S4E7: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Azzaya Khosbayr of Mongolia

In this our 7th (seventh) episode of Season 4, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Azzaya Khosbayr of Mongolia about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

1:19 - Meet Azzaya!

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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  1:04  
Hey everybody! Welcome back to Seattle Colleges Conversations with! We're here at Seattle Central College, season four! Welcome. Our third guest over from Mongolia. Welcome. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  1:24  
Hi. 

Evan Franulovich  1:25  
How are you?

Azzaya Khosbayr  1:26  
Yeah, I'm great. 

Evan Franulovich  1:26  
It's almost the end of the quarter. Yep, you're taking summer classes, right? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  1:26  
Yeah, I'm taking four classes this summer. 

Evan Franulovich  1:33  
Wow, was it hard? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  1:34  
Yeah, it's kind of hard. 

Evan Franulovich  1:36  
Summer is faster, right? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  1:38  
Yes, it's like only eight weeks. 

Evan Franulovich  1:40  
Right, right. Well, before we get talking too much, why don't you tell everybody who you are, where you're from, both the city and the country, maybe what you're studying, and then how long you've been here?

Azzaya Khosbayr  1:53  
Okay, so my name is Azzaya, and I'm 17 years old. I came here last year, and my major is business.

Evan Franulovich  2:00  
Wow. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  2:00  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:01  
Business major. What do you want to do with a business major? Do you want to own your own business? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  2:06  
Actually, no, I want to transfer to a university and study more about finance and accounting stuff, and then I want to work more on that field.

Evan Franulovich  2:18  
Cool. And you're from Mongolia. Are you from the big city? Are you from the country? Where are you from in Mongolia? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  2:24  
So I'm from the capital city. I was born in a little small district, a little bit far from the capital city. 

Evan Franulovich  2:31  
Like, how far? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  2:33  
Yeah, it's like two hours.

Evan Franulovich  2:34  
Oh, it's quite a ways. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  2:35  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  2:37  
Do you have to drive to get there? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  2:42  
No actually, I was born in a small district called Bangor, and I was raised there until I was eight, and then I moved to China alone, and then I studied there for four years.

Evan Franulovich  2:56  
Wait a minute, at eight years of age, you went to China by yourself? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  3:05  
Yeah, it was a boarding school. And I studied there for four years. And because of the virus, I came back to Mongolia.

Evan Franulovich  3:16  
Interesting. Oh, covid. So which city were you in China?

Azzaya Khosbayr  3:21  
It was the city is called *Inaudible*. It was great.

Evan Franulovich  3:36  
I speak Chinese. I lived there for four years, but I lived in Chengdu down in Sichuan. You were probably in Inner Mongolia? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  3:43  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:44  
I know a lot of I know a lot of other Mongolian students who live in Inner Mongolia and on the China side. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  3:51  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  3:51  
It's pretty cool. Did you like that experience? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  3:54  
I really liked it. But my boarding school was kind of strict, so I can't go out that often, I can go once a week for 30 minutes from school. So I was only at the school. So it's great.

Evan Franulovich  4:06  
All right, and was it all year long, or did you go home for the summers? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  4:11  
Yeah, quarter by quarter. I go there for three months, and I go back to my country, and I go back.

Evan Franulovich  4:18  
Were there a lot of people from your country at that school?

Azzaya Khosbayr  4:26  
Yeah, it was a Mongolian school. There were around 80 Mongolian students. 

Evan Franulovich  4:34  
Interesting. Good. 'Te Gavrish Paruski?' (Do you speak Russian?) 

Azzaya Khosbayr  4:37  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  4:37  
No, you don't speak Russian, just Chinese. Okay, great. Well, let me ask you a couple things. There's a new thing we're doing in season four where we just kind of get to know you. I'm gonna ask you two things, and you just choose which one you like better. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  4:51  
Okay.

Evan Franulovich  4:51  
Give people an idea of who you are. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  4:53  
Okay. 

Evan Franulovich  4:53  
All right, it's just for fun, coffee or tea?

Azzaya Khosbayr  4:57  
Tea. Yeah, because coffee makes your teeth yellow.

Evan Franulovich  5:02  
Oh my gosh. I drink coffee all the time. I love it. Mountains or the beach? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:09  
Mountains. 

Evan Franulovich  5:11  
Good answer. Early Bird or night owl? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:14  
Early bird. 

Evan Franulovich  5:15  
Books or movies? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:18  
Movies. 

Evan Franulovich  5:19  
Yeah, texting or phone calls? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:22  
Phone calls. 

Evan Franulovich  5:23  
Good for you. You're old school. That's great. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:26  
Oh, yeah, thank you. 

Evan Franulovich  5:27  
Cats or dogs? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:29  
Cat. 

Evan Franulovich  5:30  
Do you have a cat? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:31  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  5:32  
Did you have one back home?

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:34  
No, I've never had a pet before. 

Evan Franulovich  5:36  
Really? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:36  
Because both of my parents are scared of pets. 

Evan Franulovich  5:39  
So interesting. Are cats and dogs common in Mongolia? Do people have them?

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:46  
Yeah, it's common, but not as common as Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  5:49  
Yeah, a lot of people have dogs. I see them walking around the school. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:53  
Almost everyone has pets. 

Evan Franulovich  5:55  
Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah, I have a dog and a cat actually. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  5:59  
Oh, that's great. 

Evan Franulovich  6:00  
City or country?

Azzaya Khosbayr  6:04  
City. It's more fun. 

Evan Franulovich  6:07  
I agree, lots to do, but I'm a kind of a country guy. I like being out in the mountains. I like both. How about adventure or chill at home?

Azzaya Khosbayr  6:16  
It varies, depending on my mood.

