S3E46: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Andre Hagopian of Israel

In this our forty-sixth episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews graduating international student Andre Hagopian of Israel about his experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Andre!

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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  1:05  
Hey everybody! Welcome back to Seattle College's 'Conversations with!' We're here at North Seattle College today. It's orientation day for our summer group, but I'm happy to have one of our most recent graduates and also my first guest from the country of...? 

Andre Hagopian  1:23  
Israel. 

Evan Franulovich  1:24  
Whoo, yes. Very nice. So why don't you tell everybody who you are, and what you studied. Congratulations on graduating. 

Andre Hagopian  1:33  
Thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  1:33  
How long you been here, and maybe we'll get into what your plans are.

Andre Hagopian  1:39  
Well, first thing, thank you for having me. 

Evan Franulovich  1:40  
Yeah, good to have you. 

Andre Hagopian  1:41  
Hello, everybody. My name is Andre Hagopian. I'm from Jerusalem, Israel. I studied Computer Science at North and I've been here for nine months.

Evan Franulovich  1:51  
Nine months. Wow, nine months. Nine months is not a long time. It's like, wait a minute, how do I finish a program in nine months? 

Andre Hagopian  1:59  
My God. 

Evan Franulovich  1:59  
Which is one of the main reasons I had him on the program, because he has kind of a cool kind of a cool story, which we'll get to in a second. I want to start first off by kind of laying some groundwork. You went to school in Jerusalem for high school, grade school, public school, private school.

Andre Hagopian  2:17  
It was a private school at first. Now it's a public school. 

Evan Franulovich  2:17  
Oh. 

Andre Hagopian  2:17  
It's an American school. 

Evan Franulovich  2:17  
Yeah? 

Andre Hagopian  2:17  
Jerusalem American High School. 

Evan Franulovich  2:18  
Shout out to them. Is it a good school? 

Andre Hagopian  2:24  
Yeah, it's really good. 

Evan Franulovich  2:26  
Oh, cool. And a lot of Americans? Was it an international kind of a community?

Andre Hagopian  2:33  
It's more an Arab community, to be honest. 

Evan Franulovich  2:35  
Okay, sure. 

Andre Hagopian  2:36  
There are a few international students. In the past there were American teachers. 

Evan Franulovich  2:41  
Oh, I see. 

Andre Hagopian  2:41  
Now it's more Middle Eastern teachers.

Evan Franulovich  2:44  
Very cool. And was it 12 grades, just like here in the States, and then you graduate?

Andre Hagopian  2:52  
So it was kindergarten, and then elementary, the middle school and then high school. 

Evan Franulovich  2:57  
Okay. 

Andre Hagopian  2:58  
All in the same school.

Evan Franulovich  2:59  
Very similar. What about sports? 

Andre Hagopian  3:02  
Everybody was focused on soccer. 

Evan Franulovich  3:04  
Oh, sure. 

Andre Hagopian  3:05  
Everybody in the Middle East loves soccer. 

Evan Franulovich  3:07  
Yeah. 

Andre Hagopian  3:08  
Personally, I played soccer. 

Evan Franulovich  3:10  
Yeah? 

Andre Hagopian  3:10  
But I was in the basketball team. 

Evan Franulovich  3:12  
Were you guys pretty good?

Andre Hagopian  3:15  
We were decent. 

Evan Franulovich  3:16  
Decent. 

Andre Hagopian  3:16  
We got a couple medals at tournaments. 

Evan Franulovich  3:20  
Playing other schools? 

Andre Hagopian  3:22  
Yeah, we were playing against Israeli schools, Arab schools all together in one tournament.

Evan Franulovich  3:27  
Wow, that's really cool. 

Andre Hagopian  3:29  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:30  
Did you play all four years?

Andre Hagopian  3:33  
No, I think I played three or two years. 

Evan Franulovich  3:36  
Do you follow NBA basketball? 

Andre Hagopian  3:40  
I do, here and there. 

Evan Franulovich  3:42  
Did you watch the recent finals? 

Andre Hagopian  3:44  
Yeah, I did. 

Evan Franulovich  3:45  
What you think? 

Andre Hagopian  3:46  
It was really a good game. 

Evan Franulovich  3:47  
It was really good, huh? I felt bad for the guy who got injured. 

Andre Hagopian  3:50  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:50  
That was brutal. But things turned out well for Oklahoma, right? I mean, that was pretty exciting. Sorry to the Pacer fans out there. So you graduated, and when you graduate, you're about 18 years old? 

Andre Hagopian  4:04  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  4:05  
And then you start thinking about maybe going overseas, or did you start thinking about going overseas when you're little? 

Andre Hagopian  4:13  
My family's plan was always overseas. All of us together, because my brother, my sister and me wanted to always study in the US. 

Evan Franulovich  4:27  
Oh. 

Andre Hagopian  4:29  
Our goal was to study in the US. I don't know what happened, but then I committed to studying in Israel. 

Evan Franulovich  4:37  
Okay. 

