Hey guys, it's Jen. Welcome back to Student Stories.
Today we are joined by a new friend. New friend,
would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners?
Hi everybody, my name is Baptiste, or if you
want to say it the American way, Baptiste Ruffin,
and I'm an international student here at JCCC.
Can you tell us a little bit about you? Yeah.
So I'm 26. I'm from France. This is my second
time in college. I graduated from college in
France in 2021 with a master's degree. And I've
realized that with what I wanted to do as a job
wasn't enough what I learned in France and I
wanted to study in the U .S. So here I am. That's
fantastic. And you actually covered some of the
questions that I have coming up. No, no. No,
that's perfect. So you are a part of our staff
here at The Messenger, a part of student journalism
here at Johnson County Community College. Can
you tell our listeners about what you do here
for The Messenger? So the official title is...
Content editor, but I'm the news editor for the
Messenger, meaning that I write articles, news
articles, and I also manage a team of news reporters.
So I send them stories, I work with them on stories
they want to work on, and I also review their
stories before submitting them to our copy editor.
Wow, pretty awesome. Is there a way that our
listeners can reach you if they know about news
that's happening on campus? Just, I guess, email
also the Messenger team, and we work all together.
We have a tutorial. meetings so anyone can if
you know anybody at the messenger then they'll
tell me I have a news story for you and yeah
Perfect, perfect. So you started to speak a little
bit about this, but my question is for you. Not
only are you a non -traditional student like
me, but you're also an international student.
Tell us about your educational background, your
professional experiences in France, and what
led you here to Johnson County Community College.
Yeah, so when I graduated high school in 2016,
well, high school, my favorite topics were...
languages so english is mandatory and then we
all choose another language so i had spanish
and when i i've always wanted to work in the
tv landscape but i wasn't ready to leave home
at the time when i graduated there was 17 i wasn't
ready so what was available At the university
that's where I live was a bachelor's degree called
information communication. But the thing is that
a bachelor's degree in France is three years.
And you could only enter that one in the third
year. So you had to find two, the first two years
you had to do something else. So I did, my first
two years were foreign -applicated languages.
So it was English and Spanish with a minor in
information communication. So I already had classes.
Then I transferred in third year for information
communication. And I followed with a master's
degree. So two years of information communication,
public and media information communication, which
I graduated with in 2021. But I have to say that
the media part of it was just in the title. We
didn't do much media. So when I graduated, I
didn't know. what to do as a job in media because
I felt like I didn't know enough. So I waited
a little bit and I found a job at the university
that I graduated from. So for two and a half
years, I was the manager of the PhD alumni network.
So for all the PhD students and alumni at the
university, sort of social media for them. And
PhD students also have to do, I think, I think
it's 120 hours of workshops during their PhD.
So I was also in charge of managing the workshops
that the Career Center was putting in place.
So registration, booking the teachers and all
that. So I worked for two and a half years. And
after a professional disappointment, I was supposed
to go work somewhere else. And on the day I was
supposed to start, they told me, actually, you
can't. That was blocked. So I was pretty disappointed.
And I had just come back from a three and a half,
three weeks long road trip by myself from Atlanta
to Kansas City, back to Atlanta. Wow. As I've
always loved the U .S. and I always wanted to
come here. Seeing people online working in media,
working on television, people my age starting
to make a name for themselves at ESPN and stuff
like that, I realized that if you want to do
that, you need to go back to school and study
television. And the television that interests
you is in the U .S. So I looked up places and
Johnson County Community College was the best
one I found. And it was a bonus that I like Kansas
City. So here I am. I love that you said, I can't
remember verbatim how you said it, but something
to the effect of, if you have a dream, go do
it. It's never too late. You're never too old.
And I think you are absolutely proof positive
because you are willing to cross an ocean for
your dream. And I think that that's fantastic.
And I am really cheering for you. Do you still
have family back in France? And if so, are you
able to go back and visit on occasion or? Yeah,
yeah. So my whole family is still in France.
My parents, my sister, my grandparents, everyone.
