Ep 134: Canyons Alum Shines on “Love on the Spectrum”

A Brighton High graduate is shining in the national spotlight as a star of the fourth season of Netflix’s Emmy Award-winning unscripted series “Love on the Spectrum.”  

Bengal Emma Miller, who earned her diploma in 2020, is one of the young adults on the autism spectrum who are filmed while navigating dating, relationships, and, well, love. 

“My mom is a big Netflix show watcher, and she told me about ‘Love on the Spectrum,’” Miller said during a recent episode of Connect Canyons. “Then we watched it and my mom’s like, ‘Emma, if they knew about you, they would have you.’ And then, surprise, foreshadowing.”

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Our Guests

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by Canyon School District. This is a show about what we teach, how we teach, and why we get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great. Students, teachers, principals, parents, and more. We meet national experts too. Learning is about making connections. So connect with us.

School Memories That Shaped Emma

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Since 2022, the Emmy Award-winning Netflix series Love on the Spectrum has become a popular topic of conversation, achieving a 100% rating on rock tomatoes. The fourth season debuted this April and features a familiar face from right here in the Canyon's community. Welcome to Connect Canyon. I'm your host, Francis Cook. Joining me today is Canyon Delime, Emma Miller, and her mom, Liz. Thank you both for joining us. Happy to be here. Awesome. Emma. I would love that you would just start by telling us about your time at school here. Where did you go to school? What was it like? I hear you were kind of a popular kid.

SPEAKER_03 1:04

Since my grandparents went on a mission in Japan, we moved to Contwood Heights and we bought their house and I went to Park Lane for about a year.

SPEAKER_04 1:13

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:14

Yeah, it was it was pretty cool, you know. Yeah. You know, my I knew I my one of my teachers read us roll doll books a lot. So I love roll dolls. Yeah. Yeah. And um I went to middle school in Mount Jordan. Okay. Yeah. Technically for two years because like Mount Jordan was getting rebuilt at the time.

SPEAKER_02 1:36

So she got both the old and the new experience.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Nice. Pretty much, yeah. And then you're a Bengals, is that correct? Yes, that is right. Nice. And Canyon's kind of you mentioned your grandparents. Canyon's is kind of a family thing.

SPEAKER_03 1:50

Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. My mom and my and my aunt and uncles went there. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

And your grandma used to work at Brighton.

SPEAKER_03 1:57

Yes, she did. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

So she was the secretary. You just walk in the in the front office. Hi, Grandma. Yeah. That's my so cool. Do you have any favorite teachers or mentors who stood out? I mean, obviously, your grandma, we have to give her a shout to know about the business.

SPEAKER_03 2:13

Of course. Shout out to Grandma Sue. Um one of my teachers was named Mrs. Rogers. She was she was amazing. Like, like, you know, she she made reading the roll doll books so fun because she did a lot of voices with that, and which made it a lot more fun. I had a teacher from England, her name is Miss Dawn from middle school. She was awesome. Like, oh my gosh. She had so many stories, and I and I love to hear them all. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 2:45

I love when the teacher kind of makes it personable, right? You get to know about them, you feel like you build this relationship. Yeah, it's true. It's it's true. That's awesome. So you went to school here as well, is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

I'm a Bengale.

SPEAKER_02 2:58

Okay. Yeah. You've got like a Bangle legacy family going on.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Yeah, we do. I'm Brad Bangle. I I enjoyed my time at Bragg My School. And I feel like my my kids have all had an experience with their youngest Cameron is graduating.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Congratulations. And that's your youngest?

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

So empty nesters soon?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Okay. Like when kids like they're that, you know, that college stage where they're kind of in and out.

How Emma Got Cast

SPEAKER_02 3:27

Yeah. Using mom and dad's washer and dryer, eating your food. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about the extra fun part. Um love on the spectrum. It's been in the US for a couple of years now, but how did you learn about it?

SPEAKER_03 3:45

So my mom is like a show watcher. She's like, she like tells me about Love on the Spectrum. She's like, oh Emma, we should watch this. Oh, Emma, we should watch this, you know? And so we started watching it because the first one we watched was in Australia. So we watched an Australian version first.

SPEAKER_02 4:06

You went OG.