Andre Hagopian  4:38  
And then I did a couple of years at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, I was studying biology. 

Evan Franulovich  4:45  
Oh, cool. 

Andre Hagopian  4:46  
And then I just, I just wasn't interested in the in the major that much. So as a backup plan, I came to North.

Evan Franulovich  4:56  
Okay, so your brother and sister. So there's three of you?

Andre Hagopian  5:00  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  5:01  
They older or younger? 

Andre Hagopian  5:02  
My sister is younger. She's currently at high school at my high school. 

Evan Franulovich  5:06  
Okay. 

Andre Hagopian  5:06  
And my brother is in California. 

Evan Franulovich  5:09  
Oh, which school? 

Andre Hagopian  5:10  
He's not studying, he's working actually. 

Evan Franulovich  5:12  
Oh.

Andre Hagopian  5:14  
He finished school. He studied at Pomona College.

Evan Franulovich  5:17  
Oh, Pomona College, cool. Did he have a good experience?

Andre Hagopian  5:21  
Oh, yeah. He really enjoyed it. 

Evan Franulovich  5:23  
Did he also start at a community college? 

Andre Hagopian  5:25  
No, he didn't. 

Evan Franulovich  5:26  
He went right to Pomona. 

Andre Hagopian  5:28  
He went right to Pomona. 

Evan Franulovich  5:30  
Interesting. He went to California, so why did you start looking at Seattle, or did you look at a lot of different places?

Andre Hagopian  5:36  
So when I came to North Seattle, it's because I have a family here. 

Evan Franulovich  5:41  
Oh, okay. 

Andre Hagopian  5:42  
Yeah, I wanted to be with my family. But since I'm in a transfer program. 

Evan Franulovich  5:48  
Yeah. 

Andre Hagopian  5:48  
I did apply to both California and Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  5:53  
Oh, cool. And you got accepted to both places?

Andre Hagopian  5:59  
I applied to Pomona, didn't get accepted, sadly. But yeah, I did apply to both places. 

Evan Franulovich  6:05  
Okay. When you say you have family here, are we talking about uncles, cousins?

Andre Hagopian  6:10  
Yeah, cousins, aunt, great aunt.

Evan Franulovich  6:14  
So for housing, do you just live with them, or do you have your own place? 

Andre Hagopian  6:18  
I live with my great aunt. 

Evan Franulovich  6:19  
That's so great. 

Andre Hagopian  6:20  
Yeah, perfect. 

Evan Franulovich  6:21  
Save you a lot of money on housing, she's probably pretty good cook I'm guessing. 

Andre Hagopian  6:26  
No, I do the cooking. 

Evan Franulovich  6:27  
You do the cooking? 

Andre Hagopian  6:28  
I do the cooking. 

Evan Franulovich  6:28  
Oh, wow. Where'd you learn to cook? 

Andre Hagopian  6:30  
So my father is a chef. 

Evan Franulovich  6:32  
Cool.

Andre Hagopian  6:33  
So I learned a lot from him. 

Evan Franulovich  6:35  
Yeah, I bet. 

Andre Hagopian  6:35  
And I learned also on my own time.

Evan Franulovich  6:39  
You know, Seattle Colleges has a really great culinary program. 

Andre Hagopian  6:43  
Oh, really? 

Evan Franulovich  6:43  
Did you consider going into culinary?

Andre Hagopian  6:45  
I did not. When it comes to culinary, I try to stick to it as a hobby. 

Evan Franulovich  6:50  
Okay, cool. 

Andre Hagopian  6:51  
It's an important life skill you got to learn. 

Evan Franulovich  6:54  
Yeah, yeah. But a lot of people don't learn. 

Andre Hagopian  6:59  
It's an issue. Especially when you spend so much money going and taking out food from outside when you can just make it at home. There are really simple dishes, really easy to make.

Evan Franulovich  7:12  
What's your specialty? What's your signature dish?

Andre Hagopian  7:19  
To be honest, middle eastern food. I love a food called Mujaddara, it's rice and lentils. 

Evan Franulovich  7:28  
Oh, it sounds good. 

Andre Hagopian  7:29  
Just rice and lentils with spices. You eat it with a side of salad or yogurt. 

Evan Franulovich  7:34  
Oh, good. All right. So you decided to come to North, but you didn't come to North right away? 

Andre Hagopian  7:44  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  7:44  
So this is why I invited him on the show, because he actually started his program online, and then came here. So I really want to get into that. So you reached out to North, had you planned to come here right away? Or did you like 'No, I'm just gonna start now.' How did that all kind of develop?

Andre Hagopian  8:04  
So when I applied, I applied two years ago. I was still in the semester at Hebrew University, so I was still there. I did it as a backup plan. 

Evan Franulovich  8:16  
Cool. 

Andre Hagopian  8:17  
I wasn't fully decided on whether I should continue with biology at Hebrew University, or fully change my whole plan and come to the US and study computer science. 

Evan Franulovich  8:28  
Right. 

Andre Hagopian  8:29  
I was focused on keeping it online. 