So we FaceTime every day. I FaceTime my parents
every day. Nice. And I went home for Christmas
for three weeks. three and a half weeks, went
home. And then I have a plane ticket to go back
this summer. The plane, the date can change on
the ticket. So I don't know yet if I'm going
this summer or if I'll move the date to Christmas.
It all depends on some stuff that I have going
on here. If my parents are going to come. So
I don't know yet. But yeah, everyone's still
there. So what's nice right now is we started
Daylight Savings Time. They haven't. So instead
of seven hours, there's a six -hour time difference
for three weeks. So that's nice. Perfect, perfect.
Now, is anyone in your family involved in media
studies at all or working in journalism? Or where
do you think that bug came from that bit you?
So no one is involved. Nobody in my family is
involved. I guess it's going to sound bad, but
I don't think it is. I was... My parents raised
me, but I was also raised by television. I watched
a lot of television. I love television. Me too.
And I guess I've become a fan and so passionate
about it that I... I wanted to work in that media
and in that world. So I guess that's where it
comes from. Is there a lot of crossover between
American television and French television? Like,
are a lot of programs that would be popular here
also televised there? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't
watch... In France, in the last few years that
I was there, I wouldn't watch French programs.
A lot of shows are coming. Not... I guess sitcoms
don't make their way much to France anymore.
So we love our police and medical dramas. So
all those shows are coming. But the broadcasting
system and the broadcasting schedule is very
different. I would say like for a show, I always
pick Grey's Anatomy. I don't know why. But here
you would have from September to May a new season
with each week a new episode. In France, what
they would do is take a new season, air three
episodes. On a Wednesday. So the season will
last nine weeks, I don't know, and then move
to another show. So it's pretty different. It's
also like from 9 p .m. to midnight. Wow, that
is interesting. That is interesting. So coming
to study and live, of course, in the United States,
and I know that you had been here before. You
mentioned your trip from Atlanta to Casey. I
imagine it would be both exciting and also a
little scary at the same time. Again, I know
you were here before, but... Can you share with
us any transitions that you had to make, any
challenges that you faced, anything that maybe
surprised you about coming to live here and then
coming to be a student here at JCCC? Yeah, so
before moving here, I don't remember if I had
come to the U .S. five or six times before that.
Oh, okay, so more than once. Yeah, and from France,
I watched. American television, like the American
feed from France. So I knew, I felt like I was
pretty used to the US. I kind of knew. But when
I moved here, so I got here on July 31st last
year. And my parents, my sister came with me
for two weeks to help me get settled in. And
I did not imagine that it would actually be tough
for me. It's something that I've always dreamed
of and wanted. But I remember the first few days,
I was like, is this really? The whole change
of living home, not being with family anymore
and being by myself here, even though I kind
of knew the area, I knew the country, I know
the language. I didn't think that it would be
that tough for me to get here. But once you get
settled in, you buy the furniture, you buy the
car, it gets better. all the emotions and the
stress of having to do everything like get my
american driver's license all the paperwork and
all that once all that was done um it was enjoyable
so yeah and what surprised me to another thing
is when i got home for christmas i didn't think
it would be that hard to leave home even though
i've always wanted to be in the us and it was
hard going home like living the life that i built
here for five months going home. I was like,
that's tough. Then when I left home to come back
here, that's also tough. Two different worlds,
literally. I saw something on social media last
week that said for international students, it's
hard to leave home to go home. Yeah. So that's
kind of the way it feels. Yeah. Because you do
build a new home. You do build a new friends,
new experiences, like you said, a home, job,
car, that sort of thing. If you had it to do
over again. You know, to move here and become
a student again, what would you do differently,
if anything? I would guess to do it sooner. But
at the same time, the fact that I worked for
two and a half years in France while living at
home allowed me to save the money to come here.
So without having done that, I wouldn't have
been able to be here right now. But yes, if I
could have done that, oh. A little sooner because
I don't mind being 26 and in college, but sometimes
when you speak with your friends, like, oh, yeah,
you weren't born when that movie came out. Like
two weeks ago, they were surprised that I saw
a movie in the theaters that. They were too young
to see. Right. So imagine being 53, my friend.