SPEAKER_03 4:07

Yeah, we went OG, yeah, exactly. And then like we watched it, and then and we and then my mom's like, Emma, if they knew about you, they would have you. And then surprise, foreshadowing. Foreshadowing. That was a bit of a foreshadowing. And then surprise, I was on it, and it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 4:24

How do you how do you even apply? Do you apply? Do you audition? How do you do that?

SPEAKER_03 4:29

Um, okay, so here's how it went. Okay, my school, Scenic View, shared a post about Love on the Spectrum and how they're casting people in Utah. So mom saw the post and then she's like, Emma, we should do this. And like I kept begging and begging and begging her. And I'm like, Mom, are you gonna do this? Mom, are you gonna do this? And so when um when I went to my grandmother's house for Super Bowl Sunday, mom like Grandma Sue. Grandma Sue. Love Grandma Sue. Yeah. She like typed in an email, she wrote in an email to them, to them, like kind of like about my personality and like like how I would be a good addition, uh something like that. And and then they got back to us so fast.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Oh wow. And we had to send a picture too. And they were instantly like, yep, we need Emma.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Well, I think she she's pretty, like that helped. Well, I mean, I think that that may have gotten her foot in the door. Yeah, we didn't know what it is.

SPEAKER_03 5:31

Good on camera. Yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Yeah, that is true. It helps that you're so just you have this bubbly personality too. True. It's just any true actions.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

They wanted to interview her right away. Okay. So I I told them that she was at her school during the week, and so they interviewed her, like so. I sent them I sent the email on Sunday. They emailed me back Tuesday, wanted to interview her on Thursday. Wow. So she so her service coordinator down there helped her with the first interview. And I remember because I I teach preschool and I was like, I knew it was happening, so I checked my email on my lunch break, and there was an email from them. But we couldn't see her we interviewed with her on the weekend, went back to her house, and then because I think I told them that on the weekend. And I was like, sure, we could do that. And so they interviewed us on Saturday, not next like less than a week in the next week. They sent another email I yeah, we would like to move to next steps. Um, Kean and Sean are gonna come to your house in two weeks. And I only know who they were that long. I didn't know who they were. I didn't know like two big people in the history were coming to my house. Because you don't see Kean.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

You know, if you watch the Australian one, they don't break that fourth wall like they do on the US one, and you hear Kean's voice in the background. But unless you have the subtitles on, half the time you don't know it's Kean.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

Yeah. So um two weeks later, about two weeks later, um, they came to scene you and did a little pre- Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_03 7:17

Yep. And they met Emma. And they met me, and they met my roommates and everything, my roommates at the time. And they were like, oh yeah, we're it's you.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

You're the person. Yeah, and then they came across right after and met with us. They were really nice. I remember I talked about showcases, Scenic View, and how they've like they were like the best part of my life. Become one of the best things that I do in life and down there. Um and these are you sing, you do you act, forms, and they really just what was so great about Scenic View is they just let Emma be Emma. Yeah, and it was so great, and they would just they just uh let her pretty much do anything. So, like the first one that we went to, she performed Kunamataka with her friend. Um, and it was funny because she was Pumba and her friend was Timon. And I was like, why is Emma Boomba with little skinny like right? I was like, oh, she wanted to do the voices. Well, I mean and they totally just yeah, you go, you do do. And she did all these cute voices.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

You're really good at voices. Oh, thank you so much. Like, yeah. Your Donald Duck impression is spot on. That took me like two months to get down, actually. You did it, you know. I think we need to let our listeners hear it. So they let you just kind of showcase who you are and what you enjoy.

SPEAKER_03 8:57

Yes, they don't hide the performing side of me because that's like a big part of who I am, you know. It's like without performing, I don't I don't know. It's like crazy.

Choosing The Spotlight For Awareness

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Like, like I said, I wrote in Super Bowl Sunday, so that's mid-February. Our first filming day was last April, like April 3rd. Wow. So it was so fast. And so we were really, we got really nervous. Like, late to do this. Are we gonna be representing our community well? Are we gonna be representing our church well? Are we gonna you know, because you just have to think about all those things like um do I really want millions of people in my house? And really, like that has kind of continued on because it kind of thrusts you into social media, right? Strong opinion who these people are that they've seen, you know, we really had to decide if that was something that we wanted and that's a big decision. The way I became like Emma was totally great. Like, I'm just running, let's go.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Can we handle this to be great?

