Seattle Colleges International Programs presents... Conversations with!
Seattle Colleges International Programs presents... Conversations with!
S3E52: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Leilet Kebebew of Ethiopia
In this our fifty-second (52nd) and final episode of Season 3, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Leilet Kebebew of Ethiopia about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States.
1:19 - Meet Leilet!
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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
Hi everybody! Welcome back to Seattle Colleges 'Conversations with!' We're here at Seattle Central College and finally a guest from Ethiopia joins us. I've been trying to get somebody on the show from Ethiopia, because we have a lot of students from Ethiopia.
Leilet Kebebew 1:24
We do.
Evan Franulovich 1:25
Yeah, so let's get started by telling them who you are, where you're from exactly, what you're studying, and maybe how long you've been here.
Leilet Kebebew 1:31
All right, so my name is Leilet Kebebew. I'm from Ethiopia, originally from a small city called Hawassa. Used to be the capital city of the southern part of Ethiopia. Yeah, no longer. That's where I'm from. And I'm studying business administration here at Seattle.
Evan Franulovich 1:52
Oh, cool.
Leilet Kebebew 1:53
And then I've been here since December, which is eight months now.
Evan Franulovich 1:57
Wow.
Leilet Kebebew 1:57
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 1:58
Getting close to a year.
Leilet Kebebew 2:00
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 2:01
So you came directly from Ethiopia to get here?
Leilet Kebebew 2:07
No, I came from Nigeria.
Evan Franulovich 2:09
You came from Nigeria?
Leilet Kebebew 2:10
Yeah, it's been a while since I left Ethiopia.
Evan Franulovich 2:12
Well, let's roll it back a little bit. You grew up in Ethiopia, and from what I understand is your hometown sits right next to a big lake. Isn't that true?
Leilet Kebebew 2:24
Yes, it's all about the lake.
Evan Franulovich 2:27
Is it?
Leilet Kebebew 2:27
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 2:27
Can you swim in the lake?
Leilet Kebebew 2:30
My mom said that that's where she learned how to swim. I don't think anymore, but that was the only source.
Evan Franulovich 2:39
Lot of birds, a lot of wildlife.
Leilet Kebebew 2:41
Fish.
Evan Franulovich 2:41
Really cool.
Leilet Kebebew 2:42
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 2:42
So it sounds like a pretty nice area.
Leilet Kebebew 2:44
It's very pretty, especially like when I grew up, it was a very small population, so it was just green land, small, nothing big.
Evan Franulovich 2:58
Did you go to grade school there?
Leilet Kebebew 3:00
I was there until seven or eight. So first grade.
Evan Franulovich 3:03
First grade?
Leilet Kebebew 3:04
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 3:04
Okay.
Leilet Kebebew 3:04
That's when I left.
Evan Franulovich 3:06
And then you left because of things that were happening within the country or...?
Leilet Kebebew 3:11
Oh, no. It's just because my dad works for an NGO (Non-governmental organization).
Evan Franulovich 3:17
Oh, okay.
Leilet Kebebew 3:17
So he had to move to Jordan, and then he got a family mission, so he took us there.
Evan Franulovich 3:22
Initially, you went to Jordan?
Leilet Kebebew 3:24
Yeah, right after Hawassa, I went to Jordan.
Evan Franulovich 3:27
In Amman?
Leilet Kebebew 3:27
Yep.
Evan Franulovich 3:29
And how long were you in Amman?
Leilet Kebebew 3:31
For a year.
Evan Franulovich 3:31
And what'd you think?
Leilet Kebebew 3:33
I loved it. Oh, it's beautiful.
Evan Franulovich 3:35
I love it, yeah. But you were only there for a year. When you were there, did you go to a private school, or did you go to the public schools there?
Leilet Kebebew 3:43
Oh, I went to a private school.
Evan Franulovich 3:46
And do you speak Arabic?
Leilet Kebebew 3:48
No. I mean, I'm not good with the languages, but I did start learning Arabic while I was there, and I was good at it until I left.
Evan Franulovich 3:57
But there you go.
Leilet Kebebew 3:59
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 3:59
So you returned to Ethiopia or went elsewhere?
Leilet Kebebew 4:02
I have returned to Ethiopia.
Evan Franulovich 4:03
You did?
Leilet Kebebew 4:04
Yeah, to Addis.
Evan Franulovich 4:05
Okay.
Leilet Kebebew 4:05
For about five years.
Evan Franulovich 4:07
All right, so that takes you into junior high?
Leilet Kebebew 4:12
Right before high school, I left again.
Evan Franulovich 4:15
Okay.
Leilet Kebebew 4:16
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 4:16
So where'd you do High School?
Leilet Kebebew 4:18
In Eswatini.
Evan Franulovich 4:21
If you guys don't know where Eswatini is, get out your map so you can find it.
Leilet Kebebew 4:25
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 4:26
It's down south. And you did all of your high school in Eswatini.
Leilet Kebebew 4:30
Yeah, you can say that.
Evan Franulovich 4:33
So you got your diploma?
Leilet Kebebew 4:35
My IGCSE.
Evan Franulovich 4:37
That's obviously a private school?
Leilet Kebebew 4:40
Yep, I went to UWC.
Evan Franulovich 4:42
UWC, that's the name of the school?
Leilet Kebebew 4:44
No, it's the United World College. So there's like 17 of them around the world, and I guess they're a big deal.
Evan Franulovich 4:52
Okay, shout out to UWC.
Leilet Kebebew 4:53
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 4:55
That's really cool. Did you specialize in anything, or is it kind of just a general academic curriculum?
Leilet Kebebew 5:02
General. So IGCSE is like GCSE, which is the one they do in the UK, but for international. So it becomes IGCSE.
Evan Franulovich 5:02
So what do you think of Eswatini?
Leilet Kebebew 5:14
I guess, it's a good place for someone who's looking to settle. For a teenager and stuff, there isn't a lot to do.
Evan Franulovich 5:22
Okay.
Leilet Kebebew 5:23
And but for someone who's like an old adult planning to raise a family there, it's very quiet, peaceful, especially for an African country, it is safe.
Evan Franulovich 5:32
Wow.
Leilet Kebebew 5:33
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 5:34
I definitely would like to check it out. We had a guest from Eswatini on the show. Did you learn Afrikaans at all while you were there?
Leilet Kebebew 5:43
No, they don't speak Afrikaans. Yeah, that's more of a South African thing. The only thing I learned from their language is Sabona.
Evan Franulovich 5:54
Sabona?
Leilet Kebebew 5:55
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 5:55
Which means?
Leilet Kebebew 5:56
Hi.
Evan Franulovich 5:58
Well, that's cool. So you're in Eswatini, going to school. Is it you that starts thinking about studying overseas, or do your parents kind of start planting seeds in your head?
Leilet Kebebew 6:12
Yeah, I think it was always the plan, because I can't, it's not like I could go back to Ethiopia. That wasn't an option. So it was either like, I had to go somewhere.