But and Zach, who is our podcast editor, is in
the room with us. And I told him when I first
met him that I was so excited to talk to everybody
here at JCCC, but especially the nontraditional
students. So the folks that were older or maybe
younger. And you're my my first international
student that I've met. So I'm so excited to meet
you. And it's just proof positive that Johnson
County Community College is for everyone. There
is a place here for everyone. Your voice matters.
And we can all grow and learn from one another.
And so I'm really, really thrilled that you're
here with us, both on the Messenger staff and
selfishly here on the podcast with us. And if
I can add, I mean, I've made friends that are
younger than me, but I don't feel... the difference.
And I don't care. I hope they don't care that
I'm older. But yeah, it's a nice place, really.
It's wonderful. I think I thought, I can't go
back to school. I'm too old. They're going to
make fun of me. I'm not going to make any friends.
And that has just not been the case. I think
there are some young people who look at me and
go, oh, she's a professor, so I better smile
and say hi. But I think pretty much everybody's
just very friendly. You talked about that. We
had a podcast in class last semester. of the
podcast I say I say my age and The auditions
had to listen to our podcast and make comments
about it. And someone commented, I didn't know
you were, I thought you were 20, 21, like it's
not in the back half of your 20s. I was like,
yeah, thank you. I know you meant that as a compliment.
Thanks a lot. So how do you celebrate your French
heritage while living here? Do you go to French
restaurants? I can't imagine the French restaurants
here are anywhere near as good as they are back
home. But how do you keep your French culture
alive and celebrate? here in the U .S.? Yeah,
I haven't been to a French restaurant yet. I
think the most French thing that I've done yet
is we have this thing on February 2nd that we
call the Chandler. which is National Crepe Day,
basically. And that's something that's pretty
celebrated in France. So for the first time in
my life, because usually my mom or my dad make
them, I make crepes on February 2nd. Oh, wow.
That's the way I celebrated my French heritage.
And I've watched a little bit of French TV from
here with a VPN. But there's so much to do also.
And it's so exciting for me to be able to. experience
also american culture here so that i haven't
i haven't done much i have a plan to watch uh
in may we have this thing in europe called eurovision
song contest eurovision song contest yeah so
that i'm hopefully gonna watch i I said that
I would watch also in December the Miss France
election, which is like a big thing in France,
and I didn't do it. So I hope that I'll be able
at least to do that from here, but yeah. So I'm
going to show my age with the Eurovision Song
Contest. So I'm 53. I grew up in the 70s and
the 80s, and we lived in Europe. We lived in
Germany in the 70s when I was itty -bitty. And
ABBA, you know, the Swedish group, was big. They
won Eurovision in 1974. And I grew up loving
Olivia Newton -John. about that on the podcast
before, you know, how she was my muse to be a
singer. They beat her that year in the Eurovision
Song Contest. I don't think you were born when
France last won. I don't remember, but I think
it was in the 60s. Really? Or maybe early 70s,
but I think it's 60s, yeah. Every year we believe
in that. One of these days. One of these days.
Maybe. The kids version won multiple times, so
maybe we'll need to stop the adult one and just
do the kids. I don't know. I had a kid's one.
That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Let me
see. Is there, and you kind of spoke to this
a little bit, but for our listeners, do you know
of a place here in town where we could get a
French experience of our own? I know you said
you kind of are celebrating more of your American
culture and experience here, but if one of our
listeners, let's say, were to want to really,
you know, learn more about the French culture,
French food, French heritage. Maybe suggestions
for them? Sorry, I cut you off. No, you're fine.
I saw the things. I don't really know where it
is. Last week, I was walking and I saw a French
restaurant that's not far from the plaza, the
Contra Plaza. But I cannot remember where exactly
the name of the neighborhood it's in. But it's
very close to the plaza if you continue going
from downtown and to the plaza going, I guess,
south. that there's a French restaurant there.
