S3E37: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Sumnima Rai of Nepal

In this our thirty-seventh (37th) episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Sumnima Rai about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Sumnima!

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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  1:07  
Hey everybody! Welcome back to Seattle Colleges 'Conversations with!' We are here again at North Seattle College. I want to represent the other campuses as much as possible. Welcome to North! We want to welcome our second North Nepali guest. So glad you're here. I'm going to let you introduce yourself, tell them where you're from, what you're studying, and how long you've been here. 

Sumnima Rai  1:36  
Yeah, of course, definitely. Thank you so much for having me today. 

Evan Franulovich  1:39  
Sure. 

Sumnima Rai  1:39  
Hi everybody! My name is Sumnima Rai. I've been in this country for almost two years now. I'm from Nepal. Yeah, the land of mountains. And also I'm from Biratnagar, province number one, where I grew up. Thank you for having me. 

Evan Franulovich  2:00  
Sure, yeah. I've been to Nepal, I'm not really sure where you're talking about. 

Sumnima Rai  2:05  
Oh, really?

Evan Franulovich  2:05  
Yeah, I was in Bhaktapur.

Sumnima Rai  2:09  
So you were in near capital. 

Evan Franulovich  2:13  
Yeah, just outside of Kathmandu. 

Sumnima Rai  2:14  
Yeah, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:16  
Compare to Kathmandu, where are you?

Sumnima Rai  2:19  
Oh, my God. Kathmandu is very far away. 

Evan Franulovich  2:23  
East? West? 

Sumnima Rai  2:24  
East. 

Evan Franulovich  2:25  
Oh, to the east. 

Sumnima Rai  2:25  
To the east. 

Evan Franulovich  2:26  
Okay. 

Sumnima Rai  2:27  
The hot, the hot seasons, the greenery. 

Evan Franulovich  2:31  
Can you see the mountains from your village?

Sumnima Rai  2:33  
We can. It's not far, but where I live is Terai, so everything is plain. 

Evan Franulovich  2:46  
Pretty though. 

Sumnima Rai  2:46  
Not like heels in uphills. 

Evan Franulovich  2:48  
Right. But the spring must be gorgeous, because we had mustard fields in Belgium and they would just turn yellow. 

Sumnima Rai  2:56  
Beautiful. 

Evan Franulovich  2:57  
Yeah, check it out. 

Sumnima Rai  2:59  
It's so beautiful. I like mustard fields and mango trees. There's pineapples growing everywhere. Yeah, it's good. It's very different from where you visited Bhaktapur. 

Evan Franulovich  3:12  
Right. 

Sumnima Rai  3:12  
Bhaktapur Is more like mountains and all, but like my place is more clean. 

Evan Franulovich  3:16  
Wow. You know, most Americans I talk to that go to Nepal, they go to Kathmandu, or they go to Pokhara. That's pretty much it. 

Sumnima Rai  3:29  
They should go visit my city, it's underrated. My country is very diverse. Although it's small, it's very diverse. That's actually what I complain to my friends. Everybody seems to go to Kathmandu and Bhaktapur, but what about my city? It's beautiful too. And people are different, there are 120 ethnic groups.

Evan Franulovich  3:57  
Yes. 

Sumnima Rai  3:58  
It's smaller than Washington itself. 

Evan Franulovich  4:02  
For sure, yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  4:03  
I hope people would go to a different state, different province, not just Kathmandu and like Pokhara. There's more to explore, there's more out there. 

Evan Franulovich  4:16  
Get out there. So are you far from Darjeeling? 

Sumnima Rai  4:20  
Darjeeling? Actually, close. 

Evan Franulovich  4:22  
Closer to that. 

Sumnima Rai  4:23  
Closer to Darjeeling, because it's near the border. You've been there?

Evan Franulovich  4:29  
No, no, but I want to go there. 

Sumnima Rai  4:31  
It's beautiful. 

Evan Franulovich  4:32  
So I wonder, just from the border, how far you are from the border?

Sumnima Rai  4:40  
In Nepal, we use public transportation, It would take 5-6 hours.

Evan Franulovich  4:46  
Long time.

Sumnima Rai  4:48  
It's not that far, actually. The traffic in Nepal is crazy. 

Evan Franulovich  4:58  
I know. It's not quite as bad as New Delhi, when I was in India. 

Sumnima Rai  5:03  
You've been to every place. 

Evan Franulovich  5:04  
I've been to a few places, but it's pretty crazy. 

Sumnima Rai  5:07  
Yeah, it is crazy. Very small but very crazy. 

Evan Franulovich  5:12  
But it's alive. So it's a great place to go visit. 

Sumnima Rai  5:15  
Yep. 

Evan Franulovich  5:16  
Well, cool. Let's talk a little bit about what you're doing here. So you got to be an American student over the last two years. But before that, you were back in Nepal, right? 