Evan Franulovich  6:21  
Whether it's raining or not? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  6:22  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  6:23  
Summer or winter?

Azzaya Khosbayr  6:26  
Winter. Yeah, I don't like being sweaty.

Evan Franulovich  6:30  
What do you think of our summer? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  6:32  
Oh, it's crazy. It's not hot all the times, sometimes it's windy or cloudy. Not hot all the time.

Evan Franulovich  6:40  
You know, our summers are gorgeous, but you've also lived through a winter here. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  6:45  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  6:46  
What do you think?

Azzaya Khosbayr  6:47  
It was so great because it doesn't snow that much, and it's not that cold. But the only bad thing is that it gets dark around 5pm.

Evan Franulovich  6:56  
It does get dark. We're pretty far north. Mongolia must be similar because you're pretty far north.

Azzaya Khosbayr  7:03  
Yeah, but in Mongolia it gets dark around 6-7pm.

Evan Franulovich  7:10  
All right, and last one, cooking at home, or eating out?

Azzaya Khosbayr  7:16  
Cooking at home. Because we don't know what's in the food.

Evan Franulovich  7:20  
That's true. Do you cook pretty good Mongolian food? What's your specialty?

Azzaya Khosbayr  7:29  
Do you know fried rice? 

Evan Franulovich  7:31  
Yeah.

Azzaya Khosbayr  7:32  
It's really simple to make.

Evan Franulovich  7:37  
I agree. Well, cool, I get to know so much about people just by the answers that they give here that's really interesting. Well, great, let's go to your visa process you started well even a little bit before that. So you were in school in China, and then you came back to Mongolia to do high school.

Azzaya Khosbayr  7:58  
Yes, I came back to Mongolia when I was 12. 

Evan Franulovich  8:03  
Okay. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  8:03  
And my eighth grade, which is middle school. And because of corona, I couldn't attend school. It was all online. And then I started high school, and yeah, it was great. 

Evan Franulovich  8:14  
And you went to a private or a public school? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  8:17  
It's a public international school. 

Evan Franulovich  8:20  
Oh, really? What's the name of the school? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  8:21  
It's called New Era International School. 

Evan Franulovich  8:23  
Shout out to New Era. That's really great. Nice teachers? Good environment?

Azzaya Khosbayr  8:31  
Yeah, it's a good environment. It's a small school. Everyone kind of knows each other, and they are a really good community.

Evan Franulovich  8:39  
How many people? If it's small, how many students?

Azzaya Khosbayr  8:44  
Only six to 12 grades students are there. And there's total of 52 students in each grade. 

Evan Franulovich  8:53  
Oh, that is small. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  8:54  
Yeah, it's really small. 

Evan Franulovich  8:55  
That's great. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  8:56  
It's great.

Evan Franulovich  8:58  
Interesting. And then at some point while you were going to high school, did you start thinking, 'Oh, maybe I would like to go study overseas sometime.' 

Azzaya Khosbayr  9:07  
So one day at my high school, there was an event with college and universities from different countries. They came and introduce themselves at my high school. And then I saw Seattle Colleges. I saw Johan, and I asked him, if I can go there even if I'm under age. And then, he said, 'Yeah, of course you can come. There's a program called High School Completion Plus program.' And it sounded really interesting. So I started doing my own research. I decided to just come here early, because my sister is only two years younger than me. I have to graduate university and everything earlier than my sister. So I decided to come here earlier.

Evan Franulovich  9:55  
Yeah, so let's tell the listeners, I mean, if they've watched my show regular. They know about this, but maybe they don't. What is the high school completion program? How old were you exactly when you came here?

Azzaya Khosbayr  10:08  
When I came here, I was 16. Yeah, and for the High School Completion Plus program you can come here when you're 16, and you don't have to take extra classes, like high school classes and stuff. But when you graduate you will get your high school diploma, which is really great.

Evan Franulovich  10:26  
So you get a high school diploma and you get your associate's degree, which you use to transfer to a four-year university. So your university work is just two and two. It's only four years to get your bachelor's degree, but you just split it. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  10:40  
Yeah, it's really good. Because college is way better financially and by experience, it's really great especially for high schoolers.

Evan Franulovich  10:54  
I agree. But because you're young, do you feel strange when you're in class with older students?

Azzaya Khosbayr  10:59  
Actually, no, there's like so many younger students, like 16-17 years old.

Evan Franulovich  11:05  
Oh. Both domestic and international?

Azzaya Khosbayr  11:09  
Yeah, mostly International.

Evan Franulovich  11:11  
Okay, yeah. So guys, if you're out there and you're maybe 14 or 15 years old, you can apply to Seattle Colleges up to one year ahead of time, and as long as you're 16 years of age, like she said, on the first day of class, you're good to go. You can leave the school you're at in your home country, come here, do your last two years of high school with us, and at the end of that, you'll get the associate degree and the high school diploma. It is university work, parents, yeah, it is, you are actually going to university. You know, it seems very strange, but we're the only place in the whole country that does this. So check it out. Yeah, that's really cool. Were you nervous when you came? 

Evan Franulovich  11:50  
I mean, 16, that's pretty young.

Azzaya Khosbayr  11:51  
I wasn't actually that nervous. I went to China when I was 8 years old. 

Evan Franulovich  11:55  
That's true. Yeah, you're a veteran. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  11:58  
So it's nothing scary or anything like that. I made so many friends on my first day of orientation. 

Evan Franulovich  12:06  
Oh, really? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  12:07  
Yeah. And then I'm still friends with them. It's really great. Nothing to be scared of.

Evan Franulovich  12:12  
Which quarter did you start in? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  12:14  
Fall. 