Evan Franulovich 6:23
Why can't you go back to Ethiopia? If you don't mind me asking?
Leilet Kebebew 6:27
Yeah, I think it's just more education wise.
Evan Franulovich 6:30
Oh.
Leilet Kebebew 6:30
We needed quality of education. And it's just we no longer had a life as a family.
Evan Franulovich 6:37
Gotcha.
Leilet Kebebew 6:38
So we kind of left. Returning would have been difficult.
Evan Franulovich 6:42
Right, right. So you decide I'm going to go overseas. Did you consider Australia, UK, America, Canada?
Leilet Kebebew 6:52
My first plan was Europe, I wanted to go to Liverpool. That's very specific, I know.
Evan Franulovich 7:01
Yeah, there is a soccer team there.
Leilet Kebebew 7:05
And I thought business management and Liverpool.
Evan Franulovich 7:10
Right?
Leilet Kebebew 7:10
Especially sport management, that was the goal.
Evan Franulovich 7:14
Oh, that's cool. Why didn't you go?
Leilet Kebebew 7:18
I guess one, financial reasons. And then my family were like, 'It's too far.' We don't know anyone there.
Evan Franulovich 7:29
So when you looked at the states.
Leilet Kebebew 7:31
Yeah?
Evan Franulovich 7:32
Did you only look at Seattle?
Leilet Kebebew 7:35
It's funny, because I kept on looking for colleges rather than cities, and I kind of kept on coming back to Seattle Central, I don't know why. It was like a two years of research, I was just looking at them, but somehow I always find myself looking at Seattle Central. And then my dad was like, 'Oh yeah, I have a family friend there.'
Evan Franulovich 7:57
Perfect.
Leilet Kebebew 7:58
I'm okay with you going there.
Evan Franulovich 8:01
You apply.
Leilet Kebebew 8:02
I applied.
Evan Franulovich 8:03
You get accepted.
Leilet Kebebew 8:05
Yes.
Evan Franulovich 8:06
Cool. And was it always business? From the time you first started you haven't changed your major at all here?
Leilet Kebebew 8:12
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 8:13
Cool. All right, so you get accepted, but you are not in Eswatini anymore. Where are you?
Leilet Kebebew 8:20
Nigeria.
Evan Franulovich 8:21
So how did you get from Eswatini to Nigeria?
Leilet Kebebew 8:24
My dad again, he keeps on transferring and taking us with him.
Evan Franulovich 8:30
So you actually made your application from Nigeria.
Leilet Kebebew 8:33
Yes.
Evan Franulovich 8:34
And then how long did it take before you got your acceptance and your I-20?
Leilet Kebebew 8:42
I think I applied in 2024, and I got it in maybe June or mid year.
Evan Franulovich 8:43
You started the fall?
Leilet Kebebew 8:45
Yeah, I think so.
Evan Franulovich 8:49
You didn't do a summer session?
Leilet Kebebew 8:54
No.
Evan Franulovich 8:55
Okay, so you got your I-20 and stuff, and then you need to get your visa. You're easy over your passport holder. You're now in Nigeria.
Leilet Kebebew 8:58
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 9:03
Where did you do your visa?
Leilet Kebebew 9:14
In Nigeria. So I got to Nigeria in January 24 which means I had to also get a Nigerian ID.
Evan Franulovich 9:21
Oh.
Leilet Kebebew 9:22
That's one of the reasons I ended up coming here for winter quarter instead of fall, because I couldn't apply for my visa before I had the Nigerian ID.
Evan Franulovich 9:31
Gotcha.
Leilet Kebebew 9:32
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 9:33
Interesting. Did you have to defer? In other words, you were set to begin in the fall, but you couldn't get there in time. So did you have to tell admission to wait.
Leilet Kebebew 9:44
No, I just applied for winter, because I knew I wasn't going to be there for fall.
Evan Franulovich 9:50
So you had to go to Lagos, or did you go to Abuja?
Leilet Kebebew 9:54
Oh, it wasn't Abuja, yeah. So I applied, but they gave me a three months waiting time. Yeah, three months, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 10:03
Well, plan ahead, if you're in Nigeria.
Leilet Kebebew 10:05
Yeah, I had mine in November, I think.
Evan Franulovich 10:09
That's cool. And it's okay for you to do your visa interview there, they didn't say to you, 'No, you're gonna have to go back to Addis.'
Leilet Kebebew 10:17
Oh, yeah, I was worried that would be the case. But once I got my Nigerian ID, they were like, 'You're good to go.' You have the Nigerian visa, the Nigerian ID.
Evan Franulovich 10:27
Before you went to your interview, did you spend any time with EducationUSA?
Leilet Kebebew 10:33
No.
Evan Franulovich 10:34
You didn't?
Leilet Kebebew 10:35
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 10:35
Are you aware of EducationUSA?
Leilet Kebebew 10:37
No.
Evan Franulovich 10:37
So those of you who are out there listening, we highly recommend that you work with EducationUSA, even if you have like an agent, or you feel like you know what's going on. They have their offices all over the world. It's free. You have lots of services, equipment, libraries, and you can just get a sense for the visa process you can do research there. Hear people talk about being a student.
Leilet Kebebew 11:05
It's a good support system.
Evan Franulovich 11:10
It's free, so just go take advantage. It's usually in the capitals. I think Nigeria, there are nine different offices or something like that. There's quite a few.
Leilet Kebebew 11:21
Okay.
Evan Franulovich 11:21
Well, that's really cool. So you went to the embassy after three months for your visa interview. Tell us what that was like. There's a lot of people there, I'm guessing.
Leilet Kebebew 11:33
Yeah, I had the morning shift, and I thought I was early, but I got there and it was full. It was packed. Yeah, it was terrible. I was having a panic attack three times.
Evan Franulovich 11:44
Did you have to be there by a certain time, or you'd lose your spot.
Leilet Kebebew 11:47
Yeah, they were like, 'This time you're here.' So I think it was eight in the morning...
Evan Franulovich 11:54
Oh, early.
Leilet Kebebew 11:55
...to be there.
Evan Franulovich 11:56
Wow. Okay, so you get in line, you get up to the person doing the interview.
Leilet Kebebew 12:02
And while I was waiting, I could hear the lady that was doing the interviews, I guess, rejecting people. And I was like, 'Yeah, that's me. That's about to be me.'
Evan Franulovich 12:14
Over and over. Nobody was getting their visa?
Leilet Kebebew 12:17
I mean, I don't think I was focusing on the ones who got it.
Evan Franulovich 12:25
What kind of questions did she ask?
Leilet Kebebew 12:27
Yeah. She was just like, 'Where did you do your education? What schools did you go to?' It was simple questions, simpler than I thought. And she was like, 'Okay, so, where does your father work?' Can you afford to go there and stuff like that?' I had financial proofs, and that was it.
