulovich  5:53  
Yeah. 

Jen Tu  5:54  
I came to the IP I said, 'Oh, do you have any like, open positions?', they said no. I looked more like on Instagram and like for the flyers, and then, like, I saw a Instagram post and the page said, like, 'Oh, we're hiring Intl ambassador'. I will just apply for that. So just come to the Instagram page and everything. Just post on that.

Evan Franulovich  6:14  
That's really great. So if you're out there listening and you're looking for a job on campus, or if you're a future student that wants to find a job. Instagram is a good place to go. 

Jen Tu  6:23  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  6:23  
Do you remember what the Instagram handle is, what the account name is?

Jen Tu  6:28  
It's like IntlSeattleColleges.

Evan Franulovich  6:35  
Okay, yeah. It might be the other way Seattle Colleges Intl. 

Jen Tu  6:38  
IntlSeattleColleges. 

Evan Franulovich  6:41  
Okay. 

Jen Tu  6:41  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  6:42  
We'll get you straightened out either way. Check it out. That's a really great resource. 

Jen Tu  6:46  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  6:46  
I've also heard that sometimes, if you go down to the Information Office, sometimes they can point people in the right direction for jobs. How many people did you compete against to get that job? Did you interview? And there were a lot of other students that we're interviewing as well? 

Jen Tu  7:01  
Well, at first, we're gonna, like, send out the form all the form first, and they're gonna pick like, nine people from that. 

Evan Franulovich  7:09  
Nine? 

Jen Tu  7:10  
Nine. But only seven people up here. Oh, yeah. And like, after that, like, from my position only, we have to have individual interview, and then group interview.

Evan Franulovich  7:24  
It seems like a great job if you're going to be, I mean, because you get paid really to have fun...

Jen Tu  7:30  
Yes, yes. 

Evan Franulovich  7:30  
...it seems to me. What's been your favorite activity that you've been involved with so far?

Jen Tu  7:37  
Honestly, I love doing videos, because I'm marketing. So I just like doing the videos, like, doing the content. I love scrolling TikTok. 

Evan Franulovich  7:46  
That's really cool. 

Jen Tu  7:48  
Oh, I like these contents. So, I just save it and then just do it with others.

Evan Franulovich  7:52  
That's really cool. Like, can you give me an example? 

Jen Tu  7:55  
For example, like, during the five fest, Halloween party that our IA (International Ambassador) hosted last year, It was so good. When I scrolled on TikTok, I saw like someone like wearing glasses with a word, and just take photo with everyone. I like it. 

Evan Franulovich  8:09  
That's cool. 

Jen Tu  8:10  
So I just make one and ask all the students to wear it and take a photo. 

Evan Franulovich  8:15  
That's really cool. 

Jen Tu  8:16  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  8:16  
And we do have a TikTok channel, so check that out as well. Wow, really cool. Did you enjoy orientation? 

Jen Tu  8:23  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  8:24  
Yeah, I did too. 

Jen Tu  8:25  
I mean, like, I was inspired by all other IA's during the orientations. That's why I want to be an IA.

Evan Franulovich  8:33  
Wow. In what way were you inspired? Like, what were they doing that was so inspiring?

Jen Tu  8:37  
Well, like, for me, I was the kind of person, like, kind of shy to help others. 

Evan Franulovich  8:44  
You don't seem shy. 

Jen Tu  8:46  
Before I went to the US, I was kind of shy because, like, I don't know how to have  an opportunity to do something.

Evan Franulovich  8:51  
Yeah. 

Jen Tu  8:52  
But I went here, and during the orientations, I saw, like, all the IA (International Ambassadors) are just so open, like, so like, ready to work. And that's really what means, oh, this is a new environment, maybe I should change myself. 

Evan Franulovich  8:52  
That's really cool. 

Jen Tu  8:52  
Yeah. And during all orientations, I try to, like, make that energy again for the other students so they can really get inspired by me and, like, want to be an IA in the future. 

Evan Franulovich  9:16  
Very cool. Good for you. That's awesome. So you have how much longer again, tell me again, until you graduate? 

Jen Tu  9:24  
Spring. 

Evan Franulovich  9:25  
Spring. So it's coming up. 

Jen Tu  9:26  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  9:27  
It's coming up very soon. Are you planning to attend the graduation ceremony that's at the park? 

Jen Tu  9:33  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  9:33  
Yeah, it's really good. Your family going to come? 