Evan Franulovich  12:14  
So it was a big orientation. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  12:16  
It was really big. 

Evan Franulovich  12:17  
And what kinds of things did they do in orientation?

Azzaya Khosbayr  12:21  
First, you're gonna check in, and then they're gonna introduce the school, and then they're gonna take you on a tour and on campus, and they're gonna do some ice breaker games. And make friends with each other. And then we're gonna eat some food. And I think that was it.

Evan Franulovich  12:41  
They also tell you about your medical insurance, how to log into your student account. Yeah, there's a lot of good info there for you. I mean, it's a lot of info. So in the end of the day your head is spinning probably. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  12:54  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  12:55  
That's great. You made some friends. Where are the other international students from that you made friends with?

Azzaya Khosbayr  13:03  
All of them were Vietnamese. 

Evan Franulovich  13:04  
They were all Vietnamese? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  13:06  
Only one of them were Cambodian, and some of them were Mongolian.

Evan Franulovich  13:11  
We get a lot of students from Mongolia, so I'm sure you will run into them. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  13:16  
Oh, yeah, there is so many Mongolians.

Evan Franulovich  13:18  
Yeah, that's fun. So you did orientation, but before you got here, you had to get your visa. So back home, you applied, you got your I-20. How long did it take for you to get your appointment at the embassy?

Azzaya Khosbayr  13:33  
I forgot about the appointment process, but first my appointment was in May, and so I think I scheduled it in March.

Evan Franulovich  13:44  
Okay, so just a couple months. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  13:49  
Yes, just a couple months. 

Evan Franulovich  13:52  
Yeah, plan ahead. It does take time sometimes. And when you went there, did they take a lot of time with you, or was it short?

Azzaya Khosbayr  14:01  
Yeah, it was not that short, but not that long. They were asking so many questions about who's gonna pay my tuition, who are you going with, and like stuff like that. What are you going to do there? What is your future plan? Are you coming back?

Evan Franulovich  14:02  
Yeah, so they must ask you, what you're going to study. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  14:04  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  14:05  
Did they ask you why are you going to a community college?

Azzaya Khosbayr  14:26  
Actually, they didn't ask it, but I over explained it. 

Evan Franulovich  14:30  
And they're like, 'Okay.' But you didn't get your visa on the first try right?

Azzaya Khosbayr  14:36  
Yeah, yeah. I didn't know the specific reason why I got denied. 

Evan Franulovich  14:41  
It got denied the first time, so you went home and you decided to try again.

Azzaya Khosbayr  14:47  
So I went home and I lost all my hope, because the United States was my dream country. And I heard that if my visa gets denied on the first try, my probability of getting approved is 50% less on the next try. So I lost all my hopes. I continued doing my high school and I talked to my parents, and they said, 'Why don't you try again?' And I was a little bit hesitant, and then I tried again in August, and they didn't ask a lot, compared to the first interview. And I got approved. 

Evan Franulovich  15:33  
Did they ask the same kinds of questions, or did they ask you different questions? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  15:38  
They asked ask a few questions, like four questions. And on the first try, they asked more than 10 questions. 

Evan Franulovich  15:44  
Oh my gosh. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  15:45  
Yeah, I was thinking so much. And then on the second try, it was less, and they just said 'Okay, congratulations.'

Evan Franulovich  15:51  
Wild. So did you do anything different between the first time and the second time? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  16:00  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:01  
What did you do different?

Azzaya Khosbayr  16:03  
So on my first try, my IELTS score was low, and then on my second try, I improved my score.

Evan Franulovich  16:10  
Oh, your IELTS score? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  16:11  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:13  
Did it go up a lot? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  16:14  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:16  
Interesting.

Azzaya Khosbayr  16:17  
I was looking for flaws in my application and everything. 

Evan Franulovich  16:21  
Sure. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  16:21  
The only flaws was my English, my score was low, so I had to do the ESL program. So I thought, 'Oh, my God, this might be the problem.' So I worked on my IELTS and my English, and then I took the IELTS again two days before the interview, and I didn't know the score until my interview, and then I received the score on the day of my interview. And then it  was higher than before. 

Evan Franulovich  16:44  
Oh, that's great. So that might make a difference. That's hard to say. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  16:57  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  16:57  
So was it high enough your score that you could get right into college classes? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  17:03  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  17:03  
You didn't have to do Institute of English? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  17:05  
Yes, it was really high. 

Evan Franulovich  17:07  
That's great.

Azzaya Khosbayr  17:08  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  17:08  
Wow. Good job. What did you do? Did you go to a language school in Ulaanbaatar? Or did you just study on your own? Or did you watch TV? What'd you do?

Azzaya Khosbayr  17:18  
So I sought help from my senior at my high school, he graduated a few years before, and then he helped me a lot. And then I prepared on myself on the website using mock tests. And I also changed my method of taking IELTS, for the first time I did it on paper, and next time I did it on computer, which was way easier.

Evan Franulovich  17:44  
Right, right. So did you have to go to a testing center, or did you go to home?

Azzaya Khosbayr  17:48  
Yeah, I did it at the testing center.

Evan Franulovich  17:52  
You felt a lot more confident when you went in? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  17:55  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  17:56  
That's kind of cool. I have some friends back in China that speak English really well, and they've told me that they watch like Friends on TV, or you know, they'll watch programs to improve their English. Did you do any of that?

Azzaya Khosbayr  18:10  
So I watch like foreign dramas with English subtitles.

Evan Franulovich  18:21  
Good tips for improving your English score. And I think that's really great that you did that. Because if you can arrive at Seattle Colleges with an English score that's high enough where you don't need to do the Institute of English saves you time and money. That's a really great thing. So work hard in your home country before you get here. Get your score up as high as you can. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  18:39  
Oh, yeah, it will save you a quarter. 