Evan Franulovich 12:46
That was it?
Leilet Kebebew 12:48
'You will get your visa in three to four business days.'
Evan Franulovich 12:51
Wow.
Leilet Kebebew 12:52
Are you sure?
Evan Franulovich 12:54
That's awesome.
Leilet Kebebew 12:55
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 12:57
So you're probably pretty happy as you were leaving the office.
Leilet Kebebew 12:59
Oh, yeah. My dad was waiting outside, and I think for a second he also wasn't expecting the yes.
Evan Franulovich 13:06
Wow, that's pretty cool. So then you had how much time between then and when you get on an airplane?
Leilet Kebebew 13:15
So I got it in November, and then I got here December.
Evan Franulovich 13:18
How do you spend that month or so preparing?
Leilet Kebebew 13:25
I guess, saying goodbye to family.
Evan Franulovich 13:29
Saying goodbye to them.
Leilet Kebebew 13:30
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 13:30
Well, one thing we have when you get accepted here we have what's called a pre arrival checklist. Did you go through that pre arrival checklist?
Leilet Kebebew 13:35
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 13:39
Was there anything on there that you felt like was particularly helpful to you?
Leilet Kebebew 13:45
I think, just the idea of the courses I was taking, I was contacting my advisor, like 'What classes will I be taking?' Because I think when you get here, you're expected to take English and Math.
Evan Franulovich 13:56
Right.
Leilet Kebebew 13:56
So, a total of 12 credits or something. I wanted to do more, so I contacted my advisor and told her that I wanted to do more. She was like, "Are you sure?" That process helped. I got to know what I was doing beforehand. So that was helpful.
Evan Franulovich 14:16
Yeah, one of the things you fill out on that pre-arrival checklist is an intent to enroll form. Remember doing that?
Leilet Kebebew 14:23
An intent to? No.
Evan Franulovich 14:26
Do it if you're out there. The intent to enroll form kind of communicates to your advisors to get you registered for classes. Sometimes that first quarter, it's a little bit overwhelming, so they get you into your classes. But you said you were communicating with your advisor.
Leilet Kebebew 14:43
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 14:44
How did you do that?
Leilet Kebebew 14:45
Through email.
Evan Franulovich 14:46
Just email.
Leilet Kebebew 14:46
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 14:47
No Zoom calls.
Leilet Kebebew 14:48
Oh, no.
Evan Franulovich 14:48
Send them a message saying 'This is what I want to do.'
Leilet Kebebew 14:51
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 14:51
Very cool. Who's your advisor?
Leilet Kebebew 14:54
Emily.
Evan Franulovich 14:56
That's really great. So they were able to communicate with you via email get you into more classes.
Leilet Kebebew 15:09
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 15:09
Now 12 is a big load. So how many credits did you take that fall quarter?
Leilet Kebebew 15:14
I ended up taking 17.
Evan Franulovich 15:16
Oh my gosh.
Leilet Kebebew 15:15
I did one more course.
Evan Franulovich 15:17
And it wasn't a problem?
Leilet Kebebew 15:19
It was not at all. I mean, you must be as an African student, we know how difficult it is.
Evan Franulovich 15:25
Clearly.
Leilet Kebebew 15:26
Yeah, so it actually gets much, much easier here.
Evan Franulovich 15:31
Yeah, that's good. And your second quarter, it's the same way?
Leilet Kebebew 15:37
I take the maximum now.
Evan Franulovich 15:39
Right.
Leilet Kebebew 15:39
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 15:39
Because you want to get done sooner?
Leilet Kebebew 15:41
Yeah, I want to make up for the full quarter I missed out.
Evan Franulovich 15:47
Well, now it's summer. You are taking summer off, or are you doing classes?
Leilet Kebebew 15:51
I'm taking summer off, but I'm doing one class online.
Evan Franulovich 15:54
Oh, okay.
Leilet Kebebew 15:55
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 15:55
And how did you sign up for your one online class?
Leilet Kebebew 15:59
I think it was the same process as the others, using ctcLink.
Evan Franulovich 16:03
Okay.
Leilet Kebebew 16:04
But then first I had to get the quarter off approved.
Evan Franulovich 16:07
Gotcha.
Leilet Kebebew 16:07
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 16:07
And so your online class is pretty chill?
Leilet Kebebew 16:10
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 16:10
So what are you doing with your spare time?
Leilet Kebebew 16:12
I mean, I just started as I told you. I was in the festival for most of it.
Evan Franulovich 16:18
You guys didn't hear that conversation. This is being recorded on the eighth of July. So this last weekend was the United States Independence Day, which means it's a longer holiday for us. The fourth is a national holiday, but you spent it not so much celebrating the independence of the US. What did you do?
Leilet Kebebew 16:38
I think Ethiopians might know it. It's an Ethiopian festival, soccer festival. In fact, July 4 for us was Ethiopian day.
Evan Franulovich 16:48
Cool. You mean celebrating the country of Ethiopia?
Leilet Kebebew 16:52
Yeah, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 16:53
Is that normally on the Fourth of July?
Leilet Kebebew 16:55
I think they made it just here in the US, because it's already a holiday. So it would make sense to bring the Ethiopians together on the same day, we don't need another day off.
Evan Franulovich 17:10
That's cool. So one of the things about Seattle, we have a big Ethiopian community.
Leilet Kebebew 17:17
Oh, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 17:18
Lots of people.
Leilet Kebebew 17:19
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 17:19
If you travel down Highway 99 some of the signs are in Amharic. So you'll see signs in Amharic. That's how many Ethiopians are here.
Leilet Kebebew 17:30
I've been to other countries, this might be the most I felt connected to Ethiopia.
Evan Franulovich 17:35
Really?
Leilet Kebebew 17:36
Even other African countries are not as Ethiopian as here. I don't think I've went to this much of church and stuff, everything involved, yes, that's what I've been in here.
Evan Franulovich 17:50
Yeah, yeah. I used to live in Edmonds, and just down the street from where I live, there is an Ethiopian church. And if you drive by on weekends, people wear their more traditional dress.
Leilet Kebebew 18:02
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 18:02
It's very cool.
Leilet Kebebew 18:04
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 18:04
So you feel at home. That's awesome.
Leilet Kebebew 18:08
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 18:09
When you first got here, there must have been a little bit of culture shock. I mean, you see America in the movies and you hear about it, you get this expectation of what it must be like.
Leilet Kebebew 18:21
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 18:22
How was that panned out for you? What is the reality versus what you were expecting?
Leilet Kebebew 18:26
I don't know what I was expecting, but I was expecting something out of the world.
Evan Franulovich 18:33
Yeah?
Leilet Kebebew 18:34
Because you think that the rest of the world is normal, and the US is something else.
Evan Franulovich 18:42
Yeah, okay.
Leilet Kebebew 18:42
It was the same, I guess. Maybe the people are different here, you get to meet a diverse group of people.