Jen Tu  9:36  
I don't know. Yeah, because my mom, my dad, is kind of busy with the job, and like, my brother too. 

Evan Franulovich  9:41  
Sure.

Jen Tu  9:41  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  9:42  
Is your brother...? So he was working. He's not an international student?

Jen Tu  9:46  
Oh, my brother, he's still in Vietnam. He's young, but like, next year, I think he's gonna have, like, a high school test to go to the university, so he's kind of busy, I don't think he has time to come. 

Evan Franulovich  9:58  
How old is he? 

Jen Tu  9:59  
He's like... Idk. Um, he's doing the high school stuff, and he's like, gonna do it. 

Evan Franulovich  10:08  
So he's younger than you. 

Jen Tu  10:09  
Younger than me. 

Evan Franulovich  10:10  
Very cool. Wow. So let's go back to when you were in Vietnam before you came to the United States, or had you been to the United States before? 

Jen Tu  10:19  
No, first time. 

Evan Franulovich  10:20  
Yeah. So what made you think about becoming an international student?

Jen Tu  10:25  
Since I was young, I want to be like, I want to study abroad since it was since I was young.

Evan Franulovich  10:29  
You always knew? 

Jen Tu  10:30  
Yes, I always knew. But like, at first, when I was grade 10, I want to go to America, Seattle. I haven't decided which school. I was still in high school, right? I want to study, maybe go to high school, but then pandemic.

Evan Franulovich  10:46  
Oh, the pandemic. 

Jen Tu  10:48  
It's like, 2019. 

Evan Franulovich  10:49  
Yeah, yeah. 

Jen Tu  10:50  
So this happened, and then, I had to wait until 2020. Then I plan to go to Taiwan, because I went to Taiwan once, and it's so good, I love the environment and people there. Pandemic again. The second time it is even worse. Everything is locked out. And I think, 'Okay, maybe I might not have the opportunity again'. But when I went to the University for one year in Vietnam. In Vietnam, I went to university, like University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City been there for one year, and then student academy. No, I don't want it, because it made me feel like I'm just in my safe place, safe zone. I want to step out. So I asked my mom this time I want to go again. Yeah, so I just applied everything so smooth, and I'm here. 

Evan Franulovich  11:02  
So you knew you wanted to go to the city of Seattle. Why Seattle? 

Jen Tu  11:18  
Because Seattle, they have, like, a lot of opportunities for jobs, like Microsoft, Amazon, a lot of opportunities. And I love UDub. 

Evan Franulovich  11:57  
You love UDub? Great school.

Jen Tu  11:59  
I watch a lot of like, like, news and love, like, via lock of other students, just so pretty, yeah, and like, so professional, the professor, students, like, it's just so good for me to have an opportunity for that. So I want to go here. 

Evan Franulovich  12:13  
Do you have family in Seattle? 

Jen Tu  12:15  
I have my auntie. 

Evan Franulovich  12:16  
Oh, you do have your auntie? 

Jen Tu  12:17  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  12:17  
So are you living with her? 

Jen Tu  12:18  
Yes, I live with her. 

Evan Franulovich  12:19  
That's really nice. 

Jen Tu  12:20  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  12:21  
And does she live near central campus?

Jen Tu  12:24  
In the south. 

Evan Franulovich  12:25  
She lives in the south. 

Jen Tu  12:26  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  12:27  
And you decided to come to the central campus, we also have our North and our South campus. Is there a reason you chose Central instead of North or South? 

Jen Tu  12:36  
Because, first of all, Central is the nearest one. Yeah, it's nearest one. I use the bus, I just only have, like, about 30 minutes to go here. But if I go to North, it's like an hour, or if, like, went to South with the busses, it's also an hour. 

Evan Franulovich  12:51  
Oh, so this is the best option for you. 

Jen Tu  12:53  
And like my agency, they say that Seattle Central is the best school for international students, as, like, half of it is international students. 

Evan Franulovich  13:02  
There's a lot of international students.

Jen Tu  13:03  
And Vietnamese students. 

Evan Franulovich  13:04  
That's true. 

Jen Tu  13:05  
Yeah, that's not just Central.

Evan Franulovich  13:07  
So there are a lot of Vietnamese students. In fact, I would say it's probably one of our biggest demographics. So does that sometimes make you feel like, oh, there's too many people. Like, it's easy to get tempted to just speak in Vietnamese rather than in English, do you think it's been a problem for you, or do you really like it?