Sumnima Rai  5:28  
Yep.

Evan Franulovich  5:28  
So did you graduate from secondary school and then come straight to the US? 

Sumnima Rai  5:35  
Yeah, so it's kind of different in Nepal. Here in the USA, I think 12 is also considered high school, right? 

Evan Franulovich  5:47  
Yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  5:47  
It is high school, but you have to pick major at 11. So I was like business student back in my country, 11 and 12, I finished my high school. I finished my college level, and then I just applied, and I'm here now.

Evan Franulovich  6:05  
So when you were younger, did you always dream of going overseas, or did someone just say, 'Hey, you should go study overseas.' How did it work for you? 

Sumnima Rai  6:14  
Funny story. 

Evan Franulovich  6:15  
Yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  6:17  
I never thought that I would come here, and study. It wasn't until I was 11, that I transferred to a different college, right? Different College, different students, different people. And all of them were planning to go out, because the education system in Nepal is not really good. Our government is working on the quality of education system, but right now it's not good. So all of my friends were like, 'Oh, I need to go to Australia. I need to go to Canada.' Am I really going? I don't know. By 12, I made up my mind, I talked to my parents. the U.S was not my first choice. 

Evan Franulovich  7:10  
That's all right. What was your first choice? 

Sumnima Rai  7:12  
Australia. I have a lot of friends from college, they are in Sydney. And then we were all planning to go to Sydney. But you know why I did not apply to Australia? Because the visa rate, the approval of visa rate, it tend to decline... 

Evan Franulovich  7:33  
Sure. 

Sumnima Rai  7:33  
At the time I was hoping to apply, my dear father said 'Why don't you just go to America, the greatest country? If you are leaving, just go to the greatest.' And I was like, 'Are you sure about it? I think would be very expensive.' But it was expensive in Australia too. And my dad said, 'No, you should go. There will be better opportunities.' I did my paperwork, everything, application and everything, and I'm here now.

Evan Franulovich  8:07  
But you know, The US is a big place, there are hundreds and hundreds of universities and colleges. Why Seattle Colleges? 

Sumnima Rai  8:15  
This is a funny story. 

Evan Franulovich  8:18  
Okay. 

Sumnima Rai  8:18  
Please do not judge me. I came here through consultancy, right? When I was back in Nepal, I had really no good idea of, the application and how to apply. So I took help from agency. 

Evan Franulovich  8:35  
Sure, a lot of people do. 

Sumnima Rai  8:36  
Yeah, a lot of people do, right. But if they do their research, they can do it by themselves. They don't have to pay. But back to my story, my counselor, she brought America's map, and she was like, 'This is the West Coast, this is good.' And I was like, 'This area looks good.' She told me that North Seattle College is next to Northgate, and there's a bridge you can go on. It's a really good place to go. She had one old student who attended the college, so she recommended me. So I was like, 'Yeah, I will go to North Seattle College.' And then we started to do our paperwork, this, that and I landed here. 

Evan Franulovich  9:28  
Wow. 

Sumnima Rai  9:30  
It wasn't a good research and everything, but I'm really grateful that I ended up here. Such a nice place, nice college. I have found my place. 

Evan Franulovich  9:42  
Oh, good. 

Sumnima Rai  9:43  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  9:44  
No family in Seattle? 

Sumnima Rai  9:46  
Nobody. 

Evan Franulovich  9:47  
So you're here all by yourself. 

Sumnima Rai  9:49  
I would say, for me right now, my family are my friends. I have such a good community, such a nice people that I study with that I hang out with my friends, they are all nice. I would consider them my family right now. 

Evan Franulovich  10:12  
That's awesome. 

Sumnima Rai  10:13  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  10:14  
And I've heard that from other students, so that's really heartening to hear that. A lot of students actually have uncles or aunts that live here. I didn't know if that was your case. So it's pretty brave of you to just get on a plane and go to a city you've never been to. What did you think Seattle would be before you left Nepal? 

Sumnima Rai  10:37  
After saying yes to North Seattle College, I did my research. The first thing was Seattle images, and I was looking, 'Oh, this is a tech hub. Oh, this is the Starbucks headquarters. This city is thriving and very liberal.' And then, I was like, 'Oh, this looks good.' And then I saw the weather. 

Evan Franulovich  11:04  
Today is beautiful. 

Sumnima Rai  11:13  
They said that it's raining most of the time. I'm from Nepal, and it's sunny every day. Would I be depressed if I go to Seattle? 

Evan Franulovich  11:25  
Let's ask, have you been? 

Sumnima Rai  11:27  
Not really, sometimes. I should not blame the weather, but I always do. 

Evan Franulovich  11:36  
You should. 

Sumnima Rai  11:37  
I should not, but I always do. Yeah, that's a different story. But then I really felt like this city is thriving, there's a lot of young people. And then I read about University of Washington, I made my mind, maybe I can transfer. 