Evan Franulovich 18:58
For sure.
Leilet Kebebew 19:00
Every day is a different group of people.
Evan Franulovich 19:02
Especially in Seattle. Seattle is in the West Coast, so we're already a little more liberal politically. We have a very cosmopolitan population here in Seattle. So we have a large Ethiopian community, but we also have other African communities, Latin American communities, Asian communities.
Leilet Kebebew 19:02
So it's kind of like a mix of the world here.
Evan Franulovich 19:15
For sure.
Leilet Kebebew 19:18
I was not expecting that.
Evan Franulovich 19:26
Well, I'm glad you found that.
Leilet Kebebew 19:30
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 19:31
With that mix, comes really good food. And we all know how... I mean, if you don't know, you should go find out, how good the food is in Ethiopia.
Leilet Kebebew 19:41
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 19:42
Have you found really reliable restaurants in Seattle?
Leilet Kebebew 19:46
I don't go out a lot for Ethiopian food because I have it at home.
Evan Franulovich 19:51
That's right.
Leilet Kebebew 19:51
I live with a family friend, so they have it there a lot, but I've heard a lot of restaurants here are good. I've heard people literally argue which one is the best. So there is a lot to choose from.
Evan Franulovich 20:05
I know there's a lot of Ethiopian restaurants out by where I was living. So you won't be lonely.
Leilet Kebebew 20:12
Oh, for sure. I have friends who buy the injara here instead of making it.
Evan Franulovich 20:19
So you live with family. So when you first arrived, you didn't have to look for a place? You just had a place to go right away?
Leilet Kebebew 20:27
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 20:27
You live a little far away, right?
Leilet Kebebew 20:29
Yeah, SeaTac.
Evan Franulovich 20:31
So SeaTac is south part of Seattle by the airport.
Leilet Kebebew 20:34
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 20:35
So you take the link into Central?
Leilet Kebebew 20:38
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 20:38
Every day?
Leilet Kebebew 20:39
Every day.
Evan Franulovich 20:39
Wow.
Leilet Kebebew 20:40
So there is actually a five minute bus I have to use from my place to the link, and then I take the link here.
Evan Franulovich 20:48
How long does it take?
Leilet Kebebew 20:50
An hour.
Evan Franulovich 20:51
It's an hour.
Leilet Kebebew 20:54
Winter was the worst.
Evan Franulovich 20:55
Right.
Leilet Kebebew 20:56
Because my class was early in the morning, and I had to wake up at six and it's dark out.
Evan Franulovich 21:05
Winter gets dark.
Leilet Kebebew 21:06
Yeah, that was the shock actually. Now during summer, it doesn't get dark at all.
Evan Franulovich 21:13
Nine, still sun out.
Evan Franulovich 21:15
3:45 in the morning, it's starting to get light again.
Leilet Kebebew 21:18
Exactly. And then winter is the exact opposite.
Evan Franulovich 21:24
But if you are that far south, did you consider maybe going to South Seattle College? Because we have three campuses and the closest campus to SeaTac would be South Seattle.
Leilet Kebebew 21:35
It would but I liked the idea of being in central downtown. For me, I like the place, it's convenient. South sounds a bit outside.
Evan Franulovich 21:48
It is up in the neighborhood.
Leilet Kebebew 21:50
Yeah, it's more of like a campus, I think.
Evan Franulovich 21:53
Right, it's more traditional.
Leilet Kebebew 21:54
Yeah, while here it's in the middle of the city. I like that more. And it sounds like it's the center.
Evan Franulovich 21:54
Do you take advantage of us being in the middle city? Do you go to clubs, cafes, all that good stuff?
Leilet Kebebew 22:10
Yeah, 100%. When I have a lot of work, I just walk to the waterfront from here and I just sit there.
Evan Franulovich 22:21
Yeah, It's cool.
Leilet Kebebew 22:22
yeah.
Evan Franulovich 22:23
So one of the things Seattle is famous for is coffee. You know, Starbucks grew up here. But one of the things Ethiopia is famous for is coffee. How do you find the coffee in Seattle? Do you drink coffee?
Leilet Kebebew 22:37
I do, of course.
Evan Franulovich 22:39
Well, I gotta assume.
Leilet Kebebew 22:41
Yeah, I do drink coffee, and I love that we have a lot of options here. I mean, Ethiopian coffee is still my favorite. Nothing is gonna beat that.
Evan Franulovich 22:51
You can find Ethiopian coffee pretty easy.
Leilet Kebebew 22:53
Yeah, for sure.
Evan Franulovich 22:54
Yeah, cool. Can you do the ceremony? Do you know how to do the coffee ceremony?
Leilet Kebebew 23:00
I mean, I'd like to think so.
Evan Franulovich 23:01
You'd like to think so.
Leilet Kebebew 23:02
Yeah, my mom wouldn't agree.
Evan Franulovich 23:04
She wouldn't agree. Well, my first exposure to the coffee ceremony for Ethiopia was, I went to Epcot Center in Florida, Disney World. And a lot of different countries have these venues where they kind of introduce people to their culture, they do a coffee ceremony. That was my very first exposure. It was really cool.
Leilet Kebebew 23:25
Yeah, it's my favorite part, especially when I'm back visiting home. I just like that ceremony of everybody sitting Yes, like it's a normal day.
Evan Franulovich 23:27
When we go to an international school, when I'm in indies, and they always do a coffee ceremony for us before the fair starts.
Leilet Kebebew 23:44
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 23:44
So it's really cool.
Leilet Kebebew 23:45
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 23:45
It's really great.
Leilet Kebebew 23:47
Yep.
Evan Franulovich 23:48
Do you know Shun from North Seattle College?
Leilet Kebebew 23:51
No.
Evan Franulovich 23:51
He said, 'Hey, when you're in Addis, will you buy this particular brand of coffee for me?' Which I'd never heard of. So when I was there, I had to go to this special coffee place.
Leilet Kebebew 24:01
Oh, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 24:03
So how else do you spend your free time? You go to the coffee shops, you you walk around downtown. Do you have other hobbies that you have? You belong to clubs?
Leilet Kebebew 24:14
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 24:16
Okay.
Leilet Kebebew 24:15
You met Diara. She has taught for the dance club.
Evan Franulovich 24:24
She's from Switzerland, by the way.
Leilet Kebebew 24:28
Yeah, and I've been joining her club. And yeah, we've been practicing.
Evan Franulovich 24:34
How many people are in the club?
Leilet Kebebew 24:35
It depends, it various every week. But we had a performance for Juneteenth.
Evan Franulovich 24:41
What?!
Leilet Kebebew 24:41
In Broadway.
Evan Franulovich 24:42
I'm sorry I missed that. So you know, Halloween is coming up in October?
Leilet Kebebew 24:49
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 24:50
And have you been to that party?
Leilet Kebebew 24:53
No.
Evan Franulovich 24:54
So a lot of people do dance.