Jen Tu  13:27  
Half, half. 

Evan Franulovich  13:28  
Half and half. 

Jen Tu  13:28  
Yeah, because, like a lot of Vietnamese students, make me feel like an international Vietnamese school, because I also went to international school before, when I was like, really, really young. 

Evan Franulovich  13:39  
Yeah, yeah. 

Jen Tu  13:40  
And let me feel like, well, even though I can speak Vietnamese, I have like, a really, like, like, familiar environment. But I went to the US because I want to change my environment. That's why I feel like it's good, but it's not too good.

Evan Franulovich  13:54  
Yeah, we have a huge Asian community. 

Jen Tu  13:57  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  13:57  
People from all over Asia, including Vietnam. I mean, we have a part of town called Little Vietnam, so it's easy to do that. I know a lot of students. They like it. They just make a special effort to limit the amount of time they spend with other venue students. Is that what you do as well? Or do you just find that you have so many other friends from other different parts of the country, or a lot of domestic student friends?

Jen Tu  14:22  
Well, honestly, even though there is a lot of Vietnamese in this school, I don't have many Vietnamese friends.

Evan Franulovich  14:27  
That's great.

Jen Tu  14:28  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  14:29  
I mean, it's not great. 

Jen Tu  14:31  
Because when I talk with them, I feel like, we're don't really like connect. Maybe like, it's not because their nationality or something. It's just like personal, personal stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  14:43  
Sure. 

Jen Tu  14:43  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  14:44  
Cool. So when you got here, did you have to do any of the Intensive English Program before you started your program? Or did you go right into college? 

Jen Tu  14:52  
Right into college. Because I went to university for one year. 

Evan Franulovich  14:55  
Yes, that's true.

Jen Tu  14:56  
And before I went to the university, I had to take the IELTS class.

Evan Franulovich  14:59  
Gotcha.

Jen Tu  14:59  
 Yes, it's like requirement, so I just finished everything. 

Evan Franulovich  15:02  
Yeah, your English is amazing, so that's really great. 

Jen Tu  15:04  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  15:04  
No problem. So the other question I was going to ask you was related to intensive English, but you're good to go there. Well, anyway, moving on. So you have a housing situation where you stay with your auntie, right? And you use public transportation to get to the school. People ask about using public transportation in Seattle. What's been your experience? Has it been easy for you? Is it complicated to get around? Has it been safe?

Jen Tu  15:37  
First of all, it's really convenient. 

Evan Franulovich  15:38  
Yeah, it's super convenient. 

Jen Tu  15:39  
I just need to sit there and wait for like, a half an hour and then walk back, like, next to a station near the school, it's really convenient. Honestly, for me sometimes, just sometimes, I don't really feel like that safe in a station, because, like, a lot of you know... 

Evan Franulovich  15:55  
People walking around. 

Jen Tu  15:56  
Yeah, and like, they're yelling, they're sleeping, like, a lot of our stuff. So like, for me as a girl and not too big, it's really important for you to pay attention to your surrounding and like to just to make sure that I'm safe. 

Evan Franulovich  15:56  
Yeah. Okay, so what about your classes? So you're taking business classes here in order to get into this great program at UW what's been your favorite class so far? What have you really thought was amazing?

Jen Tu  16:31  
One of my favorite classes, I don't think, is related to business. It's like introductions to Sociology, SOC 101. I took that with Professor Scott. He's so good. I learned a lot about people. That was my first class I took when I came to the US. And I was like, 'Hmm, what is it?'. And he show us, like, how people react to situations, like, why such things happen in our society? And I learned that, I mean, like, oh, so our diversity came from that. Like our environment shaped who we are. So when we can go to another country, go to another environment, we might have some differences and that, how it work, like clicks, like sociality, sociology, like from top to the bottom people from this place to that place, like what shape them, make them who they are. 

Evan Franulovich  17:26  
That's really cool. Yeah, I never took Sociology. I took psychology classes when I was in an undergrad, and I loved them, I thought they were great. Shout out to Professor Mauer at Angelo State University. He was one of my favorite professors, he was amazing. Really widened my point on things. So that's really cool you did that. So going back, so you are always interested in coming, you talk to your mom, she's like, 'Okay, go to the US'. You applied. A lot of students in Vietnam use agents, were you one of those students? Or did you apply directly? 