SPEAKER_01 10:05

Can we but just watching the show? I what I did is I rewatched the show and I just and I paid real close attention to how they treated the family, and I was like, this is a very kind show, and this is doing great things for autism, it is bringing great awareness because I don't think anyone really those of us who have kids know this and think about this, or people who are autism think about the challenges for this population. Loneliness is a big thing for people on the spectrum, but also like jobs, and that has really come to light after being on the show. I met a lot of people, and like um employment is a big problem for people on the spectrum, jobs. There's just a lot and like kids that are high on the spectrum, like Emma, like she always had like a normal IQ yeah, like on IQ tests, she always tested normally, but like adaptively her skills weren't in the high rate, and it's just it's a challenge to find things that are great for that. One of the reasons we wanted to be on a show is because I was like, you know, I think we gotta do this. Me as a parent spectrum that is like Emma, who is high cognitively, has the potential. Yeah. Means those extra supports. I'm like, you know, if I was a parent watching a show like this, I would be real interested in the kind of service that exists for adults on and the businesses that support them and Scenic View, yes, exactly. Yeah, and Scenic View has been so amazing. They have embraced who she is, they let her be funny, they let her do all our work, they let her, they they really let her shine. And I just felt like this was such a special program that we just kind of had to take one for the team, and it's great for the most part.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

I think that awareness aspect of it is such a big part as well. I was doing some research before the podcast and found on CNN that really there's just this ginormous lack of awareness because there haven't been studies done on autism. The first US study for adults with autism wasn't published until 2020. And if you think about that in terms of all of the other aspects of our lives that we dig so deeply into, it's like, why are we not looking at this? Because the spectrum isn't, you know, A to C. It's A to Z. Yeah. Right. Like you said, Emma, you're high functioning autism, but some people aren't. And there's everyone in tweet.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

So it is really great to see that we're starting to have these schools, we have Life Skills Academy here in Canyons that's similar. They're not as they're not live-in um, like Scenic View, but you know, they're teaching those job skills, or you know, depending on the needs of each individual student, these schools are now tailoring to those students, letting you do your voices and your songs and be you while helping to get past some of those barriers that you maybe didn't.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

When Emma was kind of in that transition, she graduated in 2020. So that was right in the middle of COVID. And it was that was a challenging time for her to graduate because a lot of schools were online and she had a hard time figuring out the computer. She needed more assistance than what was there. She actually ended up working at DI for two years, and that was actually great. And it kind of taught us a lot of things about what Emma could do. Um, I was the DI. It was, I mean, they were really good with her. And they could also kind of see her potential. So they they could see that she wasn't someone that needed to work there long term, that she had skills, she had abilities. For one thing, she always got up, got dressed, she always had her stuff ready, she got her lunch ready. So I don't know, like that showed us a lot of good things. And then when we found out about Scenic View, we wrote in right away. And then they wanted her right away. There was a difficult transition period. And if you watch the show, there's a boy whose darling, his name's Dylan, he lives in California, his mom's a single mom, and he's alone for a lot of the day. A lot of the day I was I was thinking, I'm like, that's got to be a reality for a lot of kids on the spectrum. It's because the parents don't know what to do with them. And they have to work, they they need to work, but not a lot of places will help them. Yeah. We're lucky here in Salt Lake and Utah that we have the DI and some places that will take people, work with them, and help them with those adaptive skills that may be weaker because of their autism. The same with Nick View, they have work programs, they have classes, they have a lot of things because like Emma really has been strong, the performing arts services that they have. But other kids really like the computers and they work with those kids with that. It really was such a blessing for us to find Scenic View and for her to go there. We felt like that needed to be spotlighted. So, and she did too, because she's obviously adorable and warm. Very and just and very authentic. And I think that's attracting a lot of people to this show is they see how authentic these kids are. Yeah, and having a reality show with kids that are on the spectrum who are not going to pretend or hide. This isn't acting or you know how they are. And people are like, oh, they're really sweet and charming. And we all know that.