And next to it, I saw a shop that also sold French
products. Nice. Like French soap that's from
Marseille. We talked about Marseille before the
podcast. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I would guess
that, but I'm sorry, I don't have the place.
No, that's okay. That's the only French thing
I've seen here so far. One of my friends told
me that he went to a French restaurant, but I
didn't ask him where it was. So I'm curious to
know. Tell us about this crepe. recipe that you
made in February. Yeah, I kind of messed it up.
So it's basically eggs, flour, oil, and milk.
But the recipe that I found online also had butter.
And so when I did it, the butter didn't melt
enough. So when I... Cooked them. There were
like spots of butter in it. But they turned out
good. But my mom told me I don't use butter.
I only use oil. So that's why. And then I didn't
have the proper like equipment, like the proper
pan to do it. And I had to do it with what I
had. But they turned out great. They looked like
crepes. They tasted like crepes. There you go.
And it was my first time. There you go. That's
all that matters. That's all that matters. It
was a little piece of home, you know, with you.
Speaking of home, what do you miss the most?
I guess family, of course. In two days, it's
my sister's birthday. So I want to be there for
that. Yeah, perfect. I'll tell her. And so, yeah,
family. Thankfully, like I said, I have my parents
on the phone every day on FaceTime, multiple
times a day sometimes. My grandma calls me. Twice,
two or three times a week, probably. And I told
her, usually she calls on Wednesdays when we're
recording. I said, don't call tonight. I won't
be able to answer. And what's nice is that she
doesn't sleep at night. Like, she sleeps maybe
two hours per night. So when she calls me, it's
like evening for me and the middle of the night
for her. Right, two in the morning. Yeah. And
she's like, well, I'm just watching TV. You know,
I'm watching my shows. The whole world's asleep.
Grandma, go to sleep. Yeah. So, yeah, family.
That's why. It also can feel guilty if I don't
go back for the summer, if I have other plans,
if I work something else out here. My parents
would come, but I wouldn't see my grandparents,
probably wouldn't see my sister. So that's the
balancing act of you're building a life here,
but you also still have... a big part of your
life that's there. So yeah, that's kind of difficult.
Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. And lucky us to live
when we live, right? You know, with access to
FaceTime and social media and free phone calls.
I'm old. I remember when you had to pay an arm
and a leg for long distance phone calls. So yeah,
we're very blessed to live today. So let's switch
gears for a moment, if that's okay, to talk about
your experience here as a student at JCCC. So
you and I are both... both in the honors program
here. Can you tell us a little bit about the
honors program? So I'm part of the, not the JCCC
part, but the National League of Honor and Leadership.
I wrote it down. National League of, I wrote
it down, please hold. National Society of Leadership
and Success. Yes. So I haven't, I just started,
I've just received the invitation. So I just
paid the part. Thank you. I'm not, I haven't
done much yet. I haven't had much time to follow
anything. But I guess I received, I had a 4 .0
last semester. Congratulations. Thank you. That's
why I got invited. And then. So I got invited
right when I came back from France, right before
the semester started. And then by the time I
also talked, I wanted more information. I talked
to the people here and they told me, well, you
should consider honors also. But that was, I
think that was the Friday before the semester
started. And I already had my classes lined up
for this semester. So I said, not this semester,
maybe next semester if I still have a 4 .0, hopefully.
So, yeah, but I'm excited about being in the
National League. Leadership in our society. Society
of leadership success. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm excited
to be a part of it. And I was. excited. I guess
a little proud of myself to receive that invitation
in January. Yeah, you should be. You should be.