Jen Tu  17:28  
I used an agency. 

Evan Franulovich  17:59  
You did use an agency. 

Jen Tu  18:03  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:04  
And did you have a great experience?

Jen Tu  18:06  
Yeah. Because I talked with her and say, hey, I want to go study to the US. I want to go to Seattle. Do you know which school? Because I said I want to go to UW, but I don't want to go directly to UW, because, first of all, the tuition fee is really high, and it was just like, the first year we came to the US is directly to UW, a little overwhelmed. So asked her 'Do you have other choice?', she said, 'Oh, you can go to a college, and Seattle Central College is a good college to start'.

Evan Franulovich  18:39  
Oh, that's great. 

Jen Tu  18:40  
And it's free, because I went to the agency and you said, 'Oh, luckily, it's, like, our 10 years anniversary, so you need to pay an amount of money and when I came to the US, she had a payback for me. It was free. Why not? 

Evan Franulovich  18:57  
That's really great. 

Jen Tu  18:58  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:59  
Did you know anything about community college before you talk to her? 

Jen Tu  19:05  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  19:06  
So this is all new. So for listeners, maybe back in your region that don't know much about community colleges, can you kind of explain to them what this community college thing you're doing is, and why maybe a choice like Seattle Colleges is a good idea. Like, Why would you come to a community college? What is it?

Jen Tu  19:23  
Well, community college, for me, in my perspective, it's just like you're taking some credit from this school so you can transfer to all the school with a cheaper price.

Evan Franulovich  19:34  
And it's university credit, to be clear. 

Jen Tu  19:36  
Yes. And also, like, it's a community college, so everything is just like, slower compared to the university, and just chill. So when you just first came to the US, this environment gonna be like, good for you to, like, slowly shape yourself into this environment and help you to go to the university easier.

Evan Franulovich  19:57  
Yeah. I see, I think some parents hear the word college and they get concerned that it's like a high school. It is university work. In fact, we occasionally have UW students coming here to do prerequisites because of some of the reasons you talked about cost. It's a little bit smaller class sizes. It's just a much more friendly environment for some of those first couple years. So yeah, community college is a great way to start. I was a community college student, so I'm a big believer. Well, that's really cool. And then you had to go and apply, get accepted. You got your I-20. Did you have to go to Hanoi for your visa interview? Or did you do it in Ho Chi Minh City? 

Jen Tu  20:42  
Ho Chi Minh City. 

Evan Franulovich  20:42  
Oh, you did. 

Jen Tu  20:43  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  20:43  
Okay. And then how long did it take for you to get your interview?

Jen Tu  20:48  
Well, like honestly, after I had the letter, I just needed, like two weeks to do the interview. 

Evan Franulovich  20:56  
2 weeks? 

Jen Tu  20:57  
But I said no, I wanted to do it like a month after that, because I have a military month in my university. 

Evan Franulovich  21:04  
Gotcha. 

Jen Tu  21:06  
I think it's such a unique thing that we only have in Vietnam as students. So I wanted to try that first before I went to the US. I asked my mom, can I just stay a little bit until June, so I can enjoy a whole military month with my university friends. 

Evan Franulovich  21:25  
Yeah, that's cool. 

Jen Tu  21:26  
Yeah. I mean, like, I enjoyed it.

Evan Franulovich  21:28  
Wow, that's right. And so your first quarter was then Summer? 

Jen Tu  21:33  
Fall. 

Evan Franulovich  21:33  
It was fall.  

Jen Tu  21:34  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  21:35  
Cool. And the interview, did it last very long? 

Jen Tu  21:41  
Less than 10 minutes. 

Evan Franulovich  21:42  
Less than 10 minutes. 

Jen Tu  21:43  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  21:43  
And do you remember what kinds of questions they asked? 

Jen Tu  21:46  
Yeah. Firstly, she just asked me about, like, my transcripts, high school and university transcripts. And then she asked me which school I'm going to and why? I said, well, I left this school because I would like to UDub, and have diversity, and I want to, like, enter to like outdoor activities, more than that. And she asked me, 'What is it? Why you want to enter like those outdoor activities?', I said, because I want to improve myself. Learn soft skill and learn, like, leadership skill. I really learned a lot from that year. 

Evan Franulovich  21:46  
Yeah, so when you say outdoor activities, what are you talking about, like going snowboarding. I mean, what are you talking about?