Evan Franulovich  8:33  
Cool. 

Andre Hagopian  8:33  
Just to experience it. And if I really enjoyed it, which I did. 

Evan Franulovich  8:38  
Good. 

Andre Hagopian  8:38  
I would decide to come. 

Evan Franulovich  8:41  
So when you apply, is the application process a little simpler because it's online? You had an application you had to fill out. You don't have to provide a copy of your passport? 

Andre Hagopian  8:56  
Well, at the time, I wasn't fully decided whether I was gonna study remotely. So I did provide all that detail. They did give me an I-20 and everything. 

Evan Franulovich  9:07  
Okay. 

Andre Hagopian  9:08  
But then I decided to continue remotely. 

Evan Franulovich  9:12  
Just do that. 

Andre Hagopian  9:13  
So yeah, they did defer the I-20. 

Evan Franulovich  9:16  
Right. 

Andre Hagopian  9:16  
It was simple. 

Evan Franulovich  9:19  
Okay.

Andre Hagopian  9:19  
It was quite simple. At first, I was confused by the whole process. It's a little bit confusing. You know, when I went through the Hebrew University, it was a completely different process. But whenever they gave me Mr. Shunsuke's email, he explained everything. Without Mr. Shunsuke, I would be completely confused.

Evan Franulovich  9:43  
He's been on the show twice, so go back and look up his episodes, because he's the master. He's really great, for sure. Good information. 

Andre Hagopian  9:51  
Oh, yeah. The best. 

Evan Franulovich  9:52  
Well, cool. Well, before you register for classes, do you meet with an advisor?

Andre Hagopian  10:00  
Yeah, I met with Mr. Shunsuke. 

Evan Franulovich  10:03  
Online? 

Andre Hagopian  10:05  
So I think the first time we met, we did it through a phone call.

Evan Franulovich  10:11  
At what time?

Andre Hagopian  10:12  
It was late for me. There's huge time difference, that's an issue when it comes to that. But then we just continue through email. 

Evan Franulovich  10:21  
Okay.

Andre Hagopian  10:22  
So any of my questions, I would just send it through email, and he would answer it. 

Evan Franulovich  10:29  
Oh, very cool. So let's talk about classes, when you register for classes, there must be classes that are online only, and are they self paced, or are they ones you have to show up for? How does that?

Andre Hagopian  10:46  
Okay, so there is asynchronous courses and there's virtual courses. Asynchronous is you watch the lectures and everything, and you do the assignments. There aren't like recordings or Zoom recordings. But the virtual courses, there are zoom meetings.

Evan Franulovich  11:04  
So it's like going to class. 

Andre Hagopian  11:06  
It's going to a zoom class. 

Evan Franulovich  11:07  
So did you have any classes at three in the morning? 

Andre Hagopian  11:10  
I had one class, it was a computer science class, and It was at 4am. I went once and I said, I can't do it. And he said, 'It's okay, we provide the recordings and you can watch at your own time.' Which is perfect.

Evan Franulovich  11:29  
Do you feel like the assignments are laid out in a easy to understand way?

Andre Hagopian  11:35  
Yeah, very easy. Go to the syllabus, understand the instructor, understand his process. Very simple.

Evan Franulovich  11:43  
What about asking questions, though? You can't just raise your hand and go, 'Hey, I have a question.' 

Andre Hagopian  11:47  
No, you can't. Unless you're in the zoom. 

Evan Franulovich  11:51  
Unless you're in the zoom. 

Andre Hagopian  11:52  
Yeah, you could either message the instructor in the canvas message inbox or email them they have their email in the syllabus.

Evan Franulovich  12:02  
Gotcha. Maybe for the listeners that aren't too familiar, can you explain what Canvas is to them? 

Andre Hagopian  12:07  
Oh, it's a website where you have all your courses, all your modules, all your assignments, syllabus, everything.

Evan Franulovich  12:15  
Yeah, it's kind of cool actually, because it keeps everything right in one spot. 

Andre Hagopian  12:18  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  12:19  
Your grades show up there. And then what do you do about final exams?

Andre Hagopian  12:27  
The final exams were also at your own time. 

Evan Franulovich  12:30  
Okay. 

Andre Hagopian  12:31  
Yeah, the final exam is open for 24 hour. So let's say March 17, you have 24 hours to take it. But yeah, it's simple. For the virtual course, I think it's also the same thing. 

Evan Franulovich  12:31  
You don't have to find a proctor to give you the test?

Andre Hagopian  12:56  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  12:57  
Wow. And as far as paying, you're quite far away, how is it you pay for the classes if you can't just walk down to the Cashier's Office?

Andre Hagopian  13:13  
On your personal information portal, there is a payment tab, you can pay through credit cards, visa. 

Evan Franulovich  13:24  
Oh, so it's super easy. 

Andre Hagopian  13:25  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  13:27  
So if you're interested in getting into your classes, maybe before you come to the US or maybe while you're waiting for your visa, this might be a good way to go. You can start your classes online. I always thought maybe the danger was, if you start your classes online and then you get denied your visa, you can't really come and finish up. I mean, you still have those credits available to you that you could use, but it would make me nervous a little bit.