I think you'll love the honors program. I've
only taken two classes so far, but it's a really
great way to get to know people on campus of
all ages. There have been people in the classes
that are my age. We've had some high school students,
believe it or not. So yeah, welcome aboard. I'm
really excited for you for your journey with
the... What does my note say? National Society
of Leadership and Success. Is there a class or
maybe two classes that you've taken here on campus
that have just been hands down your favorites
that you've really loved? And if so, can you
share that with us? Yeah, it's going to be tough
to make a decision because I've enjoyed all the
classes that I've had. It's very, very different
from my experience in France. Here, I feel like
I'm really learning things that I'm going to
use for my... job later uh but uh i guess last
semester the podcast class was really fun because
like i said we really did something that was
also concrete we we didn't learn about the history
of podcasts we made podcasts and the the teacher
um who He's not actually a teacher. He's someone
who works on radio outside and comes here. So
he also shares his experience with us. And he
let us choose a topic that we wanted. And I watch
every Hallmark Channel movie. Do you? Yeah. So
my podcast was about Hallmark Channel movies.
No way. It was so great that we did three episodes.
I was able to talk about what I wanted and what
made me happy instead of talking about... whatever,
something that would have been assigned to me.
And in another class, I would say I had a public
speaking class last semester. And it sounds weird
for the job that I want to do, but I'm pretty
shy, I would say. And I really felt the difference
from the beginning of the semester to the end
of the semester, the way talking in front of
everybody. And it was... We had fun in the podcasting
class, but that class in public speaking, it
was the most supportive class I've ever been
in. Everybody was here for each other, supporting
at every speech. We had four major speeches and
everybody was just smiling and nodding during
the speeches. And that's where also I met. I
made great friends also in that class, like in
the podcasting class. That's fantastic. That
is fantastic. The ability to speak in public
is something that is needed for any job. I grew
up in theater, performing in theater through
high school and college the first time. And then
my daughter, who was 23, she and I also did local
theater. And we used to see little kiddos coming
in. And the change in little children from their
learning capacity, their ability to read, their
ability to articulate themselves just by... being
on stage. So you don't have to, you know, be
a professional speech giver or be a professional
actor to need that ability. So, and I also think
it's a little different sitting behind a microphone
where you can say to your editor, who I'm looking
at as I say this, cut that, I didn't really mean
to say that, you know, when you have the ability
to edit versus being live, you know, in front
of a group. So I absolutely appreciate what you
said. Let me see what else is on my list. I have
so many questions for you, my goodness. And we've
kind of jumped all over the place, which I love.
Those are the best kinds of conversations. Let
me see. If you were to meet someone in the community
that was also your age or maybe a little older,
also an international coming from another country,
and they were to say to you, oh, I can't go to
Johnson. I could never do that. What would you
say as a mark of encouragement to get them to
come to campus? Come to the JCCC. I think that,
first of all, it's... Probably one of the best
community colleges in the country. First of all,
just the infrastructure that we have here is
so great. And I guess coming from France where
college is so different. Like after two weeks
here, I told my parents I cannot step foot in
a French classroom ever again after this. Just
the relationship that you will have with the
teachers, they are so great and here for you.
And I guess also the friends that you'll make.
I make great friends, and the relationships are
different. The relationships between teacher
and teacher and students, student to student,
it's a lot of work, I will say, but it's a lot
of work that will be useful for your future.
Like I said earlier with the podcast, it's concrete.
You're going to do something that you're going
to use later, skills that you will need. And
to know that you're in a supportive place and
a safe space to land. When I did my first interview
for our podcast, we talked about perfectionism
and how I came into this thinking, I've got to
get straight A's on everything. If I don't, I'm
a bad student. That's not true. You're here to
learn. And the good news is not only the professors,
but each other, as you said, we all want each
other to do. do well, you know, and how exciting
when you see a classmate just knock it out of
the park, you know, you're so excited for them.
I would say the difference is here, I also, it's
not that I wasn't excited in France, but I'm
excited to learn here. I mean, I didn't have
a, we don't have GPAs in France, it's different,
but I didn't, I wasn't close to a 4 .0 GPA, like
the way it's calculated in France. And last semester,
I had a 4 .0. This year, I'm hoping to get that
one too, this semester, I'm hoping to get that
too. And yeah, I'm excited to go to class every
day. And to learn because it means something.
When I'm learning, it means something to me.
It's interesting. It's very interesting. I didn't
know that in France, college was three years
and that you pretty much spend the first two
years doing what, like general education things
or? It depends. I didn't want to move out. So
I had to go to the university that's close to
my house. And that's how they did it. Information
communication was three years. It was the third
year. But if I started with foreign -applicated
languages, that was from year one to year three.