Jen Tu  22:29  
Me, outdoor activity is just like out of school activities, not academic activities.

Evan Franulovich  22:35  
Okay, gotcha. So extracurricular activities. 

Jen Tu  22:38  
Yes, yes, yes, yes. 

Evan Franulovich  22:39  
I understand now, yeah, cool. And what kinds of extracurricular activities are you involved with, other than being an international ambassador?

Jen Tu  22:47  
Well before being an IA (International Ambassador), I was an officer of an international club. 

Evan Franulovich  22:54  
Oh, that's cool. 

Jen Tu  22:54  
Yeah. And I also joined the volunteers at community Lunch Club at Capital Hill. 

Evan Franulovich  23:03  
Where is that?

Jen Tu  23:03  
Yeah, I do a lot of stuff. Next to our school, like, just like, 10 minutes to walk away. Yeah, it is a food bank. 

Evan Franulovich  23:11  
That's cool. 

Jen Tu  23:12  
I worked there for six months. Yeah, it's also a credit volunteer. 

Evan Franulovich  23:16  
Is that separate from the college, or is it part of Seattle College?

Jen Tu  23:19  
It's like, separate, but I just joined it because I think, like, why not? Just try everything you have. 

Evan Franulovich  23:24  
But how'd you hear about it? 

Jen Tu  23:26  
My friends worked there before because, like, she has to have another two in person credit. That's why she worked there. And she said, 'Oh, it's really fun over there you can try'. Yeah, just went there and, like, it's really fun, though, because in the college you just work with, like college students and staff, it's more like academic environment. But you go outside and you work volunteer for more than a lot of people, like people who in need, it's more diverse, and you meet more people with more situations in life. 

Evan Franulovich  24:00  
That's really cool. Yeah, I didn't have any extracurricular activities like that when I was in school. That would have been really cool. All right, so we have to watch our time today, but so I need to start wrapping this up. But we have a couple things I want to do before we get there. Oh, wait, do you hear that? That means it's Trivia Time. We got to do Trivia Time as well. Five questions, if you get them all right, you're on our wall of fame. If not, you'll cry to sleep tonight. It's okay. It's just for fun. First question is, what is the capital of the state of Washington. 

Jen Tu  24:43  
Huh? 

Evan Franulovich  24:43  
The capital city of the state of Washington. 

Jen Tu  24:51  
I don't know. 

Evan Franulovich  24:52  
It is Olympia. 

Jen Tu  24:54  
Olympia? 

Evan Franulovich  24:54  
Yeah, Olympia. Have you been to Olympia? 

Jen Tu  24:56  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  24:57  
Oh, you should go. It's not too far away, it's just an hour and a half, two hours by car or by train, it's really pretty convenient. It's a cute little town, but that's where our capitol building is. The governor is there. Yeah, some students travel there from time to time, if they're involved with like, student leadership, because they'll do leadership things down there. 

Jen Tu  25:23  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  25:24  
Second question, this one should be super easy for you. What is the capital of Vietnam? 

Jen Tu  25:28  
Hanoi. 

Evan Franulovich  25:31  
One of the cities I've been to, that's great. Okay, so question number three, what is the state directly south of Washington? 

Jen Tu  25:42  
South of Washington? 

Evan Franulovich  25:43  
Like if you drive from Washington, eventually you'll cross a border into another US state. Do you know what that is? South is toward California. 

Jen Tu  25:52  
California... 

Evan Franulovich  25:53  
But before California, what state is between Washington and California?

Jen Tu  25:57  
I am really bad at geography. 

Evan Franulovich  26:01  
That's all right, these are tough questions. 

Jen Tu  26:03  
Yes.

Evan Franulovich  26:04  
It's Oregon. 

Jen Tu  26:05  
Oregon, I thought it's in the North? 

Evan Franulovich  26:07  
No, that's Canada. So if you go south, you'll run into Oregon, which is where I'm from, and Oregon's a great state. You can get there by train on Amtrak, super easy. So since you've been in the United States, have you done any traveling around the country, or have you just, pretty much stayed in Washington. 

Jen Tu  26:23  
I just went to San Francisco. 

Evan Franulovich  26:26  
Oh, cool. 

Jen Tu  26:27  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:28  
What did you think? 

Jen Tu  26:29  
Huh?

Evan Franulovich  26:29  
Did you like it?

Jen Tu  26:31  
Yeah, because I have a lot of things to do. 