Andre Hagopian  13:56  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  13:56  
But it worked out great for you. So talk with your advisors, talk to your marketing outreach people, walk through those issues. So when you arrived, you'd already accomplished how much of the two years?

Andre Hagopian  14:12  
Yeah, I did one year back home, and one year here. 

Evan Franulovich  14:17  
Yeah, that's what I thought. 

Andre Hagopian  14:20  
So as a computer science major, there are courses that you have to take in-person. 

Evan Franulovich  14:24  
Oh, there are. 

Andre Hagopian  14:26  
Yeah, they told me beforehand that you can achieve the degree, but you have to come in-person and take some courses like math courses, physics courses. I don't know about all sciences, but there are science courses that you have to take in-person. So when I came to the fall quarter I had to take all the in-person courses.

Evan Franulovich  14:46  
That's what you were doing. Gotcha. So what kinds of classes were you taking online?

Andre Hagopian  14:51  
I took English courses, computer science courses. 

Evan Franulovich  14:56  
Coding? 

Andre Hagopian  14:57  
Coding. 

Evan Franulovich  14:58  
Okay. 

Andre Hagopian  15:00  
Economics, humanities, communications, I think psychology. 

Evan Franulovich  15:09  
Cool. Well, that's great. Why do you have to do a math class in-person?

Andre Hagopian  15:17  
Oh, I don't know exactly why math. But for physics, there is a lab. 

Evan Franulovich  15:26  
Oh, okay.

Andre Hagopian  15:27  
It's an in-person lab, I don't know how you can do that in a whole different country.

Evan Franulovich  15:31  
That would be complicated. That makes sense. I know that for two-year humanities degrees, you can pretty much do the whole thing online, but if it's a AS degree, some of the classes are going to have to be in-person. 

Andre Hagopian  15:49  
It just depends on the major itself. But computer science, personally, you have to be in-person.

Evan Franulovich  15:49  
Right, right. What do you want to do with a computer science degree?

Andre Hagopian  15:49  
The thing about computer science is that it's so diverse you can apply to so many different programs and different fields.

Evan Franulovich  16:00  
It's true. 

Andre Hagopian  16:05  
So personally, I'm not certain why I want to pursue it, but I'm really interested in either bioinformatics, since I have that, biology background or cybersecurity.

Evan Franulovich  16:19  
Oh, interesting. And you say now that you've done your two years, you've graduated. Did you walk at graduation?

Andre Hagopian  16:26  
No, I had a test on that same day. I wasn't able to.

Evan Franulovich  16:30  
Yeah, so you're going to transfer to where to? 

Andre Hagopian  16:34  
Seattle University. 

Evan Franulovich  16:35  
Seattle University, which is just real close to our Seattle Central Campus. And when you decided to go to Seattle University, how did you make that decision? Why Seattle University?

Andre Hagopian  16:50  
I applied to different schools in Seattle and California. Seattle University has a really good cybersecurity program. 

Evan Franulovich  17:00  
Oh. 

Andre Hagopian  17:01  
I wanted to stay in Seattle. 

Evan Franulovich  17:04  
Yeah? 

Andre Hagopian  17:05  
There were different options, but I decided to stick with Seattle University.

Evan Franulovich  17:09  
Okay, so you want to stay in Seattle because you love the weather here?

Andre Hagopian  17:13  
I like Seattle in general, It's really nice and family.

Evan Franulovich  17:17  
Well, I just think about the Middle East, you know, the weather so nice. 

Andre Hagopian  17:20  
Oh, it's a big difference. 

Evan Franulovich  17:21  
It's cooler here. 

Andre Hagopian  17:22  
Well, it depends summer... 

Evan Franulovich  17:25  
Yeah? 

Andre Hagopian  17:25  
...it's horrible. It's so hot in the Middle East. 

Evan Franulovich  17:29  
Yes, that's right. 

Andre Hagopian  17:30  
Here, it's perfect.

Evan Franulovich  17:31  
It's really nice. This time of year, perfect. What do you do for fun around town?

Andre Hagopian  17:38  
Around here? Kayak, tennis.

Evan Franulovich  17:42  
Sea kayaking or whitewater kayaking? 

Andre Hagopian  17:44  
No, sea kayaking. 

Evan Franulovich  17:45  
Cool. You have your own kayak? 

Andre Hagopian  17:47  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  17:48  
How many feet is it? 

Andre Hagopian  17:52  
I don't know. It's a duel.

Evan Franulovich  17:54  
So you could have person in the front, person in the back. Did you get that like on Facebook Marketplace?

Andre Hagopian  18:01  
No, to be honest, my great aunt had it before. It's hers, not mine. 

Evan Franulovich  18:07  
Do you use it? 

Andre Hagopian  18:08  
Yeah, I do use it. 

Evan Franulovich  18:09  
That's cool. So you take a friend out with you, and you guys just go kayaking?