I just didn't do year three. I transferred to
information communication. Each university will
do it different. What I would say is, yeah, bachelor's,
three years, and a lot of people move on to master's
after that because it's just... Two more years
of basically what you've been doing. Right, right.
Do a lot of people or do you have friends that
have done what you have done? Completed their
education in France and then come to U .S.? No.
No. You're a trailblazer. Love it. I have friends
who have spent time abroad during the studies
of the French path at university, at college.
My own sister did a semester in Montreal. Oh,
wow. But, yeah, I'm the first one to. I don't
know if I'm the first one to go back. My friend
did a gap year, so she went back to college,
but I'm the first one to do it abroad and so
far from home. Because I also could have started.
I'm starting from scratch. I'm starting at the
lower level. I could have started doing other
masters, but I said, no, I want to do the basis.
I want to learn. everything from the start. That's
what I did as well. I have a degree in something
else, but I came here to study music. So same
thing, ground floor. And again, and I can't stress
this enough, it speaks to the character of this
college and the people who are here, that older
students and younger students as well. Regular
age students, again, pointing to my podcast editor,
you know, feel comfortable and safe here to take
those journeys. If I can add something, I'm sorry.
When I was looking at colleges, I emailed. Between
eight and ten colleges to get information. There
were some colleges that had a journalism or broadcast
journalism degree. JCCC doesn't. It's liberal
arts, and you take broadcast journalism or journalism
classes, electives. But I still chose to come
to JCCC because everybody was nice in the email.
Every college was great. But the best interactions
I had by email were JCCC. Wow. That's fantastic.
So, yeah, that's why. That's fantastic. And I
hope our friends in the journalism department
hear this. they need to know. They need that
feedback to know that, you know, their messaging
is effective in reaching people and making people
feel seen and safe. I have another question.
Please hold. What's next for you? When are you
graduating from JCCC? And when that happens,
what comes next for you? So I'm graduating. I
should graduate in May 2026. Okay. Me too. Yay!
In a year. Less than a half now. And then I don't
know. There's the transfer option, transfer to
KU, K -State. That will depend on... I already
have my background from France, my master's degree.
So do I need to transfer with what I... With
what I've learned here, would that be enough
for me to go do something else or do I need to
transfer? Financial aspect would be something
else. Sure. And then for international students,
the other option is optional practical training,
which they call OP2, which is you apply for it
and for a year you're allowed to work in a field
that's close to what you've studied in the U
.S. Wow, that's pretty cool. Yeah, and the third
option is go back home. Go back home. So if you
could, what would your dream job be? If you could
create it from the ground up. Yeah. So I love
to host, to be a host on television. I think
it's like one day I want to do entertainment,
the other day I want to do news, and the next
day I want to do sports. So I would do all three.
I'd have my own talk show. I'd appear on ESPN,
not to call games, but like to host like. to
be a part of a show where you give like your
opinion. Right. And when I say news, though,
it's very specific. I want to do morning news
because morning news is not just sad news all
the time and bad news. There's a little more.
fun in it yeah so it would be like morning local
news or like good morning america uh the only
thing is that you don't have a a nightlife you
have to go to bed at 8 p .m exactly that's the
only thing i'm like i like i like my shows also
to watch my shows at night so i don't know but
yeah like uh like a talk show with uh like be
the be the next ellen or like host with uh now
she's hosting with her husband so she's probably
never but kelly and mark like with kelly and
mark like yeah kelly and baptist that would be
Oh, I love that. I love that. So I used to watch
– there's a soap opera. Do you guys have soap
operas in France? We do have soap operas. They're
becoming big. Actually, we didn't have them.
And now that the U .S. is canceling them, we're
starting them. But I don't watch the French ones.