Evan Franulovich  11:56  
Of course, yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  11:58  
And then I saw it, and felt like I should really go. 

Evan Franulovich  12:05  
This particular winter has been wet and dark, but the winner before that wasn't too bad. You've been here a couple years now, so it kind of depends on the year.

Sumnima Rai  12:16  
I think last year it was raining a lot, but this year not a lot. 

Evan Franulovich  12:23  
Oh, okay. Well, it's starting to get really nice, and from here out until the end of summer, it should be really nice. I mean, we'll get some rain for the spring. Well, cool. You applied, then you got accepted. Shout out to the agent for helping send her to North Seattle. We appreciate that. You got a I-20 and then you had to do a visa interview. How long did it take from the time you got your I-20 to the time you took your interview? Was it a month? Two months? 

Sumnima Rai  12:56  
I got my I-20, and the wait time not was not very long. In Nepal, a lot of students want to go out, especially to the US, they want to do bachelors and masters. I was hoping to get my interview date, it took me almost two and a half months. 

Evan Franulovich  13:29  
It's not surprising. 

Sumnima Rai  13:30  
It's very competitive, because a lot of students want to get in. I used to be in this Telegram, that was the only reason why I ended up installing Telegram. But there was a group that would just alert you whenever the slot would open. Even when I was eating, I was looking for the date. I used to work when I was back in Nepal, I used to teach at a school. So I think I was very lucky, because that day I got sick, I think that was luck. I was resting in bed, I did not go to my work, while I was drinking my soup, I opened Telegram, and new spots opened. I hit it, and got my interview date. After getting that interview date, I was like, 'Yeah, I got my visa.' I did not even go to the interview yet. 

Evan Franulovich  13:30  
Pretty confident. 

Sumnima Rai  14:07  
I was very confident that I would definitely get it. 

Evan Franulovich  14:52  
Okay, well, it's not that easy normally. Here's the exception, It sounds like you had your date, and then once you got there, how long was your interview?

Sumnima Rai  15:05  
The whole process of going into the embassy? 

Evan Franulovich  15:09  
Just how long they actually talked to you, they questioned you?

Sumnima Rai  15:12  
I think I was very lucky about it, two minutes. 

Evan Franulovich  15:15  
Oh. 

Sumnima Rai  15:16  
Not even two minutes. 

Evan Franulovich  15:17  
Very fast. 

Sumnima Rai  15:18  
They they made their judgment very fast, because I had all my papers with me I needed. Then they asked me, 'Oh, which college are you going to? Do you want me to share that?'

Evan Franulovich  15:18  
Sure.

Sumnima Rai  15:23  
I said 'North Seattle College.' And that curly hair lady, she was like, 'North Seattle College, good college.' And I was like, 'Okay.' And she asked me what major I said, 'My major was associates in accounting leading to bachelors.' She asked me about what my father does because, because you have to prove a strong, financial background that you can afford to study. 

Evan Franulovich  16:09  
Sure. 

Sumnima Rai  16:09  
So I just told her, because my father has a manufacturing company, they manufacture bio sand filters. It's a Canadian technology filter. And then I was just telling her that I've seen my father doing this, so I feel like I also want to study international business, so some day I could help. I was trying to say more, and she grabbed the green sleeve, my approval sleeve, and gave it to me. 

Evan Franulovich  16:41  
Wow! 

Sumnima Rai  16:43  
Yeah, it was it. It was very rough for me, because two days before my interview, I lost my grandma. So that was really hard for me. 

Evan Franulovich  16:58  
For sure. 

Sumnima Rai  16:59  
It was very hard for me, because I had nobody in my home. I was alone, and my interview was at 6AM, my uncle was supposed to drive me to Kathmandu. They all went back to my village, my town. I was all alone in the apartment, my brain wasn't working. I had not eaten for two days because I was fasting... 

Evan Franulovich  17:24  
Sure. 

Sumnima Rai  17:25  
...for my grandma. But I know she's very proud of me. 

Evan Franulovich  17:31  
For sure. 

Sumnima Rai  17:31  
She's very proud of me.

Evan Franulovich  17:33  
Wow, what a story. So you had to go do this interview, and then you had to come back.

Sumnima Rai  17:44  
It was for seven days, and I attended my grandma's funeral. 

Evan Franulovich  17:48  
Right, right. And then you had just, all of a sudden, during all of that, you're starting to think about, 'Oh, I'm getting on a plane soon.' How long did you have before you had to get on a plane? 

Sumnima Rai  17:59  
I think one month. 

Evan Franulovich  18:02  
Oh, so you had a little bit of time? 

Sumnima Rai  18:03  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:04  
Oh, that's nice. So what did you do to prepare? Did you go out and buy a bunch of clothes? Did you just spend time on the internet? What'd you do? 