Evan Franulovich  18:41  
Yeah, for sure, or more. We have five levels in our institute of English, so you could spend as much as five quarters doing it if you were at a level one. But no, that's really great. So you got your visa the second try, which is cool. And then how long before you had to get on a plane to come here?

Azzaya Khosbayr  18:59  
So my visa interview was, I think it was mid August. 

Evan Franulovich  19:04  
Okay. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  19:05  
And then I came here on September 11. 

Evan Franulovich  19:07  
Oh so not too long later. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  19:08  
Oh, yeah. Everything was so fast. 

Evan Franulovich  19:11  
Yeah, very fast. Were you just getting everything together? This was your first time to the United States, right? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  19:19  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  19:20  
So did you pack well? Is there something you wish you would have brought that you didn't.

Azzaya Khosbayr  19:27  
It's not a big problem. I can buy it here. But on the first few weeks, I felt bad for not bringing my iron. 

Evan Franulovich  19:38  
Oh. You mean, for your clothes? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  19:41  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  19:41  
That's so funny.

Azzaya Khosbayr  19:43  
I could have bought it here, but I felt so bad for not bringing it here. I don't know why. 

Evan Franulovich  19:48  
You don't need to bring an iron. They're kind of heavy.

Azzaya Khosbayr  19:51  
Yeah, that was the only thing. But other than that, because before I came here, there was a Facebook group for freshmen here. 

Evan Franulovich  20:03  
Oh, good idea. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  20:04  
Every student was introducing themselves on the Facebook group. And then I made one friend on the friend group. He was also a freshman. He was also packing. And then we talked to each other, I asked him what are you packing? And we prepared together.

Evan Franulovich  20:05  
I've interviewed hundreds of students now. You're the first one that's talked about this. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  20:29  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  20:29  
That's so cool. Guys, if you're a new student and you're coming to Seattle College, you've already applied. You know you're coming. You got your visa. This is really great. There is a Facebook group every quarter, and make sure you get on there, introduce yourself. You'll make friends. Really great idea. Super cool. You mentioned that. I'm glad. And then you got here, you got right into work. So tell us you didn't start off as a business major though, did you? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  20:54  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  20:55  
What did you start at? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  20:56  
I started Social Science because my dream was to be a politician, and I was thinking of taking political classes, like a social science major. And then later on, I decided. I saw no future in political majors. Because I can't be a politician here, right? My dream is not to be a politician here, but in Mongolia. And I thought, okay, it's not my job. First, I have to work on my own life. Not for the country, like for myself first. And then I decided business is more common and have more future in it. 

Evan Franulovich  21:40  
That's true. Yeah, for sure. Are your parents business people? Do they have their own business? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  21:49  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  21:52  
So I'm curious about that. I was just gonna say backing up a little bit. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  22:00  
Oh, you got here. How many quarters did you do in social science before you knew you wanted to switch? 

Evan Franulovich  22:06  
I did two quarters. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  22:07  
You did two quarters. 

Evan Franulovich  22:08  
And during that time, what were some of the classes you took those first two quarters?

Azzaya Khosbayr  22:14  
Okay, so I took Political Science 101, Women in Politics, and social sociology,

Evan Franulovich  22:27  
And any of them, especially great? I mean, was there a class you really loved?

Azzaya Khosbayr  22:31  
Yeah, I really loved my sociology class. 

Evan Franulovich  22:34  
Tell me about it. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  22:35  
Even though the teacher was kind of tough. I really liked the class, the concept and everything. Yeah, it was really interesting. The book itself was also so interesting, it's gonna teach you every single stuff in society, like in your your daily lives, and it'll be so interesting. 

Evan Franulovich  22:59  
Well, you mentioned in the book, so I'm curious. I don't know that I've talked to any other students about this. We're breaking all sorts of ground today. So when you get your books, where do you get them?

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:12  
Okay, so I didn't buy the book. 

Evan Franulovich  23:14  
Oh, you didn't. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:15  
The book was online on a website. I think it was a school website. I forgot the name. I still get books from that website. Like I said something, I'm sorry I forgot it. 

Evan Franulovich  23:26  
No, that's okay. So you actually buy them, or you just borrow them?

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:30  
No, you just have to click a link and it's just their PDF files there. 

Evan Franulovich  23:36  
It's just there? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:37  
Yeah, it's just there. 

Evan Franulovich  23:37  
So it doesn't cost anything for it. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:38  
Yeah, it doesn't cost anything. 

Evan Franulovich  23:39  
Well, that's cool. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:40  
Yeah, it was great.

Evan Franulovich  23:42  
But if it's on a PDF, then you're always looking at a screen. So you don't have any physical books for any of your classes?

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:50  
So I'm taking communication classes this quarter. And then for this quarter, I have to buy a book. 

Evan Franulovich  23:57  
Oh, you do. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  23:58  
Yeah, I bought a book. So it's only the only physical book I've ever had in my entire year here. 

Evan Franulovich  24:03  
That's crazy. That's so different. I mean, I'm old, but when I went to university, you know, it was all physical books. There were no computers and that kind of stuff. So where do you go to buy the one book that you had to buy? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  24:16  
Oh, I searched it online. 

Evan Franulovich  24:18  
Oh, okay. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  24:18  
And then I found it on a different state, and they shipped it to me.

Evan Franulovich  24:22  
Just ordered it?

Azzaya Khosbayr  24:23  
Yeah, just ordered it, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  24:24  
Okay, cool. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  24:24  
But for the first few days, while I was waiting for the book to arrive, I borrowed the exact book from the library, because the book was really specific, I can only borrow it for a day. So I was only borrowing it for a day. 