Leilet Kebebew 24:57
Oh.
Evan Franulovich 24:58
And last year, they had kind of a dance group do some stuff.
Leilet Kebebew 25:02
I will let her know.
Evan Franulovich 25:03
What kind of dance is it?
Leilet Kebebew 25:06
It depends on the event, and she tries to do like from all around the world, she's a great dancer.
Evan Franulovich 25:17
She didn't mention being a dancer. I don't remember. Yeah, that's really cool. But it's not like hip hop dancing?
Leilet Kebebew 25:27
Oh, we did hip hop as well, just for practice. But for the performance, it was different.
Evan Franulovich 25:35
So you were here in the winter. Did you have time to apply for the Foundation Scholarship?
Leilet Kebebew 25:43
Yes.
Evan Franulovich 25:44
And?
Leilet Kebebew 25:45
I didn't get it.
Evan Franulovich 25:46
Oh, so sad. But don't forget, you can apply every year. So this next coming January, try again.
Leilet Kebebew 25:54
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 25:55
Have you applied for Phi Theta Kappa?
Leilet Kebebew 25:57
Yes.
Evan Franulovich 25:58
Oh, good. Did you get in?
Leilet Kebebew 25:59
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 26:00
And they have their own scholarships, I believe as well.
Leilet Kebebew 26:03
Yeah, but I haven't heard any. I think this just more of a support system, right?
Evan Franulovich 26:08
Gotcha.
Leilet Kebebew 26:08
And then there's scholarships you can apply to within that website.
Evan Franulovich 26:14
Cool. And any other clubs you've been involved with, or student leadership?
Leilet Kebebew 26:21
I mean, I am part of the African Associates Club.
Evan Franulovich 26:24
Nice.
Leilet Kebebew 26:25
Another great club we have here.
Evan Franulovich 26:28
Is that the club that was started by Telvin? Do you know Telvin Kameta? He's from Mombasa, Kenya.
Leilet Kebebew 26:33
Oh, I don't know who started it.
Evan Franulovich 26:35
What do you guys do?
Leilet Kebebew 26:39
Recently, we had Africa day. We organized that, it was a good event, I think. We did that, yeah,
Evan Franulovich 26:48
What'd you do in the event? Did you have food?
Leilet Kebebew 26:51
You weren't here, but it was a great day.
Evan Franulovich 26:56
Yeah.
Leilet Kebebew 26:57
We brought some Jollof rice. And we had a fashion show.
Evan Franulovich 27:04
Cool. Now Jollof rice is not very east African. That's more Nigeria, right? So you can make Jollof rice for you?
Leilet Kebebew 27:14
No, I'm not good at cooking at all.
Evan Franulovich 27:18
Not at all?
Leilet Kebebew 27:20
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 27:23
Well, you can practice and then get better.
Leilet Kebebew 27:25
Hopefully.
Evan Franulovich 27:26
The person that you live with, do they cook?
Leilet Kebebew 27:30
Yeah, they're a family. I got lucky.
Evan Franulovich 27:35
You did get lucky.
Leilet Kebebew 27:36
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 27:36
Okay, well, let's talk about your business classes. So you've been taking some of the core classes at the beginning of your degree plan or whatever. What are those been like?
Leilet Kebebew 27:47
Um, so I think I had to do a lot more than I expected, especially with math. I didn't think I would need to do calculus.
Evan Franulovich 27:54
Interesting.
Leilet Kebebew 27:56
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 27:57
I wouldn't think in business that would be that many statistics, though?
Leilet Kebebew 28:01
Yeah, I'm also gonna be doing statistics.
Evan Franulovich 28:04
I'm sorry. Yeah, I hear it's torture.
Leilet Kebebew 28:06
In the incoming fall quarter, I'm doing like three different maths. Be prepared. Business is not just business.
Evan Franulovich 28:15
Wow.
Leilet Kebebew 28:16
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 28:16
So a lot of math. But what about the business courses themselves? Like business law?
Leilet Kebebew 28:21
Yeah, I just did business law. We had a great teacher. She's a sports lawyer herself.
Evan Franulovich 28:26
Oh.
Leilet Kebebew 28:27
She works for the Seattle Seahawks.
Evan Franulovich 28:30
I didn't know we had such a famous professor.
Leilet Kebebew 28:32
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 28:33
What's her name? I dont wanna put her on the spot.
Leilet Kebebew 28:35
It was an online class.
Evan Franulovich 28:41
It was an online class?
Leilet Kebebew 28:45
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 28:45
Okay. So you have to take so many in-person or hybrid classes. About how many online versus in-person do you take?
Leilet Kebebew 28:58
In a quarter, I do four classes in total, and I try to do only one online.
Evan Franulovich 29:02
Oh, cool.
Leilet Kebebew 29:03
So three in-person.
Evan Franulovich 29:04
And you haven't had any problem finding classes to take in-person?
Leilet Kebebew 29:08
Yeah, it's difficult to manage classes because they end up clashing, especially with business, since I'm doing different types of maths, they usually end up being on the same time. That's why I put in the online in there to manage the clash. So yeah, I have to plan ahead, which is great, because Emily usually helps me ahead of the quarter. We get together and we're like, 'Yeah, let's put it in order where it doesn't clash.'
Evan Franulovich 29:39
And getting in to see her, is that problematic?
Leilet Kebebew 29:44
Sorry?
Evan Franulovich 29:44
To get an appointment to go see her?
Leilet Kebebew 29:46
Oh, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 29:47
Is it problematic?
Leilet Kebebew 29:49
She's very busy.
Evan Franulovich 29:49
She's very busy.
Leilet Kebebew 29:50
Yeah, appointments usually take two-three weeks.
Evan Franulovich 30:09
Plan ahead. So when I'm in Ethiopia, a lot of the students that are there ask me about scholarships, but they also asked me about working on campus. You now have a job?
Leilet Kebebew 30:22
Yes, I do.
Evan Franulovich 30:22
So how long did it take you? I mean, did you know you wanted a job when you first got here?
Leilet Kebebew 30:29
No, that was definitely the plan for me, especially after I got here and during orientation, I got to meet the international ambassadors. And I was like, that's the job.
Evan Franulovich 30:40
It's a great job.
Leilet Kebebew 30:41
Yeah, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 30:42
It's cool. And they just recently had five openings, so keep checking.
Leilet Kebebew 30:49
For every campus, yeah. And I'm pretty sure there is more to come.
Evan Franulovich 30:54
So when you applied for it, you had to go through a whole interview process?
Leilet Kebebew 31:00
It was an online application, and then they called us in for a group interview.
Evan Franulovich 31:06
Oh, okay.
Leilet Kebebew 31:07
And then once we passed that, we had a second interview.
Evan Franulovich 31:11
Individual?
Leilet Kebebew 31:13
Yeah, individual.
Evan Franulovich 31:14
Did they make you do anything, or was it just questions?