Sumnima Rai  18:12  
I took a lot of time to connect and say goodbye to my family, I visited all of my relatives, and some of them were  crying, and they made me so sad. 

Evan Franulovich  18:30  
Well, now they get to see you.

Sumnima Rai  18:32  
Don't cry. I have a lot of little siblings, and cousins. 

Evan Franulovich  18:39  
Sure.

Sumnima Rai  18:40  
 I call all of my cousins brothers and sisters. It's very different in America. 

Evan Franulovich  18:44  
Right. 

Sumnima Rai  18:44  
You should call your cousins brothers and sisters.

Evan Franulovich  18:58  
But they were supportive too? They were excited for you. 

Sumnima Rai  19:02  
Very supportive. Almost all of them wrote me letters, I still have it. To answer your question, yes, I did a lot of packing, a lot of shopping, clothes, winter clothes and all. I would say you don't need to buy a lot of big jackets. I think a waterproof rain jacket is fine. But I actually purchased a lot of big jackets, and I'm not using them, because the weather is not that bad. 

Evan Franulovich  19:38  
Actually, I like your answer, because a lot of people do talk about buying clothes and that kind of stuff, but saying goodbye to your family is an important part especially if you're going off by yourself. Yeah, that's really important. 

Sumnima Rai  19:51  
That is one of the biggest reason why I could say bye without crying in the airport, because I took a lot of time to actually talk with him, and say goodbye. 

Evan Franulovich  20:04  
Sure. 

Sumnima Rai  20:04  
We had dinners together. Yeah, it was good. 

Evan Franulovich  20:09  
Have your parents ever been to the US? 

Sumnima Rai  20:11  
No.

Evan Franulovich  20:12  
No? 

Sumnima Rai  20:12  
They've never been. 

Evan Franulovich  20:14  
Do you think they'll come see your graduation? 

Sumnima Rai  20:17  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  20:18  
Wow! Well, you've been here two years. So you must be graduating soon? 

Sumnima Rai  20:22  
Almost two years, not yet. The coming fall, it would be two year, and I would be graduating with associates. 

Evan Franulovich  20:30  
Gotcha. Wow, cool, excellent. Will you take summer off? Or are you gonna study through the summer? 

Sumnima Rai  20:37  
I'm planning to do an internship, but I still need to hear back from them. If I get the internship, and they want me to work full time, then maybe not, I wouldn't take classes. I actually want to take classes, I want to finish it early. 

Evan Franulovich  21:02  
You started off as an accounting major, you said? 

Sumnima Rai  21:06  
Yeah, I wanted to transfer to international business, because that was my background, right? I had to pick a major and I was like, business, okay. And recently, things are happening around the world, the wars, the politics, I feel for them a lot. So that is why I had to come to this decision that I want to get into those offices where they make policies so we can do better things, so we can make like our community better. 

Evan Franulovich  22:03  
That's great. Is there a way for you to use your degree back when you get back to Nepal? How would you envision using that degree? 

Sumnima Rai  22:15  
I am actually planning to go back, not permanently, I would definitely want to work here in USA. After my bachelor's degree, I want to go back and try working with a non profit organizations. There's like bunch of non profit organizations in Nepal. As I told you, our education system is not really good. The quality is not good, the skills and the education people get is not practical, to be honest. Only the people who've been working there for a long time, they know what is going on, not the student who gets out of the college and they get the degree, they do not know what to do with it. I feel like here I can get the practical knowledge, and go back and work. 

Evan Franulovich  23:17  
Cool.

Sumnima Rai  23:18  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  23:19  
Well, I hope that works out for you. We'll be watching to see what you end up doing. That'll be very exciting. So you're here, you're studying. What do you do for fun in Seattle? 

Sumnima Rai  23:29  
I love hiking, I like being around the lakes, I love going to oceans. I've been to Mount Rainier. Recently, I went to Rattlesnake with my cousins. 

Evan Franulovich  23:52  
Which is a very popular hike. 

Sumnima Rai  23:54  
Yeah, Rattlesnake. 

Evan Franulovich  23:57  
It's a pretty long hike. 

Sumnima Rai  23:58  
10 miles, I think. Basically, hiking, I can't remember all the hikes that I've been to. 

Evan Franulovich  24:22  
Have you been to the North Cascades National Park yet? 

Sumnima Rai  24:25  
Yes, that was something I wanted to remember. Thank you! 

Evan Franulovich  24:29  
Very beautiful up there. 

Sumnima Rai  24:30  
Yeah, I've been there. It's good. I've been there with my friends. 

Evan Franulovich  24:35  
Olympic National Park? 

Sumnima Rai  24:36  
Olympic National Park? 

Evan Franulovich  24:38  
So if you look across the water, there's all those mountains on the other side.

Sumnima Rai  24:42  
Not yet.