Andre Hagopian  18:13  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:13  
Do you go out on the sound? 

Andre Hagopian  18:15  
The sound? 

Evan Franulovich  18:16  
The Puget Sound? 

Andre Hagopian  18:17  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  18:17  
You don't. 

Andre Hagopian  18:18  
You know, the Magnolia Locks?

Evan Franulovich  18:24  
Oh, okay. Gotcha, sounds great. I'm in the market for a kayak. I have a canoe, but I really want to get a seat kayak. 

Andre Hagopian  18:33  
Really fun. 

Evan Franulovich  18:33  
I know they're really fun. 

Andre Hagopian  18:34  
So enjoyable. 

Evan Franulovich  18:35  
Yeah, I used to have it when I lived in Alaska, I had sea kayaks. But then when we moved away from Alaska, I sold them, which just breaks my heart. 

Andre Hagopian  18:44  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:44  
So now I have to replace them. Yeah, there's so many great places. If you're into the outdoors, it's great. Are you a hiker?

Andre Hagopian  18:51  
Yeah, I do like hiking occasionally, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  18:53  
Have you been up to the Cascades? 

Andre Hagopian  18:56  
No, but I want to. 

Evan Franulovich  18:59  
Definitely. Do you have a car? 

Andre Hagopian  19:01  
I have a car. 

Evan Franulovich  19:02  
So you have access to go out there? That's cool. Have you been to any of the national parks that are nearby? 

Andre Hagopian  19:10  
Yeah, Discovery Park.

Evan Franulovich  19:12  
No, national park would be like Yellowstone National Park. 

Andre Hagopian  19:16  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  19:16  
Okay, good. All right. Well, we'll set you up with some names that you can go pursue. Take some of your friends and go out and check it out, because they're really worth seeing, especially this time of year. Have you tried skiing or snowboarding since you've been here? 

Andre Hagopian  19:30  
No, but I really wanted to do it in the winter. 

Evan Franulovich  19:33  
Yeah? 

Andre Hagopian  19:33  
I didn't get the chance to.

Evan Franulovich  19:35  
Well, I know Seattle University has a really great activities department, and I think you can rent boards and skis, super cheap, if not for free. Check with them when you're out there. Now, one of the cool things about Seattle University that you guys might remember from my Seattle University episode is that they do offer scholarships, and you're going to be getting some money to go there. Is that correct? 

Andre Hagopian  19:59  
Yeah, merit based scholarship, depending on your grades. 

Evan Franulovich  20:02  
That's great. Do you want to share what you got? You don't have to. 

Andre Hagopian  20:06  
I don't want to get into details. 

Evan Franulovich  20:09  
Okay, that's fine, no worries. Well, that's cool. They're helping you out because it's an expensive school, but helps a lot when you get some scholarship money. So talk to them if you're interested in transferring there. It's a really beautiful campus, do you agree? 

Andre Hagopian  20:24  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  20:26  
Are you going to just continue living with your aunt? 

Andre Hagopian  20:29  
Yeah, it's the perfect situation. 

Evan Franulovich  20:32  
And then when you're done, do you plan to do OPT?

Andre Hagopian  20:38  
Yeah, that is my plan. I'm planning on getting an internship here hopefully. 

Evan Franulovich  20:47  
So if you could write the script, what company would you like to spend a year working for? 

Andre Hagopian  20:57  
To be honest, any of the big companies, Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, those are the big ones. 

Evan Franulovich  21:07  
Google's here. 

Andre Hagopian  21:08  
Google, of course. Can't forget Google.

Evan Franulovich  21:10  
Yeah, we got a lot of great companies around, and we have a lot of lesser known companies that are really great too, medium sized businesses. You know, Boeing is the big player, of course, but there's over 400 aerospace companies in Seattle that all support Boeing what they're doing. Yeah, lots of good opportunities out there. 

Andre Hagopian  21:29  
Big tech hub. 

Evan Franulovich  21:30  
Big tech hub, yeah. What did your brother study? 

Andre Hagopian  21:35  
My brother studied biology. 

Evan Franulovich  21:38  
Oh, he was a biology major. 

Andre Hagopian  21:39  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  21:46  
Sounds good. Okay, so one of the things I always like to ask about is the visa process. I've interviewed a lot of guests from Africa and the Middle East, but no one from Israel, so I have no idea what the visa process is like there. So when it's time to go. Once you have your I-20, that's usually your sign to go create the appointment at the embassy, go do your interview. What was that like for you? You didn't make an appointment right away since you were online, but at some point you decided you were gonna come. So what was the timing like? 

Andre Hagopian  22:20  
When I decided when I was gonna come, I made an appointment. And they specify what you should take with you, the documents and everything. Obviously, your passport, your I-20, your transcript, those type of stuff to prove that you're going to a school in the US. When I went there, it was really easy to be honest. They interviewed me, I gave him all the documents and everything. They asked a few questions, what are you studying? Where you're studying? Why do you want to go to the US? Why Seattle? How long is your your program going to be for? Those type of questions. But yeah, it wasn't a long interview. It was a short interview, to be honest. 