SPEAKER_04 16:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

All those of us that have been able to have kids on the spectrum or work with kids on the spectrum, we know that they are sweet and charming and wonderful. But this is really bringing that to light.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

We're now seeing the platforms that you have grow. Yeah. I think there's a drive for that. People want to know about our fellow humans. Yeah. You mentioned being in the spotlight, Emma. I have to commend you. It is so brave to be willing to sit down, not only on a date and have a camera in your face, but to go on your first date and have cameras all around you, and like your mom said, inviting millions of people to come with you on your first date. What was that like?

SPEAKER_03 17:12

I kind of got used to it. Like it was a little like it was a little like funny to see a camera follow me everywhere. But I kind of got used to it, you know? And since I'm not really camera shy, it just kind of like came natural to me, you know? And they help you with conversations, but they kind of just let you say what you want. I mean, but they do guide you with conversations just in case you have awkward silences. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:34

You've got Kian over in the corner to be executive director. Bruh. Do you maybe want to? Do you understand what they just? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I feel like he's such a great support and wants what's best for you and wants to have a good time.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yeah. Something that impressed me about him. Um, he was at every single shoot. Wow. Every single one. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

So I think a lot of executive directors wouldn't do that. A lot of them don't have the time, but he's it sounds like he's his priority.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

I'm sure he doesn't do all the editing, but he was at every single shoot. He knows what's going on. And he would make you do things over again. Oh, we gotta get used to that.

SPEAKER_02 18:14

What was that like?

SPEAKER_03 18:15

Kind of I got again, I got used to it because you know the film. I like studied film my whole life, and they do that. They they do multiple takes until like they get a really good shot. Yeah. That it's a reason why we have great movies in the first place, because they do multiple takes, and it's why Love on the Spectrum is such a good show, because they do multiple takes.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

And he's he's pretty patient and he wants to get it right. Yeah. I was very impressed with him in our interactions that I could tell that he really cared about the product.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

Yeah. So he's making sure you can actually get a word in edgewise when the peacocks and Lacot are wanting to be the star of the show. Yeah, yeah, it's funny. Squappers, right?

SPEAKER_03 19:01

It's a squawkers that just wanted to be funny, you know, and just because and just because I don't know. To be honest, I really like peacocks, you know. I really like peacocks. They've always terrified me. You know, I mean you get that big plume and you're like, are you coming at me with those kind of like are you gonna like, you know, attack me?

SPEAKER_02 19:22

You know, you're just trying to have a nice conversation and they just keep inserting themselves in the conversation. That's just not nice.

SPEAKER_03 19:29

I kind of got used to the squawking, you know, because it's funny because I'm a sensory avoider, you know, and sometimes loud sounds irritate me. Sure. Mainly dogs barking. That's what really scared me as a kid. I like every time when a dog bark, I would be like, Yeah, I hear that.

SPEAKER_01 19:45

Yeah. Every time we would go to a new house that she wasn't familiar with, she would always say, Mom, do they have a dog? She was and and we we pretty much like when she was three, I took her trick-or-treating, and then again when she was four, and then I was like, Why am I doing this? Why am I not traumatizing her? She doesn't want to go trick-or-treating, she's too scared of the dogs, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:13

And it's easier to just buy a bag of candy, hang out. Yeah, I a nightmare before Christmas.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Yeah, yeah. You have to learn those things as parents. Like, why am I making my kid go trick-or-treating when it's not enjoyable for her? Like, just too scared that the dogs are gonna bark, you know? And she was also scared of the like the scary things. And things that people have on their porch that make scary noises. That was the joke. Those were really hard for Emma.

SPEAKER_03 20:41

Yeah, yeah. And it's it's funny because until Nightmare came into my life, I was always terrified of Halloween, you know? But then, like once my cousin showed Nightmare before Christmas to me, I was like, oh, so bad. Yeah, you know, you just gotta find the right side of Halloween. It just goes to show you that I'm more of a spooky Halloween person, not a scary Halloween person, because I've always hated horror films. Like I've never liked them ever. Probably because of the gore and the jump scares. And I feel like it's either anxiety and empathy. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

I don't want to sit there and have something jumping at me and make people anxious for too long.

SPEAKER_03 21:20

I know, but however, I did like a lot of other things with Halloween. Like I love the Michael Jackson thriller music video.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Obviously. Obviously, cinematic classic.