Evan Franulovich  24:43  
Highly recommend it. The nice thing about the Olympics is they're a little lower in altitude, so the snow dissipates a little faster than in some of the other places. And the ocean is over there too, which is pretty nice. 

Sumnima Rai  24:56  
I'm planning to go during the summer with my friends.

Evan Franulovich  25:00  
Right. 

Sumnima Rai  25:00  
But we need to plan. 

Evan Franulovich  25:01  
Right, right. 

Sumnima Rai  25:01  
We need to plan and everything. 

Evan Franulovich  25:03  
Do you have a car? 

Sumnima Rai  25:04  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  25:08  
That's cool. You have friends with vehicles? 

Sumnima Rai  25:11  
Yes. I always say 'Drive, please. Just take me away.' Especially my brother, I call him brother. He's from Nepal, just call him brother. 

Evan Franulovich  25:25  
Sure. 

Sumnima Rai  25:25  
But yeah, he drives. 

Evan Franulovich  25:27  
Cool. Is there a pretty large Nepali community in Seattle? 

Sumnima Rai  25:32  
I would say yes, but hidden. They are all busy. I think that we really have a strong community here. One of the reasons why I met my first roommate was because of the strong community here. I found my stay here in Northgate, just by talking with to her on Facebook. 

Evan Franulovich  26:03  
A lot of people do that, so it's a really good way to do it. 

Sumnima Rai  26:05  
They have Facebook, Instagram groups, like Nepalese people in Seattle. I joined them, and said 'I'm looking for a roommate. Can anyone help?' And my friend's sister reached out to me, and she was like, 'Yeah, I do. Do you want to be my roommate?' 

Evan Franulovich  26:25  
Perfect. 

Sumnima Rai  26:26  
And then we organize different events, and then we get together, we have fun, dancing, worship, food.

Evan Franulovich  26:35  
Great food in Nepal, oh my gosh. Loved it. 

Sumnima Rai  26:38  
You like it? 

Evan Franulovich  26:40  
I do, yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  26:41  
Yeah, it's good. 

Evan Franulovich  26:41  
So, that brings up housing then, so you met your roommate. You had her as soon as you arrived? 

Sumnima Rai  26:49  
Yeah, she was so sweet. Shout out to Sumi Didi, for being such a nice person. Her friend, my another brother, I call him brother as well. He was the one who drove all the way from Northgate to SeaTac to pick me up. And I was like, 'Oh my God, where am I?' My brain wasn't working. It was September, so the weather was good. And then when I came back to my roommate's place, and all cooked rice, lantern, everything? 

Evan Franulovich  27:38  
That's great. 

Sumnima Rai  27:40  
Although she was working overtime, she prepared everything. And the brother gave me the keys and I went inside, and everything was prepared for me. 

Evan Franulovich  27:53  
That's awesome. 

Sumnima Rai  27:54  
Yes, it was good. 

Evan Franulovich  27:55  
And are you guys still roommates?

Sumnima Rai  27:58  
Not anymore. We had to move. 

Evan Franulovich  28:04  
Sure. 

Sumnima Rai  28:04  
We are still very close, and she's really sweet, really nice. 

Evan Franulovich  28:09  
So you've only done apartments since you've been here?

Sumnima Rai  28:13  
Yes, just apartments.

Evan Franulovich  28:15  
Cool. Some people do homestays, some people live in the dorms, but you've always had an apartment. 

Sumnima Rai  28:21  
Not really, always apartment. I think I'm very lucky, because the Nepali community here is very welcoming, very caring. So even if you don't find a place or you have to move out, emergency and you do not have anybody, there's always people who are like, 'Oh, come to my place. Even if it's just for two or three days, come to my place. We'll host you.' I feel really proud of my people, they are so sweet. 

Evan Franulovich  28:57  
That's very sweet. That's really nice to have that support. 

Sumnima Rai  29:01  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  29:04  
I'm curious about your classes that you've been taking. What's been your favorite class? 

Sumnima Rai  29:10  
Recently, last quarter, I took a sociology class. Shout out to my professor, Geoffrey. He is such a nice professor. He says that I'm here to help, he really does care for us. He's very flexible, even if you don't understand the subject, he will talk more about it. He give us time, attention. Sociology class, I've learned a lot about individuality, like society, how it is interconnected. When people hear about sociology, people might think that, 'Oh, it's just about being in a society and part of a community.' It is also about understanding what truly your nature is like, understanding individual first, and then see how much you impact others. And that is individual. Makes community, something like that. So that was the whole theme of that class. 

Evan Franulovich  30:25  
Cool.

Sumnima Rai  30:26  
 I would definitely like recommend you taking that class. Geoffrey's sociology classes is good. 

Evan Franulovich  30:33  
Nice. And your your actual associates degree will be in what subject? 

Sumnima Rai  30:39  
It's art. But the thing is that it's a liberal art, right? So I can get into different majors, right? But right now, I'm trying to get into public policy, right? So I'm taking political science classes. 