Evan Franulovich  23:10  
Right. All in English? 

Andre Hagopian  23:12  
All in English. 

Evan Franulovich  23:13  
And you didn't say where was it in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv?

Andre Hagopian  23:18  
Jerusalem. They have two, one in Jerusalem, one in Tel Aviv. 

Evan Franulovich  23:21  
Oh, so you get the choice. 

Andre Hagopian  23:22  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  23:22  
Oh, that's pretty cool. And from the time you made the appointment to the time the interview actually took place, how much time? Was it months, was it weeks?

Andre Hagopian  23:35  
I'm trying to think, I think it takes months to book an appointment. But personally, it took a few weeks, because I think you have an option to say, 'I need the process to go through.'

Evan Franulovich  23:52  
Oh, to expedite it?

Andre Hagopian  23:54  
Exactly, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  23:55  
That's good to know, yeah. I mean, it's always great to plan ahead, because sometimes getting an appointment can take a long time. 

Andre Hagopian  24:00  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  24:01  
You can check your country embassy to see what it's like, but yeah, few weeks is usually pretty common. Well, cool. Was it scary? Were you nervous? 

Andre Hagopian  24:12  
Yeah, I was nervous. 

Evan Franulovich  24:14  
Were you? 

Andre Hagopian  24:15  
Yeah, of course, I was nervous. 

Evan Franulovich  24:15  
Was it a man or a woman who interviewed you? 

Andre Hagopian  24:16  
It was a man. 

Evan Franulovich  24:16  
Was it? 

Andre Hagopian  24:17  
Yeah, he was a man. 

Evan Franulovich  24:17  
Was he serious? 

Andre Hagopian  24:20  
No, to be honest, he was joking. He was from LA, he was saying that there aren't any good Armenian food in Jerusalem. Because in LA, there's a lot of different Armenians.

Evan Franulovich  24:32  
Yeah. Do you know Conan O'Brien? Are you familiar with Conan O'Brien? 

Andre Hagopian  24:38  
No.

Evan Franulovich  24:38  
Well, one of his staff workers is Armenian, and she became a kind of a part of the show. Are you familiar with this? 

Andre Hagopian  24:44  
No.

Evan Franulovich  24:44  
Yeah, she kind of brought the whole Armenian thing to the world, it seemed like. Well, that's awesome. So you're gonna go to Seattle U, you're gonna spend two years, and then you plan on heading back to Israel? Or do you have another part of the world you want to explore?

Andre Hagopian  25:04  
No, it's either here or Israel. 

Evan Franulovich  25:07  
Gotcha. You think you'll do a master's degree at some point?

Andre Hagopian  25:11  
If I can't find employment, I might go for a masters.

Evan Franulovich  25:17  
Yeah, I think that's always a good idea. Just keep going on, you got the energy. When you get older like me, it starts to get tough. You said your dad's a cook professionally? 

Andre Hagopian  25:28  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:29  
So does he have his own restaurant

Andre Hagopian  25:30  
No, he works in the Armenian Patriarch in Jerusalem. 

Evan Franulovich  25:33  
Oh, yeah. Very cool. And does your mom work as well? 

Andre Hagopian  25:36  
My mom's an academic advisor/teacher. 

Evan Franulovich  25:39  
That's cool. 

Andre Hagopian  25:40  
English teacher.

Evan Franulovich  25:42  
Oh, well, was it tough then to be her son? Was it like, 'Do your schoolwork.' Was she a taskmaster? 

Andre Hagopian  25:49  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:50  
Yeah, of course. Is your sister planning to come to the US as well? 

Andre Hagopian  25:55  
Yeah, I think so. 

Evan Franulovich  25:56  
That's what you'd said. Do you know where?

Andre Hagopian  25:59  
Could be Seattle, because I'm here. Yeah, makes sense.

Evan Franulovich  26:03  
Well, we hope you'll come here. That would be great. So when does she graduate? 

Andre Hagopian  26:08  
She graduates next year. 

Evan Franulovich  26:11  
You can actually apply to Seattle Colleges a year in advance. So if you want, you can do it right now. All of you guys that are watching this or thinking about it, a year in advance is when you can start to think, I'll put in my applicationnow. Cool. Well, you have the summer off. Did you get a job on campus?

Andre Hagopian  26:33  
No, I didn't. 

Evan Franulovich  26:34  
You didn't? You just studied. Did you take part in the clubs or the activities?

Andre Hagopian  26:34  
I wanted to join the computer science club. 

Evan Franulovich  26:40  
Oh, yeah. 

Andre Hagopian  26:41  
I regret it now. 

Evan Franulovich  26:45  
What about making friends with domestic students? Are they shy? Are they engaging?

Andre Hagopian  26:52  
Yeah, some of them are shy, some of them are engaging. But they're all welcoming, they're all really nice people.

Evan Franulovich  26:59  
Oh, good. So you haven't had any problem? 

Andre Hagopian  27:01  
No, no, no. 