Evan Franulovich  26:34  
Yeah. 

Jen Tu  26:34  
More than Seattle. Seattle, for me, like, it's diverse. 

Evan Franulovich  26:40  
Yeah, yeah. 

Jen Tu  26:40  
But just kind of boring, because it doesn't have a night life here. 

Evan Franulovich  26:45  
In Seattle? 

Jen Tu  26:46  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:47  
We got to connect you with the right people. 

Jen Tu  26:49  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:50  
There is a lot of nightlife here, just to be clear. 

Jen Tu  26:52  
Maybe just that, because I don't have the connections here. But, back in California, I went there because I have my grandma over there. And it was so good, like a lot of Asian stores, a lot of like, Asian food and like, a lot of places to hang out. I mean, like, I kind of enjoy it, though. 

Evan Franulovich  27:10  
It's cool. San Francisco is one of my favorite towns. In fact, it's in my top three New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. There is a lot to do in Seattle, a lot of nightlife. I think we just need to get you connected. 

Jen Tu  27:20  
Yes.

Evan Franulovich  27:21  
Maybe Gina can help you out, she's really good at that. Okay. Question number four, how many credits do you need to be taking in order to stay in status for your visa?

Jen Tu  27:33  
As international students, we have to have at least 12 credits, and seven of them had to be in person.

Evan Franulovich  27:39  
Good information, really good. Okay, final question, super hard. What was the last movie that you went to in the movie theater? 

Jen Tu  27:46  
Movie theater? Wow, I rarely go to the movie theater because I don't have anyone to drive me. 

Evan Franulovich  27:53  
Oh, okay. 

Jen Tu  27:53  
But, like, the last movie was 'Mai'. It was last year, like beginning of the year. It's like a Vietnamese movie. 

Evan Franulovich  27:54  
And it showed here in the US? 

Jen Tu  27:54  
Yes. My mom watched it. You should try it. It's about like a girl, a woman, she had a child when she was young, but then she moved to a city to work, and she met these guys, like some love stories, but then they broke up. I mean, it's fun.

Evan Franulovich  28:22  
Oh, and how do you spell it? 

Jen Tu  28:23  
Mai. M-A-I. 

Evan Franulovich  28:25  
M-A-I. Well, there you go. Mai. See if I can find that. I've seen a couple of Vietnamese movies, but they're not very common. We don't see them too often. 

Jen Tu  28:34  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  28:35  
Wow, all right. Well, the last question we always ask our guests. Well, there's two things we do. If you could do like 20 seconds, maybe 10 or 20 seconds of your first language, which was Vietnamese. For those who have never heard this language, this is a great opportunity. It could be advice or, you know, if you just want to say hi to your family, whatever you want to say, but this gives everybody a chance to hear your language.

Jen Tu  29:04  
*Jen Tu's advice in Vietnamese.*

Evan Franulovich  29:27  
Great. Thanks for doing that. And then final question is, if you were to give advice to someone back in your country or back in your region, they're thinking about becoming a student, but maybe they're nervous or they don't really know what to do, what kind of advice would you give them?

Jen Tu  29:42  
Don't hesitate. If you want it, just do it. If you see an opportunity, take it, because it's an opportunity, right? You're not gonna think like, 'Oh, am I gonna have another one?', you can't tell. If you have it, try it. Something new, and you want to do it, do it. 

Evan Franulovich  30:01  
Really good advice. 

Jen Tu  30:02  
Yes.

Evan Franulovich  30:03  
Well, it was so great to talk to you. Thanks for coming on the show. We really appreciate it. 

Jen Tu  30:07  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  30:08  
Don't forget to like and subscribe to the show please. We're here every Wednesday. We have over 100 shows to check out, so check them all out. Good luck. Let us know when you get to the University of Washington. 

Jen Tu  30:20  
Thank you!

Evan Franulovich  30:20  
That's really gonna be fun. And then maybe when you graduate from UW, you can come back and do another show. 

Jen Tu  30:25  
Wow. 

Evan Franulovich  30:25  
That would be cool. 

Jen Tu  30:26  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  30:27  
And we could hear all about how that worked out for you. All right, guys, take care. Thanks. Bye. 

Jen Tu  30:32  
Bye.

Evan Franulovich  30:35  
'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, TikTok or YouTube at Seattle Colleges Intl, that's Seattle Colleges Intl. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on 'Conversations with!' Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.