Evan Franulovich  30:58  
Sure, make sense. 

Sumnima Rai  30:59  
Okay, so after sociology, I think political science. I'm loving it like the other recent affairs, like political affairs of government, how it runs, and then power and everything. That's something I am really interested in it. So, studying those two subjects together last quarter was a lot of work. 

Evan Franulovich  31:24  
And are you in class with both international and domestic students? 

Sumnima Rai  31:30  
I feel like political science class. I think there were two more international students.

Evan Franulovich  31:38  
You would bring an interesting perspective to all the topics. 

Sumnima Rai  31:42  
I mean, this was my first time taking political science class, right? Because in Nepal, we do have social social studies, it talks little about politics, not as much as what I learned in that class. So it was very interesting for me to understand the legislative system, the branches of government.

Evan Franulovich  32:07  
And uniquely American, very different. 

Sumnima Rai  32:10  
Very different from my country. My country is small, that's why it's simple. Here, we got the House of Representative,Senators. I really enjoyed it.

Evan Franulovich  32:25  
Yeah, that's cool. Yeah, I'm glad you enjoyed it. That's great. Have you been able to secure any scholarships while you've been here? 

Sumnima Rai  32:35  
I am very thankful to Seattle Foundation Scholarship, because this academic year, they are covering most of my tuition fees ($5,000).

Evan Franulovich  32:47  
$5,000. 

Sumnima Rai  32:48  
Yay.

Evan Franulovich  32:48  
That's the maximum amount. That's awesome! 

Sumnima Rai  32:50  
Yeah, I distributed it to three quarters. 

Evan Franulovich  32:54  
Sure, yeah. That's great! 

Sumnima Rai  32:57  
So I feel really fortunate that I got this scholarship because last year, I was really struggling financially. I did not wanted to ask my parents for money, and I just got the scholarship. I was like, oh my God, I told my parents, and they're like, oh my God. And some of my friends also got it. So I'm really happy for them too. 

Evan Franulovich  33:25  
Yeah, a lot of people don't apply for it though, I've asked around.

Sumnima Rai  33:30  
Please do apply. I think the deadline is gone. 

Evan Franulovich  33:33  
It's March. 

Sumnima Rai  33:37  
It's a great opportunity. Just write some essays, your true stories, your true intention behind your studies like that is very simple, yet complicated, but you just gotta write in the right language. But I feel like, if you can get $5000 just by writing two or three essays... 

Evan Franulovich  34:04  
It's worth it, right? 

Sumnima Rai  34:05  
...very worth it. More than worth it. 

Evan Franulovich  34:08  
Half of the students that apply for this get it. It's like a flip of a coin, it's a very good chance.

Sumnima Rai  34:15  
Do not try to lie, just present your true stories or authentic stories. And I feel like that would be very helpful.

Evan Franulovich  34:25  
How about the other scholarships? Are you part of Phi Theta Kappa?

Sumnima Rai  34:29  
Not really be. I think some of the international students are not qualified for financial aid or something. But I would like to mention that there are some emergency funds... 

Evan Franulovich  34:44  
That's true. 

Sumnima Rai  34:44  
...that are available for international students. Because I know, like a lot of students out who are watching this are international students. You can go to their website, emergency funding. Some quarters they run out of funds easily. But at the beginning starting of the quarter, you can always ask for emergency funding. They can cover your housing, food insecurity, there's funds for that too. Or they can send you to different resources, which can help you with those things. I feel like there's a lot of resources, scholarships, everything. You just need to gotta talk and find it, go to the website, search it up, and there should be something for you.

Evan Franulovich  35:31  
And talk to your fellow students, because some have been here a while, and they can tell you where you need to go. We have a food bank, they can show you what it is. If you need clothing for an interview, or something we have clothing.

Sumnima Rai  35:46  
If you are new, it would be very hard to navigate all those resources. But once you are here for two or three quarters, you get to meet new people a lot. There are a lot of resources, you would be good. 

Evan Franulovich  36:00  
North Campus is a little confusing sometimes, because there's multiple levels, and there's all these buildings, so finding your way around can be a little confusing for some people.

Sumnima Rai  36:11  
That is why we have student government. 

Evan Franulovich  36:14  
That's right. 

Sumnima Rai  36:15  
I'm a part of student government as well. That's why we have student leadership. We have student leaders who can can help you navigate all those challenges, like help you find certain offices, or certain resources on campus. It's better for students, if they're new, to connect with student leaders, like mentors. 

Evan Franulovich  36:40  
For sure. 

Sumnima Rai  36:41  
They are students as well, and they are pretty much free. They can help them.