Evan Franulovich  27:03  
Living in Seattle, you say you like it? What do you what do you like about it other than the weather?

Andre Hagopian  27:11  
There are so many different cultures. 

Evan Franulovich  27:13  
That's true. 

Andre Hagopian  27:14  
You meet people from all around the world. You try new foods, you learn about different traditions. Really nice.

Evan Franulovich  27:22  
One particular restaurant you want to give a shout out to? Have you found some really legitimate food? And you're multicultural, you have a lot of different directions you could go for food. What do you tend to like to go to? Is it Armenian food? 

Andre Hagopian  27:41  
I didn't find a good Armenian food here. Middle eastern food is quite good here. There is a restaurant called Un Bien, it's a Caribbean sandwich place, really good. 

Evan Franulovich  27:58  
Where's that at? 

Andre Hagopian  27:58  
I think they have three locations. I think in Magnolia, ones north, I don't know the exact streets.

Evan Franulovich  28:13  
We have a lot of great restaurants on highway 99, which is over on Aurora there, you could explore that area. But, yeah, I haven't seen any Armenian restaurants. We'd love to have one. Business opportunity out there, your dad could come and open a restaurant.

Andre Hagopian  28:30  
Oh, hopefully. 

Evan Franulovich  28:31  
That'd be cool. 

Andre Hagopian  28:31  
Oh, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  28:34  
It's Trivia Time, it means it's time for the five questions. This is a very serious part of the show. If you get them wrong, we make you cry tonight, but if you get them all right, you're on our wall of fame. No, it's just for fun. So I'll give you five questions. We're going to start with an easy one. The first one is: You are in the state of Washington, every state in the United States has its own capital. What is the capital of Washington?

Andre Hagopian  29:09  
I would assume Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  29:12  
No, it's not Seattle. It's Olympia, Washington. 

Andre Hagopian  29:16  
Olympia, okay. 

Evan Franulovich  29:17  
All right, so far, we're not doing so well, but let's go to number two, because number two is easier. The United States has countries on its north and southern border. What are those two countries? 

Andre Hagopian  29:29  
Alaska is the North one. 

Evan Franulovich  29:35  
No, Alaska is a state. What countries are at our north and south border? 

Andre Hagopian  29:40  
Canada and Mexico. 

Evan Franulovich  29:42  
Yes, nice job. Have you been to Alaska yet? 

Andre Hagopian  29:49  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  29:49  
Highly recommend, it's really great. Have you been to other states?

Andre Hagopian  29:57  
I've been to California, I think that's about it.

Evan Franulovich  30:03  
Did you drive to California?

Andre Hagopian  30:07  
A while ago, we traveled from Jerusalem to California. We didn't drive, no. 

Evan Franulovich  30:12  
Did you go to Disneyland? 

Andre Hagopian  30:15  
No.

Evan Franulovich  30:16  
It's the essential American thing to do. You still have time, so go do it. Okay, question number three: If you are going to travel to Canada or Mexico, what do you need to have done to your I-20 before you go?

Andre Hagopian  30:37  
This is a tough question. I have no clue, to be honest.

Evan Franulovich  30:42  
You have to go get it signed by your DSO, so you can get back into the country. Yep, good. All right. Question number four: The United States is famous for American baseball, and the city of Seattle has its own professional team. What is the name of our baseball team? 

Andre Hagopian  31:03  
The Mariners. 

Evan Franulovich  31:03  
Yes, The Mariners. You're 50% not bad. Good job. All right, the last question: What is the last movie you saw in the movie theater?

Andre Hagopian  31:16  
That's a while ago. I think it was Amazing Spider Man 2.

Evan Franulovich  31:32  
Okay, so it has been a while. 

Andre Hagopian  31:35  
It's been a while. 

Evan Franulovich  31:37  
So you haven't been in a theater in the US? 

Andre Hagopian  31:39  
No, I haven't been in a theater. 

Evan Franulovich  31:40  
Oh, you gotta go. 

Andre Hagopian  31:41  
I gotta go. 

Evan Franulovich  31:42  
So last night, I went and saw the new Brad Pitt film, F1 (Formula One). 

Andre Hagopian  31:48  
Oh, yeah? 

Evan Franulovich  31:48  
Are you into Formula One? 

Andre Hagopian  31:50  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  31:52  
Shout out to you guys. Good job on the movie. It's not a perfect movie, the plot is a little simplistic and predictable, but it doesn't matter, because the on screen production value is so crazy. If you're into F1 racing, you'll love this film. 

Andre Hagopian  32:09  
Yeah, I gotta go.

Evan Franulovich  32:10  
You see it in IMAX, because the screen is amazing. The sound is incredible. 

Andre Hagopian  32:17  
Different experience. 

Evan Franulovich  32:19  
Highly recommend it. And it just came out this last week, I think. So, yeah, go check it out. Here's your chance to go and do an American movie theater. Give yourself a big bucket of popcorn. Are you a popcorn eater?

Andre Hagopian  32:31  
Oh, yeah, I love popcorn. 