Leilet Kebebew 31:16
For the group one, they gave us a scenario like plan an event. This is your budget and this is your group. We have 20 minutes to plan, 20 minutes to present.
Evan Franulovich 31:29
So you all work together?
Leilet Kebebew 31:30
Yeah, like four in a team.
Evan Franulovich 31:32
That's really cool. How many teams are there?
Leilet Kebebew 31:35
I think there was two of us, but I think they had different days for the interviews. In fact, the other person that got it with me was on my team. Yeah, we were in the same team.
Evan Franulovich 31:47
What was the event you guys planned?
Leilet Kebebew 31:51
I think it was like an international day for all around the world, here on campus, which is very common thing we do. So it would be easier to plan as well.
Evan Franulovich 32:03
So you guys already have your summer events planned out?
Leilet Kebebew 32:06
Yeah, I haven't started working yet because I need to still do my social security number and the HR process, right? So I haven't started yet.
Evan Franulovich 32:16
But you applied for your social security card?
Leilet Kebebew 32:19
Yeah, I should have my interview next week.
Evan Franulovich 32:21
They interview you for it?
Leilet Kebebew 32:23
Well, I have to make an appointment, which I'm assuming it's for an interview, right?
Evan Franulovich 32:28
I don't think they interview you. I think you just go down and pick it up. Oh, I could be totally wrong. Yeah, I haven't had to get a social card since I was a baby.
Leilet Kebebew 32:40
I'll let you know. Yeah, next week, Tuesday.
Evan Franulovich 32:42
So what is your first official day as an international ambassador?
Leilet Kebebew 32:46
So they said, as soon as possible, once I get my number, I do the HR process.
Evan Franulovich 32:53
She was at the orientation.
Leilet Kebebew 32:56
I was.
Evan Franulovich 32:56
What'd you think?
Leilet Kebebew 32:58
Oh, I'm excited. This is the type of work I love to do.
Evan Franulovich 33:04
Well, since you have been working at an orientation already, or volunteered in this case.
Leilet Kebebew 33:09
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 33:10
Can you tell students that are going to be coming to Seattle Colleges what they can expect at orientation?
Leilet Kebebew 33:16
I think they can expect to know everything. Every department was coming down telling us about themselves, everything was broken down into pieces, sections, and then the campus store was great. Even I didn't know the campus as well.
Evan Franulovich 33:31
It's good to go.
Leilet Kebebew 33:32
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 33:33
And they'll do it at all three camps, they do Tuesday at Central. Wednesday at North. Did you go to all three campuses?
Leilet Kebebew 33:45
No, I just did Central. I still haven't been to South. I was at North for one day.
Evan Franulovich 33:54
That's cool. When you get here, definitely go check out all three campuses which one fits best for you.
Leilet Kebebew 34:02
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 34:03
But they also feed you at orientation?
Leilet Kebebew 34:06
Oh, yeah, Mediterranean, which is also halal. There are snacks too.
Evan Franulovich 34:15
It's good food. They have it catered, so it's legit food. Used to be that we'd get pizza. And we did that for so long, it's like, 'Okay, we need to do something else.'
Leilet Kebebew 34:24
Definitely.
Evan Franulovich 34:25
This has definitely been a nice change of pace for us.
Leilet Kebebew 34:29
We get pizza at every event, so it's good to have a change.
Evan Franulovich 34:36
You'll also get to network with your fellow students. Some students look for roommates, or they just want to meet people in their class, or maybe other students from their region.
Leilet Kebebew 34:45
Yeah, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 34:45
That's a nice way. Were there any other students, any new students from Ethiopia?
Leilet Kebebew 34:50
No.
Evan Franulovich 34:52
I don't know what happened at South, but yeah, I know at North, and Central.
Leilet Kebebew 34:56
And I feel like most of the Ethiopian students are not International. They're domestic students. And orientation we had was for international students.
Evan Franulovich 35:08
Ethiopia is one of our big senders from the region. So we do have quite a few Ethiopian international students.
Leilet Kebebew 35:14
Okay.
Evan Franulovich 35:15
But they are spread out, so you may not see them.
Leilet Kebebew 35:18
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 35:19
But if I see them, I'll introduce you, if you want.
Leilet Kebebew 35:21
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 35:21
Have you met any others?
Leilet Kebebew 35:23
Yeah, I've met one other. But apart from that, the ones I've met are domestic.
Evan Franulovich 35:28
Because we've had so many people immigrate to the US. Yeah, we have a lot that are here domestically, yeah? So you'll see them walking around.
Leilet Kebebew 35:36
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 35:37
It's really cool. Well, that's really great. What is your plan after you graduate from Seattle Colleges?
Leilet Kebebew 35:45
Hopefully university. I would like to transfer into a university. In fact, I think it was last week with we decided to do the Western Washington tour.
Evan Franulovich 35:57
It's a cool school.
Leilet Kebebew 35:59
It is. I like it.
Evan Franulovich 36:01
When you say we toured it. Who's that?
Leilet Kebebew 36:03
Me and Diara.
Evan Franulovich 36:04
Oh, you went up there together?
Leilet Kebebew 36:06
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 36:07
Oh, that's so cool. Yeah, man, if I'd known, I could have put you in touch. Did you meet with their international programs department?
Leilet Kebebew 36:13
No.
Evan Franulovich 36:14
I did a podcast with Western Washington University.
Leilet Kebebew 36:19
Oh.
Evan Franulovich 36:19
So if you're curious about it. You can watch that interview.
Leilet Kebebew 36:22
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 36:22
I tried to interview a number of different universities. I've done Seattle Pacific, Seattle University, University of Washington, University of Oregon, Menlo College. So check out all of those.
Leilet Kebebew 36:33
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 36:33
There's a lot of choices out there.
Leilet Kebebew 36:35
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 36:35
But that one, you are looking at pretty seriously?
Leilet Kebebew 36:39
I mean, UDub is the goal, but financially and stuff, you gotta think about backup plans and everything.
Evan Franulovich 36:48
And for those of you who are out there, if you're already a current student, or you're thinking about it, talk to these schools ahead of time like you're doing, go look at their campuses if they're nearby. Talk to the International Programs people, because a lot of times they'll offer transfer scholarships. So if you do well here, they'll actually give you money to come to their school. You're already in the country, you're already established. So a lot of times they'll give you that. So ask them straight up, do you offer transferships? And just so you know, in winter, we have transfer fairs. Did you happen to go to any of those?
Leilet Kebebew 37:26
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 37:28
40 universities come set up tables here, and you can go around and talk.
Leilet Kebebew 37:33
Yeah, that's actually where we initially met the Western Washington lady. And then she was telling us about the courses and everything. And we're like, 'Oh yeah, let's check it out.'
Evan Franulovich 37:44
Let's go check it out. Bellingham is a really cool city. It's about an hour and a half, two hours from here.