I want to see American ones. So Kelly and Mark
met on All My Children. Oh, my gosh. I love that
you know that. We didn't have All My Children
in France. But I know about the history because
I'm – probably because my grandma watched soap
operas, but also because I'm just fascinated
by television. I'm fascinated by the soap opera
genre. So I actually watch General Hospital every
day. No! Yeah, I just watch it before coming
here, actually. So, yeah. I love it! Yeah, but
that's all I say. But, yeah, we do have... American
ones, we have the Young and the Restless and
the Bold and the Beautiful in France. We used
to have Days of Our Lives, but not anymore. And
then French television made French soaps, but
they're different than American ones. I think
they were too expensive to produce. In reality,
television was cheaper. Talk shows. Yeah, which
is what caused the end of the soap opera here.
But I love that you know all my children. It's
so awesome. I wish when I went with what I've
seen online, I wish I could have watched that
show. Oh, it was good. It was good. It was good.
Erica Kane. Yeah. Erica Kane. The theme song.
I love the theme song. Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah.
My gosh. There's so many things I want to ask
you. So pivoting again, how would you spend a
perfect Saturday? If you had nothing to do all
the time in the world, all the money, what would
you do? It depends on the... On the time of year,
because once in the fall, I watch college football
on Saturday. Ah, yes. So that's a big part of
what I do on Saturdays. And then there's a new
Hallmark movie at night on Saturdays. But now
that the college football is over, there's going
to be some baseball. I watch baseball. But now
with the nice weather, I just want to go outside
and explore. I think Kansas is beautiful. I live
on the Missouri side, but both are beautiful.
But yeah, just going to explore, discover things,
experience the American life. For me, for 25
years, I've wanted to live from France. Sure,
yeah. Do you have a favorite experience that
you've had so far here? Maybe a place you've
gone or a thing you've done? I would say... There
are two, if I'm allowed. Yes, please, please.
Last November, as an early birthday gift, I went
to my first Chiefs game. Nice. So I was a Chiefs
fan from France already since 20... Oh, I love
that. I started watching the NFL in 2020, so
2020. So I went to my first Chiefs game and it
was the game, if Chiefs fans are listening to
us, that they blocked the last second field goal
from the Broncos. Yes, I know exactly what you're
talking about. That was the... I was so sad that
I thought I was recording that moment and I did
not. But just the energy was amazing in the stadium.
And so that's the first one. Second one, that
was another birthday present. Last Christmas,
and they'll do it again this Christmas. I love
Christmas, by the way. Me too. They did the Hallmark
Christmas experience at Crown Center. Yeah. With
every weekend, there were different Hallmark
stars. They were here for events, for panels,
lighting a Christmas tree. So the first weekend,
I actually went to the red carpet for the Chiefs
Hallmark movie. Yeah, yeah. And I met. I think
for a month I went every weekend because I live
close to Crown Center. So I would look up online
who is lighting their street at night and then
go behind the stage where they come up the stage
and take pictures with Hallmark stars. And I
also had a ticket for one panel where they're
talking about behind the scenes. So I think I've
met like a dozen Hallmark stars in three weeks.
So that was amazing. That is so cool. That is
so cool. Well, before we say goodbye, is there
anything else that you would like to share with
our listeners? Maybe some wisdom? or some advice
that you've carried with you from home? Anything
else you'd like to share about your home country?
We were actually talking offline about how my
family and I are saving to go to Paris next year.
So very, very excited. Yeah, I hear a lot of
people are telling me that their dream is to
go to Paris. Yesterday, I had some information
to get through. Is it payroll? That's the way
you say it in English? And the lady that went
there is like, oh, we're going to go to Paris
for a month. And so, yeah, every time I hear,
I want to go to Paris or did you go to Paris?
Yeah, I've been to Paris. I don't know. Caught
me off guard. No, I'm sorry. No, no, I'm sorry.
Wisdom. I'm not that wise. If you want to think
on the wisdom question, what classes are you
taking in the fall? And are you taking anything
this summer? So in the spring, you said? I meant
for the upcoming fall and then in this upcoming
summer as well. So in the summer, I'm not taking
classes. I'll enjoy what the U .S. has to offer
and maybe spend a little time in France. And
then next fall, I'm going to have to take a math
class. I haven't done math since 2016, which
was when I graduated high school, and I did not
pass math to graduate high school. I don't like
math either. I get it. So that's scary, and I
hope to be able to take – I was supposed to have
it this semester, but I guess not enough people
signed up for it – a broadcast performance class.