Evan Franulovich  24:25  
Gotcha. Wow. Okay, so a lot of people are thinking to themselves, okay, you started off as a high school completion plus student. You here for that. You're young. Do you just go get an apartment? What do you do for housing if you're that young? Because you you have to be at least 17 to get into our dorms.

Azzaya Khosbayr  25:01  
Yeah. So that was the biggest problem for me on the first quarter. I met the housing advisor at the International Program Office, and they advised me to do a housing program but it was so expensive. It wasn't in my budget. 

Evan Franulovich  25:01  
Sure. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  25:24  
So it was so expensive. And I'm too young for the dorm, so I can't get in the door. And I couldn't figure out anything. And then I looked for Mongolian people on Facebook renting their room. 

Evan Franulovich  25:39  
Yeah, yeah. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  25:39  
And then I rent a room. 

Evan Franulovich  25:41  
That's a great idea. That's really good. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  25:43  
It was the easiest way.

Evan Franulovich  25:46  
I've talked to other students that get on groups with people from their region or their country that live here in Seattle. We have a pretty good size Mongolian population in  Seattle. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  25:56  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  25:57  
It's interesting. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  25:57  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  25:59  
Is there a community center, a Mongolian Community Center, or anything like that? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  26:06  
Actually, no, nothing like that. Not everyone knows each other. It's just groups of friends and groups of friends.

Evan Franulovich  26:13  
Well, just so you guys know high school completion plus students, if they're 16, they usually do a homestay program. But sometimes home day doesn't work out for whatever reason. So renting a room is a great idea. I hadn't even thought of that. That's really cool. And then once you turn 17, you can get into the dorms, if you like, or you can get an apartment off campus once you turn 18, those kinds of things. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  26:37  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:38  
Very cool. You have just a couple more quarters, or do you have another full year? How much more time do you have?

Azzaya Khosbayr  26:49  
Until I graduate? So I have one more year left. 

Evan Franulovich  26:52  
Just one more year. So next spring, you'll be graduating. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  26:55  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  26:55  
And then you'll transfer somewhere, I assume. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  26:58  
Yeah, I am planning to transfer to University of Washington, the Foster School. 

Evan Franulovich  27:03  
Yeah, right down the street. The Seattle campus. Are you going to apply to other schools as well, just as a backup, or all your eggs are in one basket? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  27:14  
I will apply to other universities. 

Evan Franulovich  27:16  
Have you thought about which ones?

Azzaya Khosbayr  27:18  
No, I haven't yet, because I'm focused on the application for the University of Washington. Both campuses, the Bothell campus and the Seattle campus.

Evan Franulovich  27:27  
Right. So you've actually seen the application. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  27:30  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  27:31  
A lot of people come here and they want to go to the Foster School of Business, because it's really well known at UW, very reputable. Can you tell them a little bit about what's on that application?

Azzaya Khosbayr  27:41  
Okay, so the important thing your GPA, the class requirements. Actually, I went to the Foster School registration office and I asked for, if I'm transferring, what do I have to do? And they actually gave me a list of classes and the I have to be taken before I transfer, and then, and then, also, for the Foster School, especially, I have to take one exam for for a business essay exam, and also you have to apply your submit a personal statement.

Evan Franulovich  28:17  
It's like an essay that you write about yourself. Yeah, is it? Is the application? Is there an application fee? Um, yeah, do you know how much it is?

Azzaya Khosbayr  28:27  
I forgot a foster one. But first to get into the foster you have to first apply for the, like, whole university, the University of Washington. I think the fee was like 95 or 85

Evan Franulovich  28:38  
Oh, so you apply to the University of Washington, and then you do a second application just for foster school. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  28:45  
It's two different applications. 

Evan Franulovich  28:46  
Interesting. So you have to wait until you hear back from the UW, or can you apply simultaneously?

Azzaya Khosbayr  28:53  
Yeah, I can apply at the same time. I don't have to wait for the result from the whole campus.

Evan Franulovich  29:06  
Okay. Is there timing involved? Because they must need to see a certain number of quarters done finished, so that they have a GPA to look at. So do they require you to have at least a year under your belt before you can apply, or can you apply after your first quarter? What's the timing?

Azzaya Khosbayr  29:27  
So I am gonna apply this November or December, which is before I graduate my associates degree. So I have to list all of my classes that I'm gonna take in the future before I start the school at UW. 

Evan Franulovich  29:43  
Gotcha. So you get a conditional admittance, as long as you get all that stuff done and do it well. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  29:50  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  29:50  
Do you know what the GPA cut off is for foster? How high does your GPA need to be? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  29:57  
I forgot, but it's really competitive. So it's better for your GPA to be higher than 3.7.

Evan Franulovich  30:04  
Yeah, cool. Well, you must have a good GPA. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  30:06  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  30:07  
That's great. A lot of people who have good GPAs get invited to join Phi Theta Kappa. Have you joined Phi Theta Kappa?

Azzaya Khosbayr  30:16  
Oh, what is that? I haven't heard about it.

Evan Franulovich  30:18  
You should. Well, you've probably received something in your inbox, in your email that invites you to Phi Theta Kappa. Phi Theta Kappa is an honor society for community college students who do well in their studies. Usually you have to have above a 3-3.3 GPA to join. But there's a lot of benefits to joining. There's some networking, there's resources, but they also have access to some scholarship money, I believe. Leadership opportunities. And there is a podcast in season three that you can listen to that talks all about Phi Theta Kappa. So check out that episode. We had three of their officers here as a panel discussion, so you can learn all about Phi Theta Kappa. So I highly recommend it to you. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:03  
 I think I didn't check my email or something, but the only one I checked was, 'Congratulations, you got higher GPA, so you got listed.'