SPEAKER_03 21:30

Cinematic classic, yeah. Like, you know.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

And she loves dressing up. Yeah. She likes the creativity and then I bet. Yeah. Eventually she came back around to trick or treating when she was like 10. But I just didn't make her go after I figured out. I'm like, I'm just traumatizing her. I don't know why. This is not fun for her. No, it's okay. Yeah.

unknown 21:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Well, you know better, you do better, but like can you yeah. No, you never know to try, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:59

Yeah. And so you tried being on this show. How do you think it went overall?

SPEAKER_03 22:04

I think it went pretty good actually, because it got me where I needed to be, you know, and it got me more exposed in film, which is what I want. You know, and branch out with dating, which is also another thing that I desire too. So it had two factors to motivate me.

SPEAKER_02 22:20

So they've announced that there will be a season five. I have to ask, are you gonna be on season high? We'll see.

SPEAKER_03 22:28

Because me yet, but then SME unofficially, you know? Because I feel like they're like casting their people already. Yeah, you know. It sounds like they move pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_01 22:40

Yeah, they have to find new people. So yeah, they're always looking for new people.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

But we gotta have those our favorites that are coming back too. You got Danny from season one, and we have to have Emma back. I think that's what the people want. The people want to see more of Emma.

SPEAKER_01 22:58

I think that a lot of people that talk to me about the show, they're like, I we loved seeing the places that she went to because we have so many pretty places in Utah. A lot of people were like, Wow, Utah is so pretty. Yeah. Um really cool locations. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:17

That was gorgeous, except for the big windstorm that tried to ruin your day.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

Yeah. Minus the one storm. It was it was okay, you know.

Life After Airing And The Message

SPEAKER_02 23:26

So do you get recognized from the show now?

SPEAKER_03 23:27

You said up to here. All the time, yeah. Like um, a few times I like over the weekend, I got like young girls like coming up to me and be like, Are you? Well it's okay with it because you know, I love people, you know, and I gave them hugs and stuff, and I took pictures with them. So far, the attention hasn't bothered me yet. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Well, it's practice, right? You want to be in film.

SPEAKER_03 23:53

Yeah, it is practice, the celebrity treatment that I've always wanted to meet celebrities. So it's like, so it's now it's like the other way around. Yeah. You're on the other side of the red hair. I know, it's weird. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

Yeah. Yeah, but it's really fun. So well, I know we've talked about this a little bit. Liz, you in particular have mentioned the importance of the show and bringing awareness. Emma, I'd love to hear from you as well. What message do you hope that this show brings?

SPEAKER_03 24:22

I just I just want to say that um there's always hope for someone on the spectrum. You know, you you can just think of like your autism as a as a blessing and not a curse. Because if you thought of it as a curse, like like you wouldn't get the opportunities you would receive. Like, take me, for example, you know, like I wouldn't be on love in the spectrum if I thought my autism was a curse.

SPEAKER_02 24:44

It makes you who you are. It it's part of your personality. And like we were discussing, you have to embrace the best parts of you. And uh, you know, some people are quiet, some people are loud, some people are in between, and you just can't be you. That is true, yeah. I love that. It makes the world more interesting. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, it's true. Yeah. My world is more interesting. A, watch the show, and B, having the opportunity to sit down and talk to you.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Oh, thank you so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate that.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

So you went to a few of our schools here in Canyons. You went to Park Lane, Mount Jordan, and then uh Brighton. How did your time at Canyons help you to become the person that you are?

SPEAKER_03 25:28

I feel like middle school is when the point where I started to grow confident. I know that's kind of like hard to say because like that's that's middle school is where we have our most insecure years. Yeah. Yeah. That's terrifying. It's terrifying. Yeah, it is terrifying. But you know, I still did like talent shows, performed, did what I loved, you know. And I feel like in a way it kind of helped me grow confident, you know. Like, you know, I'd like faced a faced some heartbreaks, you know, a breakup, a brutal breakup, you know. But in a way, it kind of made me stronger and be like, you know what? After leaving middle school, I was like, I feel like my future is gonna get a lot better than this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:05

Middle school is not the uh the foundation. It's just to get you going where you want to be.