Oh, nice. Which, if you want to work on TV, I
think that's pretty interesting and important
to be a part of. And I heard – I hope I'm not
wrong, that the guy who is teaching the class
is the guy that does the announcements at Arrowhead
during the games. Yeah, I hope I'm not wrong.
That's what someone told me. So yeah, I hope
to be able to take that class because I think
that's probably the most important one. for what
I want to do in the future. So there'll be that
class. There'll be a science class too. Math
and science are not my friends. And I was dumb
to put them together next semester instead of
taking one this semester. But yeah, that's what
I'll have next. And probably two other classes,
but I don't know yet. Wow. That's amazing. I'm
like you. I'm not science or math friendly. I'm
more of a, you know, singer speaker kind of girl.
So I completely understand what you're saying.
As we tape this today, it is the Wednesday before
spring break and it is beautiful outside. So
we certainly hope when you're listening to this
that it's gorgeous and warm. What are you doing
next week for spring break? Anything fun? Yeah.
So I'm not going to be traveling far, unfortunately,
but I'm probably going to drive to Branson, Missouri.
I wasn't able to go last Christmas, which is
probably the time of the year you have to go
there. But with finals and then going back to
France, I didn't have time. So probably go there.
And then maybe, I don't know, drive up to Nebraska
or Iowa, just to say I've been to another two.
My goal is to go to all 50 states. So I'm at
19 right now. So I want to add more states. And
then hopefully I'll have some plans with friends.
And I have movies I want to go see in theaters.
Nice. What was the last movie you saw in the
theater? It was The Unbreakable Boy, I think.
Okay. With Zachary Levi. Okay. My daughter took
me to see Wicked, which was wonderful. I still
don't know how I felt about it. Really? Why?
Tell me. Why not you? I don't know. I gave it
– I'm on the letterboxd. I think I gave it three
and a half stars, which isn't bad. The musical
performances were amazing. Ariana Grande was
amazing. Sandy Arrivo. Oh, my God. What I loved
is the comical aspect of Glinda's role. And I
loved the Idina Menzel and Christian Chenoweth
cameos. And I guess... Defying gravity. You don't
cut the momentum of defying gravity like that
when she's about to hit that most important part
and then it cuts to talk. One of my friends who,
like, movies his life, he said it doesn't need
to take 20 minutes to sing that song. But those
of us that are singers, though, we love that.
But I guess I haven't seen The Wizard of Oz.
And so I felt like the whole time I was like,
am I missing something? I didn't get the part
with the animals. I didn't really get that part.
Like, why are we talking about animals and why
don't we want, they don't want animals anymore.
Am I missing something because I haven't seen
The Wizard of Oz? So that's the part. Now, a
few months later, so I did November. I keep going
back to the songs, of course. And I want to see
it again. And I'll go back. I go to see part
two, obviously. Oh, yeah. And I was cheering
in front of the Oscars when they opened it with
Defying Gravity. Me too. Me too. I'm one of those
people. And I'm glad that you said that about
award shows. I get so geeked out and excited
about them. And I think somebody's life is going
to change tonight. You know, like they're going
to win their first big award. And that's the
way I feel, too. It's not an award show. NFL
draft I will watch the whole three days of the
NFL draft and don't talk to me like don't ask
me to do something else because I'm it's exciting
for the teams but I'm also excited for the young
men that their dream is being realized at that
moment and it's such hard work and all that that
it's just emotional I cry watching the NFL draft
so yeah it's pretty cool it's pretty cool well
I could keep you here for hours. I am so glad
that I got to meet you. Thank you for joining
us on the podcast. Have a wonderful spring break.
To all of our listeners, be well, be kind to
yourselves and one another, and we will see you
next time. Bye. Bye.