Evan Franulovich  31:13  
Which is really great. Yeah, that'll look good for when you apply to foster. So you know, you haven't joined Phi Theta Kappa yet, hopefully in the near future, but you have applied for some scholarships, right? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:27  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  31:28  
Which ones have you applied for?

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:30  
So there was a really big scholarship at the campus, I think it was called Foundation. 

Evan Franulovich  31:36  
Yeah, the Foundation Scholarship. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:37  
Yeah. And then I applied for it, and then I got like 5800.

Evan Franulovich  31:43  
That's awesome. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:44  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  31:44  
So you applied between January and March, I'm guessing? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:48  
Yes. 

Evan Franulovich  31:48  
Yeah, that's when the door opens. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:49  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  31:50  
And how long did it take for you to hear back from them?

Azzaya Khosbayr  31:53  
I heard back in May.

Evan Franulovich  31:55  
And they said, 'Congratulations.' So the money you get, which is pretty nice, that's a good amount. Do they apply it equally to each quarter in the future? You don't get to decide? And it just pays for tuition and fees, right?

Azzaya Khosbayr  32:13  
Yeah, only tuition and fees, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  32:15  
That's really great. I mean that's more than one quarter worth of tuition fees. That's great. There is also the LewerMark scholarship. Have you applied for that? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  32:28  
I applied for many scholarships online, outside of campus, and the decision is not out yet.

Evan Franulovich  32:36  
A lot of students, in order to make money for their education, they'll get a job on campus. Are you working at all?

Azzaya Khosbayr  32:42  
No, I'm not working. Yeah, I applied for one, and I applied for many, but I haven't gotten any yet. 

Evan Franulovich  32:50  
Okay. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  32:50  
And then now I'm like, waiting for one job at the First Year Experience.

Evan Franulovich  32:55  
Oh, nice. And just so you guys know, you can apply at all three of our campuses and the district office. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:02  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  33:02  
So if you're at Central and you're not finding something here, you can also check out those other campuses. Are you living near the campus?

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:10  
I actually live kind of far, so I live in Shoreline. 

Evan Franulovich  33:13  
Oh, which is north a little bit. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:14  
Yeah, which is north.

Evan Franulovich  33:15  
But it's not too bad. What it takes you about 20-30 minutes to get here? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:18  
No, it takes me about an hour. 

Evan Franulovich  33:23  
Do you take the bus over to Northgate and then take the Link?

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:26  
I take a bus to the light rail, the stop is 185.

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:35  
Oh, you're further north. But that's a nice station. 

Evan Franulovich  33:38  
Oh, yeah. And then I see why it takes so long.

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:41  
Sure. Yeah, and then the central campus is right next to the link station.

Evan Franulovich  33:46  
I mean, it's literally right next to it, which is handy. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:49  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  33:49  
Cool. Very good. Well, you know, we have a lot of clubs here at Seattle Central. Have you participated in any clubs?

Azzaya Khosbayr  33:56  
Yeah, so last quarter, I was in a business club and I was also in a volleyball club.

Evan Franulovich  34:04  
I love volleyball. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  34:05  
Oh, yeah? 

Evan Franulovich  34:06  
I coached for three years. It's one of my favorites. What position do you like?

Azzaya Khosbayr  34:13  
Every position.

Evan Franulovich  34:15  
Rotate around, yeah. So you joined that club, is it both men and women together? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  34:20  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  34:21  
They play here at the Mac? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  34:22  
Yeah, at the Mac. 

Evan Franulovich  34:23  
Cool. The Mac is our gym across the street, in case you guys don't know. Do you guys actually play games? Do you have a league or something?

Azzaya Khosbayr  34:31  
So we play every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. And then there's not a specific team or League, you can just join a club and then play together. 

Evan Franulovich  34:43  
Cool. But I am interested in your business club. I don't think I've asked so many new questions today. I haven't asked any student about this. What do you guys do in your business club, and how is it helping you?

Azzaya Khosbayr  34:53  
Okay, so business club. We don't actually do specific stuff. The two students that opened the club teach us how to invest in my future, how to save up money. They will teach us everything. We meet once a week, and then they will teach for like an hour, and then they will give you some free stuff, like donuts.

Evan Franulovich  35:32  
We like donuts. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  35:33  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  35:33  
That's really cool. Do you have speakers? Do they ever bring in a speaker to talk to you guys? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  35:39  
No, I don't think so. 

Evan Franulovich  35:39  
Nothing like that? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  35:39  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  35:39  
Well, what do you do for fun? After you're done with clubs and classes, what do you do around Seattle?

Azzaya Khosbayr  35:49  
Around Seattle, I go to open gyms to play volleyball. 

Evan Franulovich  35:53  
Yeah, that is pretty fun. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  35:55  
There's so many open gyms around Seattle and shoreline areas.

Evan Franulovich  36:00  
Really? When you say open gyms, are you talking about schools? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  36:06  
Recreational centers. 

Evan Franulovich  36:08  
Really? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  36:09  
And some churches. 

Evan Franulovich  36:11  
How do you find out about them? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  36:13  
So my sister is a high schooler. And she has a lot of friends who go to church and other open gyms and stuff. 

Evan Franulovich  36:21  
Gotcha. Very cool. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  36:24  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:25  
I love playing volleyball. I think that if you can get in a club like volleyball or basketball, or I know they play soccer over there, that is a lot of stress relief, you know, just going out and hitting things.

Azzaya Khosbayr  36:40  
I also spend a lot of time in the Mac playing table tennis and badminton.