Leilet Kebebew 37:51
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 37:51
It's a little smaller than Seattle, but very pretty, super close to Canada.
Leilet Kebebew 37:58
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 37:59
Have you been to Canada?
Leilet Kebebew 38:00
I haven't.
Evan Franulovich 38:01
You probably have to get a visa for it, but you could.
Leilet Kebebew 38:03
Yeah, I'd like to.
Evan Franulovich 38:05
What about within the US? Have you traveled around other parts of the US yet?
Leilet Kebebew 38:08
I've only been to Dallas, or Texas, I guess because I've also been to Austin and Houston.
Evan Franulovich 38:14
What'd you go to Texas for?
Leilet Kebebew 38:15
I have a family there.
Evan Franulovich 38:17
So you flew from here down?
Leilet Kebebew 38:19
Yeah, when I got here, I went there for Christmas.
Evan Franulovich 38:25
What did you think of Texas?
Leilet Kebebew 38:28
It's big. The roads are endless. I don't know if I like it, because you're just going and going and going, from one place to another. There's a lot of driving.
Evan Franulovich 38:40
It's a lot.
Leilet Kebebew 38:41
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 38:41
I used to live in Texas, and we have family in Tucson, Arizona, so we would drive. And it just seemed like the state never ended.
Leilet Kebebew 38:50
Yeah, I wouldn't be able to do that every day.
Evan Franulovich 38:54
It's also hot there.
Leilet Kebebew 38:57
My brother is there in Oklahoma, so hot.
Evan Franulovich 39:03
Yeah, Seattle is lovely this time of year.
Leilet Kebebew 39:07
Yeah, I actually like it. Before I got here, they're like, 'Oh the rain.' But it's not that bad. Yeah, it's really not bad at all.
Evan Franulovich 39:16
I mean, it does get wet in the winter, but not horrible.
Leilet Kebebew 39:21
Yeah, you can manage it's better this way.
Evan Franulovich 39:24
Definitely not as wet as say, New England or Belgium.
Leilet Kebebew 39:29
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 39:30
Yeah, it's not bad. You can handle it.
Leilet Kebebew 39:33
You can, definitely.
Evan Franulovich 39:34
Is there something you wish you had packed in your suitcase before you got here?
Leilet Kebebew 39:39
I don't think I was prepared enough for winter.
Evan Franulovich 39:41
Oh, you weren't. So you had to go shopping.
Leilet Kebebew 39:44
Yeah, I needed those jackets, especially in the winter. Also the fact that it's unexpected, the rain just comes at any time of the day.
Evan Franulovich 39:56
It's true.
Leilet Kebebew 39:56
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 39:57
But then it'll just stop and it'll be gray.
Leilet Kebebew 39:59
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 39:59
And then I'll ring a little bit more then stop.
Leilet Kebebew 40:02
Yeah, it's unexpected, you gotta plan ahead.
Evan Franulovich 40:06
But the darkness she mentioned earlier definitely is a factor. It'll start getting dark earlier and earlier, and then it'll get light later and later, but then you cross that threshold and then it starts lengthening out again, yeah?
Leilet Kebebew 40:21
Here we are, no darkness.
Evan Franulovich 40:24
Yeah, I go to bed at night and it's light.
Leilet Kebebew 40:28
That is true.
Evan Franulovich 40:29
Sometimes stuff fall asleep.
Leilet Kebebew 40:31
It is yeah, especially waking up at random times, like four or five, and then you're like, 'Oh, it's bright. I can't go back to sleep.'
Evan Franulovich 40:46
You hear that? It's Trivia time! This is the part of the show where we ask you five trivia questions. If you get them all right, you get on a wall of fame.
Leilet Kebebew 40:50
Oh.
Evan Franulovich 40:51
If you get any wrong, you'll cry yourself to sleep tonight.
Leilet Kebebew 40:53
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 40:54
All right. Question number one, if you do end up traveling to another country as an international student, like Mexico or Canada. What do you have to do to your I-20 before you travel?
Leilet Kebebew 41:08
Get it signed by my advisors.
Evan Franulovich 41:10
Be sure to get it signed. We want you to get back in the country.
Leilet Kebebew 41:14
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 41:15
That would be great.
Leilet Kebebew 41:16
Second page on your I-20.
Evan Franulovich 41:17
No problem.
Leilet Kebebew 41:19
Okay.
Evan Franulovich 41:19
Question number two: You've been hanging around Seattle a little bit, maybe you've noticed that around our city, we have three different national parks, kind of like Yellowstone is a national park. We have three big national parks, one that's a little far, two that are a little closer. Can you name one of those national parks?
Leilet Kebebew 41:36
National Parks?
Evan Franulovich 41:38
Oh, it's a tough question.
Leilet Kebebew 41:41
I mean, we just have a lot of parks in every area, there's a park.
Evan Franulovich 41:46
I'm talking about national parks.
Leilet Kebebew 41:50
I doubt it.
Evan Franulovich 41:52
All right, so if you look to the south and east, there's a big mountain that's one of them. Do you know the name of that big mountain?
Leilet Kebebew 42:01
Mount Rainier?
Evan Franulovich 42:02
Yes, Mount Rainier National Park is one of them. And when you go down by the water, you look across when there's all those mountains over there.
Leilet Kebebew 42:10
Uh huh.
Evan Franulovich 42:10
Do you know what those are called?
Leilet Kebebew 42:11
No.
Evan Franulovich 42:12
Those are the Olympics. And then north of here, there's something called North Cascades National Park. So check out those national parks.
Leilet Kebebew 42:22
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 42:22
All right. Question number three: This is a tough one. You are in the state of Washington. There are 50 states in the United States, and you see 50 stars on the flag. In each state there's a capital. What is the capital of the state you're in now?
Leilet Kebebew 42:38
Is it Olympia?
Evan Franulovich 42:41
It is Olympia. Nice job.
Leilet Kebebew 42:44
I used to think it's Seattle. Apparently it's not.
Evan Franulovich 42:47
Yeah, Seattle's the biggest city, but it's not the capital. Yeah, and you can take the train down to Olympia. It's a cute little town. Amtrak is pretty cheap. And grab some your friends. Does Diara have a car?
Leilet Kebebew 43:00
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 43:01
Just drive.
Leilet Kebebew 43:03
She's my transporter.
Evan Franulovich 43:04
What a good friend.
Leilet Kebebew 43:07
Oh yeah.
Evan Franulovich 43:09
Question number four: South of the United States is a whole nother country. What country borders us on the south?
Leilet Kebebew 43:19
Mexico?
Evan Franulovich 43:20
Mexico! Now, do you like Mexican food?
Leilet Kebebew 43:25
Yeah, of course. Who doesn't?
Evan Franulovich 43:26
Yeah, there's some really great Mexican restaurants in Seattle.
Leilet Kebebew 43:30
Yeah, food is here, any type of food, we've got it here.
Evan Franulovich 43:35
Agreed. Okay, final question, what was the last movie you saw in the movie theater?