SPEAKER_03 26:11

Yeah, that's true. Yeah, it is. And when I entered high school, like, you know, people, kids were a lot nicer, more inclusive. I didn't really worry about drama too much. And mostly I steered clear of that because I just don't like to get into people's drama because like it kind of drains you.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

Yeah, you know. You'd rather do the drama on the stage.

SPEAKER_03 26:30

Yes, that's right. Save the drama for the stage real life. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 26:34

I felt like there were a lot of really nice kids at Brighton. Because we have my son Preston, who you didn't see on the show, he's also on the spectrum, and he's on a mission right now in in Los Angeles, and that's why you didn't see him on the show. But like they oh there were a lot of nice kids at Brighton. And a lot of times when you see on Love on the Spectrum, Kian will ask him, Have you ever been on a date? And they're almost, they almost always say no. Yeah, but Emma had been on lots of dates. It's true. I have, and they were more friend dates, but she all she got invited to the dances. Yeah, she really she felt like she was really a part of things at Brighton High School. Yeah, it's true. And the other thing, she was a she was a home. Excuse you, yeah. Remotely. Yeah, I should have had you bring your crown. Well, she actually don't you have it in the cart. I do have it in the car. She actually got the car because she's gonna do a like a music video. She's like, I better bring this to scenic view. Yeah, and should.

SPEAKER_03 27:35

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah, she she had a lot of opportunities at Brighton and a lot of teachers that really saw her talents and her abilities. Um, she was in all of the school plays and all the musicals. Yes, and Mindy Curtis was really amazing with Emma. Yes, and Angie Meredith has been extremely supportive of Emma. Mrs. Meredith, she like she really saw how smart Emma was and she really honed into that.

SPEAKER_04 28:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

And then she had this inner this um like fascination with the stage, and they really like they let her be part of everything. So I mean, she had a great experience at Brighton High School, and a lot of people that really like saw the great things about her, and it takes a village, but we really have a nice community here. Yeah, we have a nice community. We had a lot of nice neighbors in Cottonwood Heights that were very positive with Emma too.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Yeah. Um, so to be honest, at Brighton, I was scared I wasn't gonna make any friends. And then like I was kind of like really like in a dark place. And then the next day, I met my friend Monet, who is helping me.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

She's been a great friend with her ever since they first met.

SPEAKER_03 28:53

Yes, it was like the greatest one of the greatest blessings I've ever had.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

I love when you get that friendship out of school that just stays with you. Yes, and you meet them instantly, you're like, okay, yeah, you're a good person. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

Because like in high school, some of us like kind of like lose touch, but you know, but it's nice that social media kind of like helps you keep in touch nowadays. You know, back when m mom was in school, it wasn't it wasn't like that. We didn't have that.

SPEAKER_02 29:19

We had to write uh phone numbers in our email bus. Yeah, yeah, it's how have a good summer.

SPEAKER_03 29:26

Yeah, that's true, you know. But like Monet is actually one of my high school friends that's kept in touch with me like for almost 10 years.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

That's awesome. Yeah, that's really and she's helping us with the social media now too, which is oh nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

Yeah, that can be a struggle, especially if you're trying to keep up with the content.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Yeah, it is a little overwhelming.

Advice For Seniors And Farewell

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yeah. Speaking of high schools, uh, it's May, and some of our our seniors are graduating in you know, a matter of days. And then what advice you are, you know, you're already on track to where you want to be, right? You've graduated, you're in school, you're working, you're already a star, you know, you're one step closer to the red carpet. What advice would you have for our graduating seniors?

SPEAKER_03 30:16

Just be open to opportunities because you never know what's out there. Yeah, you know, and just always be brave to take risks. It's always good to take risks because you never know where you can end up. And for my brother, take all the opportunities you can get.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

I I know you're both so busy with again all of the success from the show, hopefully preparing for the next season. So I want to thank you both so much for taking the time to come out here and chat with us and share your story. And uh I hope love on the spectrum leads to your first Emmy.

SPEAKER_03 30:53

Thank you so much. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Oh, very one Emmys. Now it's your turn. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:01

Well, thank you so much for both of you for being here. We really appreciate it. Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 31:05

Yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

And thank you for listening. If there's a topic you'd like to hear discussed on the podcast, send us an email to communications at canyonsdistrict.org.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect Canyons. Connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram at Canyons District, or on our website, canyonsdistrict.org.