Evan Franulovich  36:49  
Yeah, it's pretty popular place. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  36:51  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  36:52  
Do you go out to see movies or live entertainment in town? Have you been to any concerts or anything like that?

Azzaya Khosbayr  37:04  
No. 

Evan Franulovich  37:04  
Not yet.

Azzaya Khosbayr  37:04  
Yeah, because I'm kind of busy at home, so I don't actually spend a lot of time outside. 

Evan Franulovich  37:11  
All right, fair enough. You Hear that? It's Trivia Time. This is the part of the show where we ask you five questions. If you get them all right, you get on our wall of fame. And if not, you'll just cry yourself to sleep tonight. It's really harsh. All right, your first question today is about geography. We are in the state of Washington. Just to the south of Washington is a different state. What is the name of that state? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  37:40  
Oregon.

Evan Franulovich  37:41  
It is Oregon. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  37:42  
Nice job. 

Evan Franulovich  37:44  
Cool. Well, you say that you want to transfer to the University of Washington, and the University of Washington has a mascot. They have an animal associated with the University of Washington. What is that animal? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  37:57  
Husky. 

Evan Franulovich  37:58  
It is a husky, that's right. What is a husky? It's a kind of dog. For those of you who don't have good English skills, we'll explain that for you. Question number three: Here in Seattle, we have a lot of water next to the city, and there's ferries that go back and forth across the water. In the water eventually connects to the Pacific Ocean. What is the name of the water right next to the city?

Azzaya Khosbayr  38:33  
Highland? I don't know. I'm sorry.

Evan Franulovich  38:36  
Puget Sound. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  38:39  
Yeah.

Evan Franulovich  38:40  
Yeah, that's a tough one. Yeah, there's the Puget Sound. And then eventually you go out through all the islands, and it connects to the ocean.

Azzaya Khosbayr  38:48  
Small islands and everything. 

Evan Franulovich  38:49  
Have you been out to the islands?

Azzaya Khosbayr  38:51  
Yeah, I went to a Bainbridge Island. 

Evan Franulovich  38:53  
Oh, cool. Just to see what's there?

Azzaya Khosbayr  38:55  
Just to experience the fairy experience. 

Evan Franulovich  38:58  
Yeah. How was that? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  38:59  
It was great. It was kind of short amount of time, but it was great. 

Evan Franulovich  39:03  
Yeah, you wouldn't be on there more than an hour, right? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  39:07  
40 minute. 

Evan Franulovich  39:08  
Okay, that's not too bad, but you had to come back too.

Azzaya Khosbayr  39:11  
Oh, yeah, it's free to come back. And if you're under age, it's also free. 

Evan Franulovich  39:16  
Wonderful. So does that mean you get the light rail and the subway for free?

Azzaya Khosbayr  39:22  
Any transportation is free if you're underage.

Evan Franulovich  39:24  
Unbelievable. Yeah, I have to pay so that's great for you. That's really cool. All right. Question number four: If you are a student at Seattle Colleges, a college student, you have to take so many credits in order to maintain your visa status? How many credits do you need to take?

Azzaya Khosbayr  39:24  
Minimum requirement? 

Evan Franulovich  39:25  
Yeah, what's the minimum number of credits you need to take to maintain your visa status? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  39:53  
12 credits a quarter. 

Evan Franulovich  39:54  
That's right. Cool. Bonus question: How many of those credits have to be in-person? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  40:00  
7 credits. 

Evan Franulovich  40:01  
Yeah, good question. Last question should be super easy for you, what was the last movie you saw in the theater?

Azzaya Khosbayr  40:10  
In the theater, I didn't watch any movie. 

Evan Franulovich  40:11  
Never? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  40:12  
No. But in Mongolia, I watched Barbie.

Evan Franulovich  40:18  
And what you think?

Azzaya Khosbayr  40:21  
It was not for small children.

Evan Franulovich  40:26  
It's definitely an adult film, but very strange movie.

Azzaya Khosbayr  40:31  
Yeah, it was way different from what I expected. 

Evan Franulovich  40:35  
Yeah, I liked it, but I can only imagine. It's so American. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  40:40  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  40:40  
You talked about America. This would be your kind of your dream location. Is America been what you thought it would be? You know, you watch a lot of movies, and you get this image of what America must be like. Has it been what you thought it would be or? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  40:55  
When I was young, and when I was growing up, I thought America's just like New York, all those places like New York. And then my mom told me before I went, don't expect anything. It's not what you expect. So expect the least. So I expected just countryside and everything. And then I came to Seattle, and it was so great. Downtown is not so big, but it's still pretty. 

Evan Franulovich  41:23  
I mean, it feels like a city for sure. We have a lot of tall buildings, but it's not huge. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  41:29  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  41:30  
You've been to China, I've been to China, and the cities in China just go on and on and on and on, but this is very small comparatively. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  41:37  
Oh, yeah. One student from this college, Mongolian student, picked me up from the airport. We were in the car on I-5, and then I saw Seattle downtown, and it looked really pretty. I was so excited.

Evan Franulovich  41:54  
Yeah. It is really pretty. We have a very pretty skyline. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  41:58  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  41:58  
And she just said something that you may not understand. I-5, what is I-5?

Azzaya Khosbayr  42:04  
I-5 is the freeway. It's a really big freeway. I think it connects to Canada.

Evan Franulovich  42:15  
Yeah, it goes from the Canadian border all the way to Mexico. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  42:15  
Oh, yeah, it's really big. 

Evan Franulovich  42:19  
Yeah, it's long. And the 'I' stands for interstate, so it's interstate five, but everyone says I-5. So just you guys know. Cool. Yeah, that's great. Do you plan to do any traveling while you're here to other states?