Leilet Kebebew 43:43
Oh, it's been a long time.
Evan Franulovich 43:47
Have you seen one in a movie theater here in the US?
Leilet Kebebew 43:50
No.
Evan Franulovich 43:51
You gotta do it. It's cool cultural experience.
Leilet Kebebew 43:55
I know, I know.
Evan Franulovich 43:58
How about Netflix, or something? It doesn't have to be a theater.
Leilet Kebebew 44:04
Oh, my God.
Evan Franulovich 44:05
You're so busy.
Leilet Kebebew 44:07
I like how this is the most difficult question. The last movie I watched? Let's do series, because it's been a while since I watched a movie. I watch love Island.
Evan Franulovich 44:27
Breaking your day from academics, you gotta watch Love Island.
Leilet Kebebew 44:30
It's because it starts during summer.
Evan Franulovich 44:30
Well, I just saw F1 in the movie theaters.
Leilet Kebebew 44:31
Oh, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 44:32
If you like race cars, watch Formula One.
Leilet Kebebew 44:40
I've been waiting for it.
Evan Franulovich 44:41
The story is a little shaky, you know? It's kind of typical, but the race car stuff is really fun.
Leilet Kebebew 44:42
Okay.
Evan Franulovich 44:42
I know Formula One is more popular outside the United States.
Leilet Kebebew 44:52
Oh, yeah. Same thing with soccer, which is, yes, what I spend most of my time doing,
Evan Franulovich 44:58
But it's growing in popularity here. ear it gets more and more. Yeah, and the World Cup's coming.
Leilet Kebebew 45:06
One thing I had to learn was calling it soccer. I don't like that.
Evan Franulovich 45:11
It's football.
Leilet Kebebew 45:12
Football, yeah. Yeah, thank you.
Evan Franulovich 45:14
Have they been to the World Cup?
Leilet Kebebew 45:18
No, they haven't been.
Evan Franulovich 45:19
Come on, guys.
Leilet Kebebew 45:20
I know!
Evan Franulovich 45:21
What about the women's team?
Leilet Kebebew 45:23
No, not that I know of. We've got a lot to work. We are more of longer run distance.
Evan Franulovich 45:31
That's true.
Leilet Kebebew 45:33
We run.
Evan Franulovich 45:34
You and Kenya.
Leilet Kebebew 45:37
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 45:37
University of Oregon is famous for their track and field down there. They get a lot of runners, I think from Eastern Africa.
Leilet Kebebew 45:43
Yeah, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 45:45
Cool. Well, you did pretty well. You're not on the wall of fame, but great job. When you graduate with your bachelor's degree, we'll re interview you. So we're at the end of the part of the show now where I like to invite you to speak maybe 10 or 20 seconds in your first language. And you're our first guest from Ethiopia. So it's the first time people will have heard your language. So can you tell them what language you're going to speak in?
Leilet Kebebew 46:22
Amharic.
Evan Franulovich 46:23
All right, so whatever you want, just like 10-20 seconds, whatever you want to say.
Leilet Kebebew 46:19
Okay. *Leilet message in Amharic.*
Evan Franulovich 46:37
Tell people why you came to Seattle Colleges.
Leilet Kebebew 46:49
*Leilet explains why she came to Seattle Colleges in Amharic.*
Evan Franulovich 46:54
Cool. I love it. That's great. And then the final question, you've been through it now. You're a veteran. You've been here a while, you've gone through the process of applying, getting your visa, all that. What kind of wisdom or experience advice would you give to students back home or back in East Africa in general, if they're thinking about doing the same thing you did?
Leilet Kebebew 47:17
Yeah, I think I'd say just start somewhere and pray a lot that helps.
Evan Franulovich 47:24
Pray is always good.
Leilet Kebebew 47:25
Yeah, and usually, this is a good place. I don't think you'll be disappointed, because from wherever you're coming from, you're most likely to find your people, or a group of people. It's not like you have to fit in. You will find a place of your own here, so it's not a bad place to be at. So just start somewhere, and hopefully you get it.
Evan Franulovich 47:49
That's good advice. Yeah, I know when I go to Ethiopia, a lot of the students I talk to, they worry a lot about just paying for school. Did you have any advice anything you would recommend? I knew you applied for the scholarship, but have you heard any other good ideas for him?
Leilet Kebebew 48:12
Here on campus, I've heard that Project Baldwin gives scholarships to men.
Evan Franulovich 48:25
There is a female version coming out.
Leilet Kebebew 48:28
So that's something to look forward to.
Evan Franulovich 48:30
Yes.
Leilet Kebebew 48:30
Yeah, we have different small projects here on campus that do have support. So just get to know, ask around. Usually that helps.
Evan Franulovich 48:41
Yeah, yeah. Good advice.
Leilet Kebebew 48:43
But financial, it's best to plan ahead, because it's not something you'd figure out after you get here. It's usually difficult to do. So have a plan.
Evan Franulovich 48:54
Have a plan. Yeah, planning is really good piece of advice.
Leilet Kebebew 48:57
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 48:57
Cool. Well, gosh, it's so great to meet you.
Leilet Kebebew 49:01
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 49:01
Thanks so much for coming on the show. Good luck with the rest of your studies. You think another year?
Leilet Kebebew 49:07
Yeah, I should be graduating next time this year.
Evan Franulovich 49:11
Cool. We will take pictures of you in your cap and gown. Do you plan to walk in the ceremony?
Leilet Kebebew 49:17
For sure.
Evan Franulovich 49:17
Yeah, it's really fun. Did you go?
Leilet Kebebew 49:22
Yeah, I was part of the cheer squad.
Evan Franulovich 49:23
Oh, you were on the cheer squad. It's really cool. Well, we'll be cheering you next time.
Leilet Kebebew 49:29
Yeah, I like to be volunteering. It's actually the best thing, you get to volunteer at every event.
Evan Franulovich 49:36
Right.
Leilet Kebebew 49:36
So just do it.
Evan Franulovich 49:37
If you want, we encourage you to get out of your comfort zone.
Leilet Kebebew 49:42
Yeah.
Evan Franulovich 49:42
That's how you meet people.
Leilet Kebebew 49:43
Yeah, especially for me, because the job I got is exactly what I wanted, you know? It's events, organization, and stuff like that. So cheering, volunteering, that's the type of stuff I like, and I get it here.
Evan Franulovich 49:59
Well, guys, thanks so much for joining us. We're here every Wednesday. Please, like, share, subscribe. Tell everybody you know, tell your grandma, tell your dog, everybody we want them to sign up.
Leilet Kebebew 50:13
Yeah, yeah.
Evan Franulovich 50:14
Thanks again. You have a great summer. See you guys soon.
Leilet Kebebew 50:20
Bye!
Evan Franulovich 50:20
Bye!
Evan Franulovich 50:24
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. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on 'Conversations with!' Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.