Evan Franulovich  32:32  
That's right. 

Andre Hagopian  32:33  
Watch a movie and eat popcorn.

Evan Franulovich  32:35  
I go into the theater and it's like, I can't help myself. I have to get some, even if they make me pay a lot of money, it's terrible. Well, that's cool, you did pretty well. Probably won't be up on the wall of fame, but you know, not too bad. So we like to end the show, you're our first guest from Israel, but you speak a number of languages. I always like to ask people to say 10 or 20 seconds in their first languages. You can choose, you do a couple if you want. You can do Armenian and Hebrew, or whatever you want to do.

Andre Hagopian  33:07  
Okay, so I do speak four languages, English, Arabic, Hebrew and Armenian. So I'll speak the three languages that are known. 

Evan Franulovich  33:07  
Cool. 

Andre Hagopian  33:08  
*Andre's message in Hebrew, Arabic, and Armenian.* Hi, everyone! My name is Andre Hagopian.

Evan Franulovich  33:30  
Nice, very good. So let me see, you did Hebrew first?

Andre Hagopian  33:34  
I did Hebrew first, Arabic, and Armenian.

Evan Franulovich  33:37  
Nice, very cool. Actually, they all sound not too dissimilar.

Andre Hagopian  33:43  
Well, Hebrew and Arabic, they have terms that are very similar. 

Evan Franulovich  33:48  
Yeah, cool. All right, great. And now you know final question of the day, you've been through the process. You've been here nine months, you've graduated, you're getting ready to move on. You maybe have some nuggets of wisdom that you could share with students back in the region. They could be anywhere in the region, they're thinking about coming, or the parents are thinking about sending their child. What kind of advice would you give them?

Andre Hagopian  34:15  
If you are going through a college transfer program, it's advisable to go to a community college. It's also important to look at the different schools you're going to apply to, look at the courses that they require, to plan out your future courses. 

Evan Franulovich  34:32  
Yeah, yeah. 

Andre Hagopian  34:34  
That's really important. 

Evan Franulovich  34:36  
My alarm is going off. I'm going to turn it off, hold on for a sec. That's okay. All right, that's my alarm, sorry guys. But, yeah, that's really great advice. I highly recommend reaching out to the schools you're going to apply to. That's really smart.

Andre Hagopian  34:59  
Yeah. Important to plan out the future. 

Evan Franulovich  35:02  
Yeah, I did that, and it was super helpful. We like to have you self advocate. Really get into your own thing. But there's nothing like reaching out and talking to an advisor at the schools you're getting ready to go to. 

Andre Hagopian  35:20  
Really important.

Evan Franulovich  35:23  
Well, is there one item that you wish you would have brought with you in your suitcase when you came that you forgot?

Andre Hagopian  35:29  
I wish I could bring my pets. 

Evan Franulovich  35:33  
Oh, yeah. Who do you have? 

Andre Hagopian  35:35  
I have a dog and a cat. 

Evan Franulovich  35:37  
Oh, nice. 

Andre Hagopian  35:37  
The dog is a German Shepherd. The cat is a mix of Scottish and British.

Evan Franulovich  35:42  
Oh my gosh, long hair? 

Andre Hagopian  35:44  
The cat, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  35:47  
Yeah, German Shepherds are cool. I have a little Shiba Inu. It's a petite little Shibi Inu, but they're super cute. They look like little cats, almost. They're the cats of the dog world. Is your German Shepherd your dog, or is it the family dog? 

Andre Hagopian  36:02  
It's a family dog. 

Evan Franulovich  36:02  
But you could probably bring a dog over the US. 

Andre Hagopian  36:03  
Yeah, but it's a hassle. 

Evan Franulovich  36:08  
That's true. 

Andre Hagopian  36:08  
Paying to transport them. For the cats, it's way easier. I think you just take them as a carry on. But a dog, especially such a large dog.

Evan Franulovich  36:21  
Yeah, I brought Molly. Molly's my dog. I brought Molly from China. So we flew from Chongqing to Singapore, which is like six hours. But then the flight from Singapore to San Francisco, that was a really long flight, so I kind of felt bad for the dog. 

Andre Hagopian  36:38  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:38  
But she did great, and now she's here and happy in Seattle, Washington. Cool. Well, it was so great to meet you. I'm sorry I didn't meet you earlier. You graduated now, but you'll have to keep in touch. Let us know how things turn out for you. And yeah, have fun this summer. Enjoy the weather.

Andre Hagopian  36:56  
Yep, thank you for having me. 

Evan Franulovich  36:56  
Yeah, it was great. 

Andre Hagopian  36:56  
Great to meet you.

Evan Franulovich  36:57  
Yeah, you too. We're here every Wednesday. So tell all your friends, tell your family, tell your grandmother to subscribe, like, share. We want to get as many people listening to the show. We try to offer good information, even if you don't come to a Seattle Colleges or want to go to a community college, we hope some of this information is good no matter where you go to school. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time! Bye, bye! 

Evan Franulovich  37:26  
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.