Evan Franulovich  36:45  
Right, right. Put yourself out there a little bit. I actually saw her for the first time on stage, right? It was during the Asian  New Year. I don't want to say, because it was Vietnamese New Year, Chinese New Year. So there was four people up on stage talking someone from Mongolia, you, someone from China, Vietnam. Yeah, it was really great. But then there were so many international students at that event, it was really good. So get out there, talk to people. And do you get paid to be a student leader? 

Sumnima Rai  37:20  
Yes, I do. I'm really grateful for this, that I'm getting paid as a student leader, and also work with the AANAPISI Program.

Evan Franulovich  37:30  
Oh, yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  37:31  
I'm a peer mentor. The panel you were talking about, was from AANAPISI. I would like to talk about it.

Evan Franulovich  37:40  
Talk it about please. We haven't talked about it enough. 

Sumnima Rai  37:43  
AANAPISI is a great program here at North Seattle College. It stands for Asian American Pacific Islander Serving Institute. So at AANAPISI, we do have our own space for students and for anyone who wants to just hang out and use that space as their study space, it's called Epic. And we do organize different events on campus. There's upcoming events that are taking places this quarter. Community builder events, educational, we go to tours outside of campus. It's a great place and program for you to find your people, and create your community, and make some good friends. 

Evan Franulovich  38:34  
Yeah, you'll see them. In fact, today they had an event, and you had a table at the event, which you got to sit at. 

Sumnima Rai  38:42  
Yeah, yeah. So today we had a club fair, it's called the student engagement fair. So there were bunch of resources and clubs, I think pretty much all of them attended today. They had their own table, and they were giving handouts andinformation about their resources. 

Evan Franulovich  39:02  
I got some new stickers today, because there are people handing out different swag. 

Sumnima Rai  39:06  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  39:06  
They had like the rocket club and the robotics club, and they had the neuro diversity.

Sumnima Rai  39:12  
Botany Club.

Evan Franulovich  39:15  
The Space Club. It's cool. 

Sumnima Rai  39:17  
Computer Engineering Club, Reading Club. 

Evan Franulovich  39:21  
And there's also a number of sports, if you're not into those kinds of things. There's also sports groups that do things.

Sumnima Rai  39:28  
Basketball club, there's a badminton club. I would like to talk about the badminton club. My friend is the president of badminton club, and he's really great with creating space for people to come and join the club. I'm not quite sure about the data. I think it's Wednesday, they meet at Royal Flores Wellness Center, the basketball court, and then they play together. So if you are interested in the badminton club, search it up.

Evan Franulovich  40:01  
And they just did a tournament not too long ago, that a number of our international students participated in.

Sumnima Rai  40:12  
My friend who established this club as an international student, all the international student showing up, and it's good.

Evan Franulovich  40:19  
It's not Roger, is it? 

Sumnima Rai  40:21  
It's not Roger, it's Haruki.

Evan Franulovich  40:26  
So if you like that, I've seen ping pong too. That's been pretty popular. Of course, they always have five on five soccer tournaments and basketball tournaments. So yeah, lot of good opportunities. 

Sumnima Rai  40:40  
There's a lot for you guys, a lot. And I would like to say, and if there's a club that you wanted to be a part of, you can always create your own club. 

Evan Franulovich  40:56  
Yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  40:57  
As a club board member, we help student open their own club. We want people and students to create as many clubs as possible. We want to see you guys doing different things. We want to see engagement, right? If you want to start any club, you can.

Evan Franulovich  40:45  
If you like Dungeons and Dragons, and you want to start a Dungeons and Dragons club... 

Sumnima Rai  41:27  
Of course. 

Evan Franulovich  41:27  
...you're gonna find people that want to play it. Yeah, it means it's Trivia Time. Okay, this is the part of the program. We ask five questions. If you get them, all right, you're on our wall of fame. And if you get any wrong, it's okay. We don't torture you or anything, but you will probably cry yourself to sleep tonight. 

Sumnima Rai  41:50  
I feel like I'm gonna. 

Evan Franulovich  41:52  
She's ready, you can tell. 

Sumnima Rai  41:54  
I'm ready. 

Evan Franulovich  41:54  
All right. Question number one, this won't be too difficult. Question number one: The highest mountain in the world resides in which country?

Sumnima Rai  42:04  
Nepal, Mount Everest. 

Evan Franulovich  42:10  
All right, question number two also has to do with Mount Everest. The country on the other side of Mount Everest is which country?

Sumnima Rai  42:18  
China.

Evan Franulovich  42:19  
China! Yeah, I've been on the Chinese side of Mount Everest, but I haven't been on the Tibetan side. 

Sumnima Rai  42:26  
How's the view? 

Evan Franulovich  42:27  
The view was great.

Sumnima Rai  42:27  
Let's let's continue. 

Evan Franulovich  42:28  
I haven't been on top of the mountain. I was at the base very difficult. Yeah, no, difficult. All right. Question number three, we have a baseball team in the city of Seattle that's very popular, many people go. We have a student activity coming up where the students can go as part of the group. What is the name of our baseball team?