Azzaya Khosbayr  42:37  
I went to Chicago. 

Evan Franulovich  42:39  
Oh, you did? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  42:39  
During my winter quarter. 

Evan Franulovich  42:41  
By yourself? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  42:42  
Yeah, by myself. 

Evan Franulovich  42:43  
Wow. Do you have family or friends or anybody in Chicago?

Azzaya Khosbayr  42:47  
Oh, one of my mom's friends lives there. 

Evan Franulovich  42:50  
Oh, cool. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  42:51  
I stayed at her home. But actually, I know Chicago is a really big city, but it was not as good as Seattle.

Evan Franulovich  42:59  
Yeah, Chicago is pretty cool. I like Chicago, but I like Seattle better. What did you like best about Chicago?

Azzaya Khosbayr  43:08  
Best about Chicago? Downtown was really big. 

Evan Franulovich  43:11  
I agree. It's really cool. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  43:12  
But because it was winter, it was so cold.

Evan Franulovich  43:16  
It's cold in Chicago. It's true. Doesn't get that cold here. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  43:19  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  43:20  
Not in Seattle. Yeah, it rains more here, I think. They get snow. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  43:24  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  43:25  
Well, cool. Well, we're at the part of the program now where I always ask our international student guests, if they don't mind saying like, 15-20 seconds in their first language. I mean, you're our third Mongolian guest, so they may have heard Mongolian at this point, but maybe this is the first time they're tuning in. They've never heard your language. So maybe 15-20 seconds of whatever you want to say, you can encourage students back home or say hi to your family, or whatever you want to do. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  43:52  
*Azzaya's message in Mongolian*

Evan Franulovich  44:18  
It's so different than Chinese. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  44:20  
Oh, yeah, it's so different. 

Evan Franulovich  44:21  
I mean, I think to myself, 'Oh, you know China and Mongolia are right next to each other. So there's probably some similarities.' So different.

Azzaya Khosbayr  44:28  
Yeah, Mongolian language is way different than Chinese and Russian.

Evan Franulovich  44:33  
Yeah, for sure. Interesting. And it's beautiful. If you've ever seen Mongolian script, it's gorgeous language. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  44:40  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  44:40  
Very nice. Do you write in Mongolian as well? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  44:40  
Traditional script? 

Evan Franulovich  44:40  
Yeah. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  44:41  
Yeah, I can do that. 

Evan Franulovich  44:44  
So cool. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  44:47  
I think we learn from sixth grade until you graduate high school. 

Evan Franulovich  44:53  
Oh. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  44:53  
So everyone knows like how to like write.

Evan Franulovich  44:56  
So when you were in China, do they teach Mongolian in the school there? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  45:01  
In my boarding school, it was the rule that you can't speak Mongolian. 

Evan Franulovich  45:08  
You can't? 

Azzaya Khosbayr  45:09  
For Mongolian students, you can. I was not in the Mongolian class. I was more in the classes with the Chinese students, because for the Mongolians, I was too young. The rule for the Chinese students was that you can't speak any Mongolian. It was forbidden. And if you ever  speak Mongolian, they're gonna make you clean the classrooms.

Evan Franulovich  45:32  
Oh my gosh. So you just don't say anything in Mongolian. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  45:37  
Oh, yeah, even in the dorm. And with the Mongolian students, you can't read Mongolian books. I don't know why.

Evan Franulovich  45:44  
I don't know. Interesting. But you learn Chinese in school, which is cool. Very useful. Okay, and the very last question I ask is, you've been through it now. You've come over, you found a place to live, you've started school, you've been here for a year, you must have some good advice for people back home. If someone is thinking about coming to Seattle or coming to the United States, maybe they should go to a community college or not go to a community college? What kind of advice or wisdom would you give them?

Azzaya Khosbayr  46:15  
Give them so if something goes wrong. Okay, for example, in my experience, my visa got denied. If something bad happens, don't think that's the end of the world. Life will continue. Tomorrow will come. So don't worry that much. Just do your stuff, and then you can, like, try again. It's not the end of the world. So that was the like, only thing I would like advice.

Evan Franulovich  46:44  
No, I love that answer. That's great. My territories are Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and I often have students that are excited about coming, but they get denied their first time. And I'm like, don't give up. So it's really great advice.

Azzaya Khosbayr  46:59  
Yeah, appreciate if I gave up on coming here. I don't know what I've been doing.

Evan Franulovich  47:07  
I don't know either. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:07  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  47:08  
Oh, you probably be at school in Mongolia or something. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:10  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  47:11  
Or maybe another part of the world. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:13  
Yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  47:14  
Well, we really appreciate you coming on the show and sharing your experience. Thanks so much. It was great to meet you. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:20  
Thank you for inviting me. 

Evan Franulovich  47:21  
Hope I'll see you around the hallway. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:22  
Oh, yeah.

Evan Franulovich  47:23  
That would be cool. Thank you guys for joining us every Wednesday, right here on YouTube or on Spotify or Apple, iTunes. We are out there, so please listen in. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe. We want to get this show into as many people's ears as possible. Great. Well, enjoy the rest of your summer. You have a little bit of a break now. Are you gonna do anything fun?

Evan Franulovich  47:47  
Um, I don't think so. 

Evan Franulovich  47:47  
Just kind of hang out. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:49  
Yeah, just kind of hang out. 

Evan Franulovich  47:51  
Sleep in maybe. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:53  
Oh, yeah. 

Evan Franulovich  47:53  
Good idea. All right, you guys take care. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week. Bye, bye. 

Azzaya Khosbayr  47:59  
Bye.

Evan Franulovich  48:02  
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.