Sumnima Rai  42:50  
I'm really not into sports, but is it Mariners? 

Evan Franulovich  42:53  
Yes, it's the Mariners! Ooh, I thought I might beat you on that one. Good job! All right, this one's a little more difficult. There is a state between California and Washington where you're living now, what is that state?

Sumnima Rai  43:08  
Portland? California and Washington? 

Evan Franulovich  43:15  
Yes, here's California, then there's another state, and then there's Washington. 

Sumnima Rai  43:18  
Oh, my God. I know this.

Evan Franulovich  43:18  
I will give you a hint.

Sumnima Rai  43:25  
Oregon.

Evan Franulovich  43:26  
Yes, it's Oregon. Nice job! Portland is in Oregon, it's the biggest city in Oregon. 

Sumnima Rai  43:36  
I might just cry myself to sleep. 

Evan Franulovich  43:37  
Nah, it's okay. Good job! Okay, the last question, super easy, what was the last movie you saw in the movie theaters?

Sumnima Rai  43:47  
I think, Moana 2. 

Evan Franulovich  43:53  
Oh, Moana 2. 

Sumnima Rai  43:55  
After that, I have not watched anything. My friends must be laughing.

Evan Franulovich  43:59  
You are busy studying, you don't have time for movies?

Sumnima Rai  44:02  
I watch movies on my laptop all the time. 

Evan Franulovich  44:06  
Sure, yeah. 

Sumnima Rai  44:07  
But not in theater. I'm not a theater movie person. I love watching movies, I don't really go out to watch movies. 

Evan Franulovich  44:16  
If you're a student coming from another country, I want to encourage you to go out to the movie theater, because they are different than probably in your home country. I lived in Belgium, and I can tell you that the theaters in Belgium are different than US theaters. And I lived in China too, and the theaters in China were definitely different than the two. It's a cultural experience to go to the movie theaters here, highly recommend you do it. Cool. Well, you did great. I gave you a hint, but you made it through. Good job! 

Sumnima Rai  44:46  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  44:47  
All right. Well, we wrap up the program with two things. We always ask our international guests to say something in their first language, in your case, it's Nepali. 

Sumnima Rai  44:47  
Nepali.

Evan Franulovich  44:47  
So it could be just like 15 seconds. You can say hi to your family, or you can give words of encouragement, or whatever you think is important. You can just take 15 seconds.

Sumnima Rai  45:08  
Okay. Wow, I'm so nervous. *Sumnima's advice in Nepali*

Evan Franulovich  45:19  
Wow, great. And then the last thing, of course, you're a veteran. You've been here two years almost, and you have a lot of experience under your belt now. So what kind of wisdom could you offer students back home or even in your region. Maybe they're in India, Bhutan, China, Pakistan, or something, and they're thinking about coming to the US or going overseas. What would what would your advice be?

Sumnima Rai  46:11  
My one piece of advice would be, be open to talking with people. Some of my friends, they are introverts, but then try your best to talk with people, right? Make that connection, make that network. Because at the end of the day, it's the people who will show you and guide you where the resources are. I heard from somebody who was saying that 70% of the jobs depend on whom you surround yourself with, what's your network is, right? So it's very great if you could make that connection with people. Make friends, go to the events, just to attend, and then service. If you get chance of doing an interview, just say yes to it. Even if you're scared, just say yes.

Evan Franulovich  47:14  
It's not scary at all. 

Sumnima Rai  47:16  
Not scary. I really had a fun time. Yeah, that would be my word of encouragement.

Evan Franulovich  47:20  
That's great stuff. Yeah, put yourself out there. 

Sumnima Rai  47:23  
Put yourself out there. 

Evan Franulovich  47:24  
And not only can other people be a resource to you, but you can be a resource to them, which is so wonderful. You're in leadership, so every day she's getting to help people, which is so great, makes people feel good. Well, it's been so good. I have about 1000 other questions, but I do have to cut it short. It's so great that you came on the show. Appreciate it.

Sumnima Rai  47:43  
Thank you so much for having me. This is my first time like doing an interview on podcast, and I really enjoyed it. Thank you so much!

Evan Franulovich  47:51  
Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate it. 

Sumnima Rai  47:52  
You do a great job. 

Evan Franulovich  47:53  
Oh, thanks. 

Sumnima Rai  47:54  
Thank you so much. 

Evan Franulovich  47:55  
And thanks to you guys for joining us every Wednesday, right here on 'Conversations with!' Please, like, subscribe and share with everybody that you know. It's good information, no matter where you decide end up going to school. We hope they'll come here to Seattle Colleges, whether it's North, Central or South. We just want to have you guys. Thanks again. 

Sumnima Rai  48:16  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  48:16  
Bye, bye!

Sumnima Rai  48:16  
Bye, bye!

Evan Franulovich  48:19  
'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.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai