WEBVTT 00:00:11.179 --> 00:00:14.380 Hey guys, it's Jen. Welcome back to Student Stories. 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:18.480 Today we are joined by a new friend. New friend, 00:00:18.600 --> 00:00:20.480 would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners? 00:00:20.920 --> 00:00:23.800 Hi everybody, my name is Baptiste, or if you 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:26.140 want to say it the American way, Baptiste Ruffin, 00:00:26.140 --> 00:00:29.980 and I'm an international student here at JCCC. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:32.780 Can you tell us a little bit about you? Yeah. 00:00:32.899 --> 00:00:37.299 So I'm 26. I'm from France. This is my second 00:00:37.299 --> 00:00:41.079 time in college. I graduated from college in 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:44.119 France in 2021 with a master's degree. And I've 00:00:44.119 --> 00:00:48.140 realized that with what I wanted to do as a job 00:00:48.140 --> 00:00:49.880 wasn't enough what I learned in France and I 00:00:49.880 --> 00:00:53.219 wanted to study in the U .S. So here I am. That's 00:00:53.219 --> 00:00:55.320 fantastic. And you actually covered some of the 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.100 questions that I have coming up. No, no. No, 00:00:58.179 --> 00:01:01.520 that's perfect. So you are a part of our staff 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:04.040 here at The Messenger, a part of student journalism 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:07.480 here at Johnson County Community College. Can 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:09.620 you tell our listeners about what you do here 00:01:09.620 --> 00:01:12.420 for The Messenger? So the official title is... 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:14.819 Content editor, but I'm the news editor for the 00:01:14.819 --> 00:01:17.780 Messenger, meaning that I write articles, news 00:01:17.780 --> 00:01:21.540 articles, and I also manage a team of news reporters. 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:24.000 So I send them stories, I work with them on stories 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:26.340 they want to work on, and I also review their 00:01:26.340 --> 00:01:29.640 stories before submitting them to our copy editor. 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:32.180 Wow, pretty awesome. Is there a way that our 00:01:32.180 --> 00:01:34.480 listeners can reach you if they know about news 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:37.319 that's happening on campus? Just, I guess, email 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:40.500 also the Messenger team, and we work all together. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:45.140 We have a tutorial. meetings so anyone can if 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:48.079 you know anybody at the messenger then they'll 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:50.480 tell me I have a news story for you and yeah 00:01:51.000 --> 00:01:53.400 Perfect, perfect. So you started to speak a little 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.359 bit about this, but my question is for you. Not 00:01:56.359 --> 00:01:58.359 only are you a non -traditional student like 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:00.840 me, but you're also an international student. 00:02:01.079 --> 00:02:04.319 Tell us about your educational background, your 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:07.700 professional experiences in France, and what 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:10.020 led you here to Johnson County Community College. 00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:13.259 Yeah, so when I graduated high school in 2016, 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:17.159 well, high school, my favorite topics were... 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:20.030 languages so english is mandatory and then we 00:02:20.030 --> 00:02:22.169 all choose another language so i had spanish 00:02:22.169 --> 00:02:26.710 and when i i've always wanted to work in the 00:02:26.710 --> 00:02:30.669 tv landscape but i wasn't ready to leave home 00:02:30.669 --> 00:02:33.449 at the time when i graduated there was 17 i wasn't 00:02:33.449 --> 00:02:37.250 ready so what was available At the university 00:02:37.250 --> 00:02:41.789 that's where I live was a bachelor's degree called 00:02:41.789 --> 00:02:44.650 information communication. But the thing is that 00:02:44.650 --> 00:02:46.669 a bachelor's degree in France is three years. 00:02:46.909 --> 00:02:49.210 And you could only enter that one in the third 00:02:49.210 --> 00:02:52.009 year. So you had to find two, the first two years 00:02:52.009 --> 00:02:53.949 you had to do something else. So I did, my first 00:02:53.949 --> 00:02:56.650 two years were foreign -applicated languages. 00:02:57.229 --> 00:03:01.009 So it was English and Spanish with a minor in 00:03:01.009 --> 00:03:02.990 information communication. So I already had classes. 00:03:03.770 --> 00:03:05.650 Then I transferred in third year for information 00:03:05.650 --> 00:03:08.229 communication. And I followed with a master's 00:03:08.229 --> 00:03:10.870 degree. So two years of information communication, 00:03:11.370 --> 00:03:15.689 public and media information communication, which 00:03:15.689 --> 00:03:21.110 I graduated with in 2021. But I have to say that 00:03:21.110 --> 00:03:24.990 the media part of it was just in the title. We 00:03:24.990 --> 00:03:28.129 didn't do much media. So when I graduated, I 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:32.879 didn't know. what to do as a job in media because 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:36.139 I felt like I didn't know enough. So I waited 00:03:36.139 --> 00:03:38.960 a little bit and I found a job at the university 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:43.340 that I graduated from. So for two and a half 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:48.120 years, I was the manager of the PhD alumni network. 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:51.900 So for all the PhD students and alumni at the 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:56.340 university, sort of social media for them. And 00:03:56.340 --> 00:04:00.120 PhD students also have to do, I think, I think 00:04:00.120 --> 00:04:04.840 it's 120 hours of workshops during their PhD. 00:04:05.060 --> 00:04:07.800 So I was also in charge of managing the workshops 00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:10.180 that the Career Center was putting in place. 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:15.139 So registration, booking the teachers and all 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:18.740 that. So I worked for two and a half years. And 00:04:18.740 --> 00:04:21.399 after a professional disappointment, I was supposed 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:23.620 to go work somewhere else. And on the day I was 00:04:23.620 --> 00:04:25.459 supposed to start, they told me, actually, you 00:04:25.459 --> 00:04:28.540 can't. That was blocked. So I was pretty disappointed. 00:04:28.899 --> 00:04:33.399 And I had just come back from a three and a half, 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:38.399 three weeks long road trip by myself from Atlanta 00:04:38.399 --> 00:04:42.579 to Kansas City, back to Atlanta. Wow. As I've 00:04:42.579 --> 00:04:44.060 always loved the U .S. and I always wanted to 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:49.620 come here. Seeing people online working in media, 00:04:49.699 --> 00:04:51.639 working on television, people my age starting 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:54.939 to make a name for themselves at ESPN and stuff 00:04:54.939 --> 00:04:56.839 like that, I realized that if you want to do 00:04:56.839 --> 00:04:59.779 that, you need to go back to school and study 00:04:59.779 --> 00:05:02.100 television. And the television that interests 00:05:02.100 --> 00:05:05.839 you is in the U .S. So I looked up places and 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:09.399 Johnson County Community College was the best 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:13.360 one I found. And it was a bonus that I like Kansas 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:18.449 City. So here I am. I love that you said, I can't 00:05:18.449 --> 00:05:20.170 remember verbatim how you said it, but something 00:05:20.170 --> 00:05:22.670 to the effect of, if you have a dream, go do 00:05:22.670 --> 00:05:25.550 it. It's never too late. You're never too old. 00:05:25.670 --> 00:05:27.870 And I think you are absolutely proof positive 00:05:27.870 --> 00:05:30.410 because you are willing to cross an ocean for 00:05:30.410 --> 00:05:32.269 your dream. And I think that that's fantastic. 00:05:32.410 --> 00:05:35.629 And I am really cheering for you. Do you still 00:05:35.629 --> 00:05:38.370 have family back in France? And if so, are you 00:05:38.370 --> 00:05:41.889 able to go back and visit on occasion or? Yeah, 00:05:41.910 --> 00:05:44.149 yeah. So my whole family is still in France. 00:05:44.170 --> 00:05:48.709 My parents, my sister, my grandparents, everyone. 00:05:49.850 --> 00:05:52.069 So we FaceTime every day. I FaceTime my parents 00:05:52.069 --> 00:05:54.870 every day. Nice. And I went home for Christmas 00:05:54.870 --> 00:05:57.769 for three weeks. three and a half weeks, went 00:05:57.769 --> 00:06:01.230 home. And then I have a plane ticket to go back 00:06:01.230 --> 00:06:04.569 this summer. The plane, the date can change on 00:06:04.569 --> 00:06:06.370 the ticket. So I don't know yet if I'm going 00:06:06.370 --> 00:06:08.410 this summer or if I'll move the date to Christmas. 00:06:08.490 --> 00:06:10.329 It all depends on some stuff that I have going 00:06:10.329 --> 00:06:13.310 on here. If my parents are going to come. So 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:16.170 I don't know yet. But yeah, everyone's still 00:06:16.170 --> 00:06:19.050 there. So what's nice right now is we started 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:21.569 Daylight Savings Time. They haven't. So instead 00:06:21.569 --> 00:06:24.069 of seven hours, there's a six -hour time difference 00:06:24.069 --> 00:06:27.870 for three weeks. So that's nice. Perfect, perfect. 00:06:28.209 --> 00:06:30.769 Now, is anyone in your family involved in media 00:06:30.769 --> 00:06:33.449 studies at all or working in journalism? Or where 00:06:33.449 --> 00:06:35.269 do you think that bug came from that bit you? 00:06:35.509 --> 00:06:37.889 So no one is involved. Nobody in my family is 00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:40.750 involved. I guess it's going to sound bad, but 00:06:40.750 --> 00:06:43.500 I don't think it is. I was... My parents raised 00:06:43.500 --> 00:06:45.399 me, but I was also raised by television. I watched 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.480 a lot of television. I love television. Me too. 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:52.060 And I guess I've become a fan and so passionate 00:06:52.060 --> 00:06:56.290 about it that I... I wanted to work in that media 00:06:56.290 --> 00:06:59.170 and in that world. So I guess that's where it 00:06:59.170 --> 00:07:01.910 comes from. Is there a lot of crossover between 00:07:01.910 --> 00:07:04.149 American television and French television? Like, 00:07:04.170 --> 00:07:06.250 are a lot of programs that would be popular here 00:07:06.250 --> 00:07:09.290 also televised there? Yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't 00:07:09.290 --> 00:07:12.290 watch... In France, in the last few years that 00:07:12.290 --> 00:07:14.209 I was there, I wouldn't watch French programs. 00:07:14.470 --> 00:07:19.910 A lot of shows are coming. Not... I guess sitcoms 00:07:19.910 --> 00:07:22.009 don't make their way much to France anymore. 00:07:22.589 --> 00:07:26.410 So we love our police and medical dramas. So 00:07:26.410 --> 00:07:29.490 all those shows are coming. But the broadcasting 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:32.269 system and the broadcasting schedule is very 00:07:32.269 --> 00:07:34.829 different. I would say like for a show, I always 00:07:34.829 --> 00:07:37.129 pick Grey's Anatomy. I don't know why. But here 00:07:37.129 --> 00:07:40.250 you would have from September to May a new season 00:07:40.250 --> 00:07:42.949 with each week a new episode. In France, what 00:07:42.949 --> 00:07:45.029 they would do is take a new season, air three 00:07:45.029 --> 00:07:47.540 episodes. On a Wednesday. So the season will 00:07:47.540 --> 00:07:50.100 last nine weeks, I don't know, and then move 00:07:50.100 --> 00:07:52.800 to another show. So it's pretty different. It's 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:56.639 also like from 9 p .m. to midnight. Wow, that 00:07:56.639 --> 00:08:00.000 is interesting. That is interesting. So coming 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.899 to study and live, of course, in the United States, 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:04.579 and I know that you had been here before. You 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:07.939 mentioned your trip from Atlanta to Casey. I 00:08:07.939 --> 00:08:10.500 imagine it would be both exciting and also a 00:08:10.500 --> 00:08:13.579 little scary at the same time. Again, I know 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:16.579 you were here before, but... Can you share with 00:08:16.579 --> 00:08:19.699 us any transitions that you had to make, any 00:08:19.699 --> 00:08:21.879 challenges that you faced, anything that maybe 00:08:21.879 --> 00:08:24.500 surprised you about coming to live here and then 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:27.579 coming to be a student here at JCCC? Yeah, so 00:08:27.579 --> 00:08:30.920 before moving here, I don't remember if I had 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:33.259 come to the U .S. five or six times before that. 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:36.820 Oh, okay, so more than once. Yeah, and from France, 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:41.350 I watched. American television, like the American 00:08:41.350 --> 00:08:44.529 feed from France. So I knew, I felt like I was 00:08:44.529 --> 00:08:48.870 pretty used to the US. I kind of knew. But when 00:08:48.870 --> 00:08:52.029 I moved here, so I got here on July 31st last 00:08:52.029 --> 00:08:54.370 year. And my parents, my sister came with me 00:08:54.370 --> 00:08:56.909 for two weeks to help me get settled in. And 00:08:56.909 --> 00:09:01.629 I did not imagine that it would actually be tough 00:09:01.629 --> 00:09:04.090 for me. It's something that I've always dreamed 00:09:04.090 --> 00:09:06.529 of and wanted. But I remember the first few days, 00:09:06.570 --> 00:09:10.220 I was like, is this really? The whole change 00:09:10.220 --> 00:09:14.820 of living home, not being with family anymore 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:17.600 and being by myself here, even though I kind 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:19.500 of knew the area, I knew the country, I know 00:09:19.500 --> 00:09:22.700 the language. I didn't think that it would be 00:09:22.700 --> 00:09:28.720 that tough for me to get here. But once you get 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:31.440 settled in, you buy the furniture, you buy the 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:36.259 car, it gets better. all the emotions and the 00:09:36.259 --> 00:09:38.919 stress of having to do everything like get my 00:09:38.919 --> 00:09:41.240 american driver's license all the paperwork and 00:09:41.240 --> 00:09:44.419 all that once all that was done um it was enjoyable 00:09:44.419 --> 00:09:48.159 so yeah and what surprised me to another thing 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:51.059 is when i got home for christmas i didn't think 00:09:51.059 --> 00:09:53.500 it would be that hard to leave home even though 00:09:53.500 --> 00:09:55.240 i've always wanted to be in the us and it was 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.080 hard going home like living the life that i built 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.860 here for five months going home. I was like, 00:10:00.940 --> 00:10:03.419 that's tough. Then when I left home to come back 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:06.659 here, that's also tough. Two different worlds, 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:09.500 literally. I saw something on social media last 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:11.860 week that said for international students, it's 00:10:11.860 --> 00:10:15.120 hard to leave home to go home. Yeah. So that's 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.559 kind of the way it feels. Yeah. Because you do 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:20.179 build a new home. You do build a new friends, 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:23.080 new experiences, like you said, a home, job, 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:26.980 car, that sort of thing. If you had it to do 00:10:26.980 --> 00:10:30.580 over again. You know, to move here and become 00:10:30.580 --> 00:10:33.460 a student again, what would you do differently, 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:40.000 if anything? I would guess to do it sooner. But 00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.659 at the same time, the fact that I worked for 00:10:42.659 --> 00:10:44.940 two and a half years in France while living at 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:47.240 home allowed me to save the money to come here. 00:10:47.419 --> 00:10:49.580 So without having done that, I wouldn't have 00:10:49.580 --> 00:10:52.919 been able to be here right now. But yes, if I 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:56.779 could have done that, oh. A little sooner because 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:01.080 I don't mind being 26 and in college, but sometimes 00:11:01.080 --> 00:11:02.940 when you speak with your friends, like, oh, yeah, 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:04.940 you weren't born when that movie came out. Like 00:11:04.940 --> 00:11:06.740 two weeks ago, they were surprised that I saw 00:11:06.740 --> 00:11:08.840 a movie in the theaters that. They were too young 00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:12.480 to see. Right. So imagine being 53, my friend. 00:11:14.600 --> 00:11:17.620 But and Zach, who is our podcast editor, is in 00:11:17.620 --> 00:11:19.720 the room with us. And I told him when I first 00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:21.940 met him that I was so excited to talk to everybody 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:25.139 here at JCCC, but especially the nontraditional 00:11:25.139 --> 00:11:27.519 students. So the folks that were older or maybe 00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:29.779 younger. And you're my my first international 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:32.500 student that I've met. So I'm so excited to meet 00:11:32.500 --> 00:11:35.240 you. And it's just proof positive that Johnson 00:11:35.240 --> 00:11:37.820 County Community College is for everyone. There 00:11:37.820 --> 00:11:40.259 is a place here for everyone. Your voice matters. 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:43.299 And we can all grow and learn from one another. 00:11:43.940 --> 00:11:46.100 And so I'm really, really thrilled that you're 00:11:46.100 --> 00:11:48.019 here with us, both on the Messenger staff and 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:50.440 selfishly here on the podcast with us. And if 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.799 I can add, I mean, I've made friends that are 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.509 younger than me, but I don't feel... the difference. 00:11:55.830 --> 00:11:58.590 And I don't care. I hope they don't care that 00:11:58.590 --> 00:12:02.509 I'm older. But yeah, it's a nice place, really. 00:12:02.549 --> 00:12:05.509 It's wonderful. I think I thought, I can't go 00:12:05.509 --> 00:12:07.789 back to school. I'm too old. They're going to 00:12:07.789 --> 00:12:09.590 make fun of me. I'm not going to make any friends. 00:12:09.710 --> 00:12:12.490 And that has just not been the case. I think 00:12:12.490 --> 00:12:14.090 there are some young people who look at me and 00:12:14.090 --> 00:12:15.889 go, oh, she's a professor, so I better smile 00:12:15.889 --> 00:12:18.789 and say hi. But I think pretty much everybody's 00:12:18.789 --> 00:12:21.029 just very friendly. You talked about that. We 00:12:21.029 --> 00:12:24.210 had a podcast in class last semester. of the 00:12:24.210 --> 00:12:28.559 podcast I say I say my age and The auditions 00:12:28.559 --> 00:12:30.360 had to listen to our podcast and make comments 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:32.740 about it. And someone commented, I didn't know 00:12:32.740 --> 00:12:34.919 you were, I thought you were 20, 21, like it's 00:12:34.919 --> 00:12:37.419 not in the back half of your 20s. I was like, 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:40.360 yeah, thank you. I know you meant that as a compliment. 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:45.960 Thanks a lot. So how do you celebrate your French 00:12:45.960 --> 00:12:49.259 heritage while living here? Do you go to French 00:12:49.259 --> 00:12:51.399 restaurants? I can't imagine the French restaurants 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:53.440 here are anywhere near as good as they are back 00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:55.960 home. But how do you keep your French culture 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:58.490 alive and celebrate? here in the U .S.? Yeah, 00:12:58.549 --> 00:13:01.009 I haven't been to a French restaurant yet. I 00:13:01.009 --> 00:13:06.350 think the most French thing that I've done yet 00:13:06.350 --> 00:13:10.029 is we have this thing on February 2nd that we 00:13:10.029 --> 00:13:14.230 call the Chandler. which is National Crepe Day, 00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:16.289 basically. And that's something that's pretty 00:13:16.289 --> 00:13:19.009 celebrated in France. So for the first time in 00:13:19.009 --> 00:13:21.070 my life, because usually my mom or my dad make 00:13:21.070 --> 00:13:24.029 them, I make crepes on February 2nd. Oh, wow. 00:13:24.330 --> 00:13:28.470 That's the way I celebrated my French heritage. 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:31.570 And I've watched a little bit of French TV from 00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:35.330 here with a VPN. But there's so much to do also. 00:13:35.450 --> 00:13:38.779 And it's so exciting for me to be able to. experience 00:13:38.779 --> 00:13:41.919 also american culture here so that i haven't 00:13:41.919 --> 00:13:45.399 i haven't done much i have a plan to watch uh 00:13:45.399 --> 00:13:48.419 in may we have this thing in europe called eurovision 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:51.139 song contest eurovision song contest yeah so 00:13:51.139 --> 00:13:54.409 that i'm hopefully gonna watch i I said that 00:13:54.409 --> 00:13:56.830 I would watch also in December the Miss France 00:13:56.830 --> 00:13:58.570 election, which is like a big thing in France, 00:13:58.690 --> 00:14:01.090 and I didn't do it. So I hope that I'll be able 00:14:01.090 --> 00:14:04.370 at least to do that from here, but yeah. So I'm 00:14:04.370 --> 00:14:06.169 going to show my age with the Eurovision Song 00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:09.350 Contest. So I'm 53. I grew up in the 70s and 00:14:09.350 --> 00:14:11.610 the 80s, and we lived in Europe. We lived in 00:14:11.610 --> 00:14:14.529 Germany in the 70s when I was itty -bitty. And 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:16.809 ABBA, you know, the Swedish group, was big. They 00:14:16.809 --> 00:14:21.590 won Eurovision in 1974. And I grew up loving 00:14:21.590 --> 00:14:23.820 Olivia Newton -John. about that on the podcast 00:14:23.820 --> 00:14:26.100 before, you know, how she was my muse to be a 00:14:26.100 --> 00:14:29.460 singer. They beat her that year in the Eurovision 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:31.840 Song Contest. I don't think you were born when 00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:34.200 France last won. I don't remember, but I think 00:14:34.200 --> 00:14:38.240 it was in the 60s. Really? Or maybe early 70s, 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:41.159 but I think it's 60s, yeah. Every year we believe 00:14:41.159 --> 00:14:44.259 in that. One of these days. One of these days. 00:14:44.259 --> 00:14:48.799 Maybe. The kids version won multiple times, so 00:14:48.799 --> 00:14:50.639 maybe we'll need to stop the adult one and just 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:52.340 do the kids. I don't know. I had a kid's one. 00:14:52.419 --> 00:14:56.740 That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Let me 00:14:56.740 --> 00:14:59.000 see. Is there, and you kind of spoke to this 00:14:59.000 --> 00:15:01.759 a little bit, but for our listeners, do you know 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:04.139 of a place here in town where we could get a 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:06.500 French experience of our own? I know you said 00:15:06.500 --> 00:15:08.539 you kind of are celebrating more of your American 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:11.919 culture and experience here, but if one of our 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:13.980 listeners, let's say, were to want to really, 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:16.360 you know, learn more about the French culture, 00:15:16.460 --> 00:15:19.710 French food, French heritage. Maybe suggestions 00:15:19.710 --> 00:15:23.990 for them? Sorry, I cut you off. No, you're fine. 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:26.730 I saw the things. I don't really know where it 00:15:26.730 --> 00:15:30.190 is. Last week, I was walking and I saw a French 00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:32.870 restaurant that's not far from the plaza, the 00:15:32.870 --> 00:15:36.970 Contra Plaza. But I cannot remember where exactly 00:15:36.970 --> 00:15:40.590 the name of the neighborhood it's in. But it's 00:15:40.590 --> 00:15:42.990 very close to the plaza if you continue going 00:15:42.990 --> 00:15:46.549 from downtown and to the plaza going, I guess, 00:15:46.669 --> 00:15:50.200 south. that there's a French restaurant there. 00:15:50.899 --> 00:15:55.080 And next to it, I saw a shop that also sold French 00:15:55.080 --> 00:15:59.259 products. Nice. Like French soap that's from 00:15:59.259 --> 00:16:01.580 Marseille. We talked about Marseille before the 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:04.679 podcast. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I would guess 00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:07.559 that, but I'm sorry, I don't have the place. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.879 No, that's okay. That's the only French thing 00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:13.200 I've seen here so far. One of my friends told 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:14.879 me that he went to a French restaurant, but I 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:18.659 didn't ask him where it was. So I'm curious to 00:16:18.659 --> 00:16:20.970 know. Tell us about this crepe. recipe that you 00:16:20.970 --> 00:16:24.429 made in February. Yeah, I kind of messed it up. 00:16:25.190 --> 00:16:32.730 So it's basically eggs, flour, oil, and milk. 00:16:33.309 --> 00:16:37.990 But the recipe that I found online also had butter. 00:16:38.250 --> 00:16:41.750 And so when I did it, the butter didn't melt 00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:44.399 enough. So when I... Cooked them. There were 00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:47.539 like spots of butter in it. But they turned out 00:16:47.539 --> 00:16:49.299 good. But my mom told me I don't use butter. 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:52.480 I only use oil. So that's why. And then I didn't 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.639 have the proper like equipment, like the proper 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:57.740 pan to do it. And I had to do it with what I 00:16:57.740 --> 00:16:59.200 had. But they turned out great. They looked like 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:01.039 crepes. They tasted like crepes. There you go. 00:17:01.080 --> 00:17:02.679 And it was my first time. There you go. That's 00:17:02.679 --> 00:17:04.400 all that matters. That's all that matters. It 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:06.460 was a little piece of home, you know, with you. 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:09.299 Speaking of home, what do you miss the most? 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:14.720 I guess family, of course. In two days, it's 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:17.279 my sister's birthday. So I want to be there for 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:22.519 that. Yeah, perfect. I'll tell her. And so, yeah, 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:25.759 family. Thankfully, like I said, I have my parents 00:17:25.759 --> 00:17:28.880 on the phone every day on FaceTime, multiple 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:33.369 times a day sometimes. My grandma calls me. Twice, 00:17:33.369 --> 00:17:36.190 two or three times a week, probably. And I told 00:17:36.190 --> 00:17:38.009 her, usually she calls on Wednesdays when we're 00:17:38.009 --> 00:17:40.269 recording. I said, don't call tonight. I won't 00:17:40.269 --> 00:17:42.849 be able to answer. And what's nice is that she 00:17:42.849 --> 00:17:44.869 doesn't sleep at night. Like, she sleeps maybe 00:17:44.869 --> 00:17:47.710 two hours per night. So when she calls me, it's 00:17:47.710 --> 00:17:49.950 like evening for me and the middle of the night 00:17:49.950 --> 00:17:52.109 for her. Right, two in the morning. Yeah. And 00:17:52.109 --> 00:17:53.789 she's like, well, I'm just watching TV. You know, 00:17:53.809 --> 00:17:56.569 I'm watching my shows. The whole world's asleep. 00:17:56.730 --> 00:17:59.569 Grandma, go to sleep. Yeah. So, yeah, family. 00:18:00.109 --> 00:18:04.910 That's why. It also can feel guilty if I don't 00:18:04.910 --> 00:18:07.589 go back for the summer, if I have other plans, 00:18:07.750 --> 00:18:10.589 if I work something else out here. My parents 00:18:10.589 --> 00:18:13.390 would come, but I wouldn't see my grandparents, 00:18:13.609 --> 00:18:16.390 probably wouldn't see my sister. So that's the 00:18:16.390 --> 00:18:18.650 balancing act of you're building a life here, 00:18:18.670 --> 00:18:21.059 but you also still have... a big part of your 00:18:21.059 --> 00:18:25.180 life that's there. So yeah, that's kind of difficult. 00:18:25.339 --> 00:18:27.799 Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure. And lucky us to live 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:29.720 when we live, right? You know, with access to 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:32.519 FaceTime and social media and free phone calls. 00:18:32.619 --> 00:18:34.880 I'm old. I remember when you had to pay an arm 00:18:34.880 --> 00:18:38.720 and a leg for long distance phone calls. So yeah, 00:18:38.859 --> 00:18:42.200 we're very blessed to live today. So let's switch 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:45.119 gears for a moment, if that's okay, to talk about 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:48.960 your experience here as a student at JCCC. So 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:50.559 you and I are both... both in the honors program 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:53.759 here. Can you tell us a little bit about the 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:57.240 honors program? So I'm part of the, not the JCCC 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:00.660 part, but the National League of Honor and Leadership. 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:04.390 I wrote it down. National League of, I wrote 00:19:04.390 --> 00:19:11.009 it down, please hold. National Society of Leadership 00:19:11.009 --> 00:19:15.470 and Success. Yes. So I haven't, I just started, 00:19:15.589 --> 00:19:17.589 I've just received the invitation. So I just 00:19:17.589 --> 00:19:20.369 paid the part. Thank you. I'm not, I haven't 00:19:20.369 --> 00:19:22.329 done much yet. I haven't had much time to follow 00:19:22.329 --> 00:19:26.509 anything. But I guess I received, I had a 4 .0 00:19:26.509 --> 00:19:29.509 last semester. Congratulations. Thank you. That's 00:19:29.509 --> 00:19:33.039 why I got invited. And then. So I got invited 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:34.880 right when I came back from France, right before 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:37.700 the semester started. And then by the time I 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:40.240 also talked, I wanted more information. I talked 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:41.640 to the people here and they told me, well, you 00:19:41.640 --> 00:19:46.160 should consider honors also. But that was, I 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:48.059 think that was the Friday before the semester 00:19:48.059 --> 00:19:50.240 started. And I already had my classes lined up 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:52.380 for this semester. So I said, not this semester, 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:55.180 maybe next semester if I still have a 4 .0, hopefully. 00:19:56.279 --> 00:19:58.420 So, yeah, but I'm excited about being in the 00:19:58.420 --> 00:20:04.119 National League. Leadership in our society. Society 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:08.500 of leadership success. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm excited 00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:12.410 to be a part of it. And I was. excited. I guess 00:20:12.410 --> 00:20:14.490 a little proud of myself to receive that invitation 00:20:14.490 --> 00:20:17.390 in January. Yeah, you should be. You should be. 00:20:17.430 --> 00:20:19.549 I think you'll love the honors program. I've 00:20:19.549 --> 00:20:22.910 only taken two classes so far, but it's a really 00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:25.690 great way to get to know people on campus of 00:20:25.690 --> 00:20:27.829 all ages. There have been people in the classes 00:20:27.829 --> 00:20:30.049 that are my age. We've had some high school students, 00:20:30.150 --> 00:20:33.309 believe it or not. So yeah, welcome aboard. I'm 00:20:33.309 --> 00:20:35.089 really excited for you for your journey with 00:20:35.089 --> 00:20:37.720 the... What does my note say? National Society 00:20:37.720 --> 00:20:41.980 of Leadership and Success. Is there a class or 00:20:41.980 --> 00:20:44.220 maybe two classes that you've taken here on campus 00:20:44.220 --> 00:20:46.420 that have just been hands down your favorites 00:20:46.420 --> 00:20:48.539 that you've really loved? And if so, can you 00:20:48.539 --> 00:20:51.420 share that with us? Yeah, it's going to be tough 00:20:51.420 --> 00:20:55.859 to make a decision because I've enjoyed all the 00:20:55.859 --> 00:20:58.319 classes that I've had. It's very, very different 00:20:58.319 --> 00:21:01.519 from my experience in France. Here, I feel like 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:03.140 I'm really learning things that I'm going to 00:21:03.140 --> 00:21:08.349 use for my... job later uh but uh i guess last 00:21:08.349 --> 00:21:11.069 semester the podcast class was really fun because 00:21:11.069 --> 00:21:13.829 like i said we really did something that was 00:21:13.829 --> 00:21:15.930 also concrete we we didn't learn about the history 00:21:15.930 --> 00:21:19.529 of podcasts we made podcasts and the the teacher 00:21:19.529 --> 00:21:23.640 um who He's not actually a teacher. He's someone 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:26.880 who works on radio outside and comes here. So 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:29.920 he also shares his experience with us. And he 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:33.160 let us choose a topic that we wanted. And I watch 00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.119 every Hallmark Channel movie. Do you? Yeah. So 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:38.819 my podcast was about Hallmark Channel movies. 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:42.279 No way. It was so great that we did three episodes. 00:21:42.299 --> 00:21:44.839 I was able to talk about what I wanted and what 00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:47.789 made me happy instead of talking about... whatever, 00:21:47.930 --> 00:21:49.690 something that would have been assigned to me. 00:21:49.990 --> 00:21:54.269 And in another class, I would say I had a public 00:21:54.269 --> 00:21:59.369 speaking class last semester. And it sounds weird 00:21:59.369 --> 00:22:01.150 for the job that I want to do, but I'm pretty 00:22:01.150 --> 00:22:05.509 shy, I would say. And I really felt the difference 00:22:05.509 --> 00:22:07.430 from the beginning of the semester to the end 00:22:07.430 --> 00:22:09.809 of the semester, the way talking in front of 00:22:09.809 --> 00:22:13.890 everybody. And it was... We had fun in the podcasting 00:22:13.890 --> 00:22:16.150 class, but that class in public speaking, it 00:22:16.150 --> 00:22:17.769 was the most supportive class I've ever been 00:22:17.769 --> 00:22:20.390 in. Everybody was here for each other, supporting 00:22:20.390 --> 00:22:23.230 at every speech. We had four major speeches and 00:22:23.230 --> 00:22:25.150 everybody was just smiling and nodding during 00:22:25.150 --> 00:22:28.569 the speeches. And that's where also I met. I 00:22:28.569 --> 00:22:30.049 made great friends also in that class, like in 00:22:30.049 --> 00:22:32.250 the podcasting class. That's fantastic. That 00:22:32.250 --> 00:22:34.650 is fantastic. The ability to speak in public 00:22:34.650 --> 00:22:38.930 is something that is needed for any job. I grew 00:22:38.930 --> 00:22:41.309 up in theater, performing in theater through 00:22:41.309 --> 00:22:43.190 high school and college the first time. And then 00:22:43.190 --> 00:22:46.009 my daughter, who was 23, she and I also did local 00:22:46.009 --> 00:22:48.670 theater. And we used to see little kiddos coming 00:22:48.670 --> 00:22:52.710 in. And the change in little children from their 00:22:52.710 --> 00:22:55.250 learning capacity, their ability to read, their 00:22:55.250 --> 00:22:57.910 ability to articulate themselves just by... being 00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:01.009 on stage. So you don't have to, you know, be 00:23:01.009 --> 00:23:02.970 a professional speech giver or be a professional 00:23:02.970 --> 00:23:07.730 actor to need that ability. So, and I also think 00:23:07.730 --> 00:23:09.930 it's a little different sitting behind a microphone 00:23:09.930 --> 00:23:12.390 where you can say to your editor, who I'm looking 00:23:12.390 --> 00:23:15.029 at as I say this, cut that, I didn't really mean 00:23:15.029 --> 00:23:17.210 to say that, you know, when you have the ability 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:19.950 to edit versus being live, you know, in front 00:23:19.950 --> 00:23:22.609 of a group. So I absolutely appreciate what you 00:23:22.609 --> 00:23:32.160 said. Let me see what else is on my list. I have 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:34.200 so many questions for you, my goodness. And we've 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:35.980 kind of jumped all over the place, which I love. 00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:39.799 Those are the best kinds of conversations. Let 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:43.339 me see. If you were to meet someone in the community 00:23:43.339 --> 00:23:45.759 that was also your age or maybe a little older, 00:23:45.940 --> 00:23:49.460 also an international coming from another country, 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:52.720 and they were to say to you, oh, I can't go to 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.180 Johnson. I could never do that. What would you 00:23:55.180 --> 00:23:58.119 say as a mark of encouragement to get them to 00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:00.920 come to campus? Come to the JCCC. I think that, 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:04.079 first of all, it's... Probably one of the best 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:06.779 community colleges in the country. First of all, 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.519 just the infrastructure that we have here is 00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:14.059 so great. And I guess coming from France where 00:24:14.059 --> 00:24:16.819 college is so different. Like after two weeks 00:24:16.819 --> 00:24:19.240 here, I told my parents I cannot step foot in 00:24:19.240 --> 00:24:23.319 a French classroom ever again after this. Just 00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:25.759 the relationship that you will have with the 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:28.000 teachers, they are so great and here for you. 00:24:28.140 --> 00:24:30.640 And I guess also the friends that you'll make. 00:24:31.759 --> 00:24:34.400 I make great friends, and the relationships are 00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:36.599 different. The relationships between teacher 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:38.980 and teacher and students, student to student, 00:24:39.140 --> 00:24:43.779 it's a lot of work, I will say, but it's a lot 00:24:43.779 --> 00:24:46.319 of work that will be useful for your future. 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:50.440 Like I said earlier with the podcast, it's concrete. 00:24:50.599 --> 00:24:52.079 You're going to do something that you're going 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:54.440 to use later, skills that you will need. And 00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:56.680 to know that you're in a supportive place and 00:24:56.680 --> 00:24:59.799 a safe space to land. When I did my first interview 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:03.680 for our podcast, we talked about perfectionism 00:25:03.680 --> 00:25:06.539 and how I came into this thinking, I've got to 00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:08.299 get straight A's on everything. If I don't, I'm 00:25:08.299 --> 00:25:10.880 a bad student. That's not true. You're here to 00:25:10.880 --> 00:25:14.019 learn. And the good news is not only the professors, 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:16.799 but each other, as you said, we all want each 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:18.990 other to do. do well, you know, and how exciting 00:25:18.990 --> 00:25:21.029 when you see a classmate just knock it out of 00:25:21.029 --> 00:25:22.730 the park, you know, you're so excited for them. 00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:26.589 I would say the difference is here, I also, it's 00:25:26.589 --> 00:25:28.089 not that I wasn't excited in France, but I'm 00:25:28.089 --> 00:25:30.509 excited to learn here. I mean, I didn't have 00:25:30.509 --> 00:25:32.730 a, we don't have GPAs in France, it's different, 00:25:32.789 --> 00:25:35.890 but I didn't, I wasn't close to a 4 .0 GPA, like 00:25:35.890 --> 00:25:38.490 the way it's calculated in France. And last semester, 00:25:38.609 --> 00:25:41.170 I had a 4 .0. This year, I'm hoping to get that 00:25:41.170 --> 00:25:43.029 one too, this semester, I'm hoping to get that 00:25:43.029 --> 00:25:45.130 too. And yeah, I'm excited to go to class every 00:25:45.130 --> 00:25:49.369 day. And to learn because it means something. 00:25:49.430 --> 00:25:51.450 When I'm learning, it means something to me. 00:25:51.490 --> 00:25:54.920 It's interesting. It's very interesting. I didn't 00:25:54.920 --> 00:25:57.420 know that in France, college was three years 00:25:57.420 --> 00:25:59.480 and that you pretty much spend the first two 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:01.779 years doing what, like general education things 00:26:01.779 --> 00:26:05.559 or? It depends. I didn't want to move out. So 00:26:05.559 --> 00:26:07.700 I had to go to the university that's close to 00:26:07.700 --> 00:26:11.099 my house. And that's how they did it. Information 00:26:11.099 --> 00:26:14.019 communication was three years. It was the third 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:16.759 year. But if I started with foreign -applicated 00:26:16.759 --> 00:26:20.960 languages, that was from year one to year three. 00:26:21.000 --> 00:26:23.039 I just didn't do year three. I transferred to 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.759 information communication. Each university will 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:30.140 do it different. What I would say is, yeah, bachelor's, 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:32.519 three years, and a lot of people move on to master's 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:34.700 after that because it's just... Two more years 00:26:34.700 --> 00:26:36.720 of basically what you've been doing. Right, right. 00:26:36.859 --> 00:26:39.279 Do a lot of people or do you have friends that 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:41.119 have done what you have done? Completed their 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:44.740 education in France and then come to U .S.? No. 00:26:44.900 --> 00:26:48.519 No. You're a trailblazer. Love it. I have friends 00:26:48.519 --> 00:26:51.359 who have spent time abroad during the studies 00:26:51.359 --> 00:26:55.839 of the French path at university, at college. 00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:58.940 My own sister did a semester in Montreal. Oh, 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:02.650 wow. But, yeah, I'm the first one to. I don't 00:27:02.650 --> 00:27:05.210 know if I'm the first one to go back. My friend 00:27:05.210 --> 00:27:08.490 did a gap year, so she went back to college, 00:27:08.490 --> 00:27:10.349 but I'm the first one to do it abroad and so 00:27:10.349 --> 00:27:14.390 far from home. Because I also could have started. 00:27:14.450 --> 00:27:16.329 I'm starting from scratch. I'm starting at the 00:27:16.329 --> 00:27:18.670 lower level. I could have started doing other 00:27:18.670 --> 00:27:22.690 masters, but I said, no, I want to do the basis. 00:27:22.869 --> 00:27:26.339 I want to learn. everything from the start. That's 00:27:26.339 --> 00:27:27.940 what I did as well. I have a degree in something 00:27:27.940 --> 00:27:30.559 else, but I came here to study music. So same 00:27:30.559 --> 00:27:33.740 thing, ground floor. And again, and I can't stress 00:27:33.740 --> 00:27:36.019 this enough, it speaks to the character of this 00:27:36.019 --> 00:27:39.180 college and the people who are here, that older 00:27:39.180 --> 00:27:42.210 students and younger students as well. Regular 00:27:42.210 --> 00:27:44.849 age students, again, pointing to my podcast editor, 00:27:45.029 --> 00:27:47.930 you know, feel comfortable and safe here to take 00:27:47.930 --> 00:27:50.910 those journeys. If I can add something, I'm sorry. 00:27:50.950 --> 00:27:54.970 When I was looking at colleges, I emailed. Between 00:27:54.970 --> 00:27:57.509 eight and ten colleges to get information. There 00:27:57.509 --> 00:28:00.470 were some colleges that had a journalism or broadcast 00:28:00.470 --> 00:28:03.009 journalism degree. JCCC doesn't. It's liberal 00:28:03.009 --> 00:28:06.130 arts, and you take broadcast journalism or journalism 00:28:06.130 --> 00:28:10.329 classes, electives. But I still chose to come 00:28:10.329 --> 00:28:13.809 to JCCC because everybody was nice in the email. 00:28:13.869 --> 00:28:16.089 Every college was great. But the best interactions 00:28:16.089 --> 00:28:18.809 I had by email were JCCC. Wow. That's fantastic. 00:28:19.029 --> 00:28:20.789 So, yeah, that's why. That's fantastic. And I 00:28:20.789 --> 00:28:22.269 hope our friends in the journalism department 00:28:22.269 --> 00:28:25.180 hear this. they need to know. They need that 00:28:25.180 --> 00:28:27.660 feedback to know that, you know, their messaging 00:28:27.660 --> 00:28:30.140 is effective in reaching people and making people 00:28:30.140 --> 00:28:33.400 feel seen and safe. I have another question. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:37.819 Please hold. What's next for you? When are you 00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:40.759 graduating from JCCC? And when that happens, 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:43.779 what comes next for you? So I'm graduating. I 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:47.359 should graduate in May 2026. Okay. Me too. Yay! 00:28:47.799 --> 00:28:53.599 In a year. Less than a half now. And then I don't 00:28:53.599 --> 00:28:57.240 know. There's the transfer option, transfer to 00:28:57.240 --> 00:29:02.400 KU, K -State. That will depend on... I already 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:04.480 have my background from France, my master's degree. 00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:07.740 So do I need to transfer with what I... With 00:29:07.740 --> 00:29:09.460 what I've learned here, would that be enough 00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:11.799 for me to go do something else or do I need to 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:13.980 transfer? Financial aspect would be something 00:29:13.980 --> 00:29:16.700 else. Sure. And then for international students, 00:29:16.819 --> 00:29:19.519 the other option is optional practical training, 00:29:19.619 --> 00:29:23.559 which they call OP2, which is you apply for it 00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:26.660 and for a year you're allowed to work in a field 00:29:26.660 --> 00:29:30.059 that's close to what you've studied in the U 00:29:30.059 --> 00:29:32.200 .S. Wow, that's pretty cool. Yeah, and the third 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:35.549 option is go back home. Go back home. So if you 00:29:35.549 --> 00:29:37.789 could, what would your dream job be? If you could 00:29:37.789 --> 00:29:40.509 create it from the ground up. Yeah. So I love 00:29:40.509 --> 00:29:43.710 to host, to be a host on television. I think 00:29:43.710 --> 00:29:46.329 it's like one day I want to do entertainment, 00:29:46.390 --> 00:29:48.170 the other day I want to do news, and the next 00:29:48.170 --> 00:29:50.849 day I want to do sports. So I would do all three. 00:29:50.930 --> 00:29:53.589 I'd have my own talk show. I'd appear on ESPN, 00:29:53.650 --> 00:29:56.019 not to call games, but like to host like. to 00:29:56.019 --> 00:29:57.460 be a part of a show where you give like your 00:29:57.460 --> 00:29:59.880 opinion. Right. And when I say news, though, 00:29:59.960 --> 00:30:02.480 it's very specific. I want to do morning news 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:05.299 because morning news is not just sad news all 00:30:05.299 --> 00:30:06.599 the time and bad news. There's a little more. 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:09.799 fun in it yeah so it would be like morning local 00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:12.400 news or like good morning america uh the only 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:15.119 thing is that you don't have a a nightlife you 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:17.039 have to go to bed at 8 p .m exactly that's the 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:19.059 only thing i'm like i like i like my shows also 00:30:19.059 --> 00:30:22.220 to watch my shows at night so i don't know but 00:30:22.220 --> 00:30:25.200 yeah like uh like a talk show with uh like be 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:30.279 the be the next ellen or like host with uh now 00:30:30.279 --> 00:30:31.920 she's hosting with her husband so she's probably 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:34.440 never but kelly and mark like with kelly and 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:36.460 mark like yeah kelly and baptist that would be 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:39.519 Oh, I love that. I love that. So I used to watch 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:41.740 – there's a soap opera. Do you guys have soap 00:30:41.740 --> 00:30:44.859 operas in France? We do have soap operas. They're 00:30:44.859 --> 00:30:47.900 becoming big. Actually, we didn't have them. 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:50.599 And now that the U .S. is canceling them, we're 00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:54.339 starting them. But I don't watch the French ones. 00:30:54.380 --> 00:30:56.579 I want to see American ones. So Kelly and Mark 00:30:56.579 --> 00:30:59.640 met on All My Children. Oh, my gosh. I love that 00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.759 you know that. We didn't have All My Children 00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:05.140 in France. But I know about the history because 00:31:05.140 --> 00:31:08.529 I'm – probably because my grandma watched soap 00:31:08.529 --> 00:31:10.349 operas, but also because I'm just fascinated 00:31:10.349 --> 00:31:13.170 by television. I'm fascinated by the soap opera 00:31:13.170 --> 00:31:16.849 genre. So I actually watch General Hospital every 00:31:16.849 --> 00:31:19.109 day. No! Yeah, I just watch it before coming 00:31:19.109 --> 00:31:25.349 here, actually. So, yeah. I love it! Yeah, but 00:31:25.349 --> 00:31:29.049 that's all I say. But, yeah, we do have... American 00:31:29.049 --> 00:31:31.309 ones, we have the Young and the Restless and 00:31:31.309 --> 00:31:33.029 the Bold and the Beautiful in France. We used 00:31:33.029 --> 00:31:35.029 to have Days of Our Lives, but not anymore. And 00:31:35.029 --> 00:31:37.569 then French television made French soaps, but 00:31:37.569 --> 00:31:40.369 they're different than American ones. I think 00:31:40.369 --> 00:31:42.809 they were too expensive to produce. In reality, 00:31:42.950 --> 00:31:45.609 television was cheaper. Talk shows. Yeah, which 00:31:45.609 --> 00:31:47.410 is what caused the end of the soap opera here. 00:31:47.549 --> 00:31:50.609 But I love that you know all my children. It's 00:31:50.609 --> 00:31:53.109 so awesome. I wish when I went with what I've 00:31:53.109 --> 00:31:54.910 seen online, I wish I could have watched that 00:31:54.910 --> 00:31:57.289 show. Oh, it was good. It was good. It was good. 00:31:57.329 --> 00:32:00.009 Erica Kane. Yeah. Erica Kane. The theme song. 00:32:00.049 --> 00:32:01.849 I love the theme song. Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah. 00:32:02.470 --> 00:32:06.690 My gosh. There's so many things I want to ask 00:32:06.690 --> 00:32:11.049 you. So pivoting again, how would you spend a 00:32:11.049 --> 00:32:14.190 perfect Saturday? If you had nothing to do all 00:32:14.190 --> 00:32:16.250 the time in the world, all the money, what would 00:32:16.250 --> 00:32:20.140 you do? It depends on the... On the time of year, 00:32:20.220 --> 00:32:22.039 because once in the fall, I watch college football 00:32:22.039 --> 00:32:25.619 on Saturday. Ah, yes. So that's a big part of 00:32:25.619 --> 00:32:27.799 what I do on Saturdays. And then there's a new 00:32:27.799 --> 00:32:31.099 Hallmark movie at night on Saturdays. But now 00:32:31.099 --> 00:32:33.819 that the college football is over, there's going 00:32:33.819 --> 00:32:36.440 to be some baseball. I watch baseball. But now 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:39.039 with the nice weather, I just want to go outside 00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:43.559 and explore. I think Kansas is beautiful. I live 00:32:43.559 --> 00:32:45.660 on the Missouri side, but both are beautiful. 00:32:46.059 --> 00:32:49.440 But yeah, just going to explore, discover things, 00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:53.220 experience the American life. For me, for 25 00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:56.859 years, I've wanted to live from France. Sure, 00:32:56.859 --> 00:32:59.279 yeah. Do you have a favorite experience that 00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:01.460 you've had so far here? Maybe a place you've 00:33:01.460 --> 00:33:04.250 gone or a thing you've done? I would say... There 00:33:04.250 --> 00:33:06.289 are two, if I'm allowed. Yes, please, please. 00:33:06.529 --> 00:33:10.069 Last November, as an early birthday gift, I went 00:33:10.069 --> 00:33:13.410 to my first Chiefs game. Nice. So I was a Chiefs 00:33:13.410 --> 00:33:15.430 fan from France already since 20... Oh, I love 00:33:15.430 --> 00:33:17.230 that. I started watching the NFL in 2020, so 00:33:17.230 --> 00:33:20.450 2020. So I went to my first Chiefs game and it 00:33:20.450 --> 00:33:22.769 was the game, if Chiefs fans are listening to 00:33:22.769 --> 00:33:25.670 us, that they blocked the last second field goal 00:33:25.670 --> 00:33:27.289 from the Broncos. Yes, I know exactly what you're 00:33:27.289 --> 00:33:30.089 talking about. That was the... I was so sad that 00:33:30.089 --> 00:33:31.789 I thought I was recording that moment and I did 00:33:31.789 --> 00:33:35.819 not. But just the energy was amazing in the stadium. 00:33:35.980 --> 00:33:39.140 And so that's the first one. Second one, that 00:33:39.140 --> 00:33:42.400 was another birthday present. Last Christmas, 00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:44.160 and they'll do it again this Christmas. I love 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:47.400 Christmas, by the way. Me too. They did the Hallmark 00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:49.819 Christmas experience at Crown Center. Yeah. With 00:33:49.819 --> 00:33:51.740 every weekend, there were different Hallmark 00:33:51.740 --> 00:33:54.000 stars. They were here for events, for panels, 00:33:54.180 --> 00:33:57.880 lighting a Christmas tree. So the first weekend, 00:33:57.920 --> 00:34:00.460 I actually went to the red carpet for the Chiefs 00:34:00.460 --> 00:34:04.240 Hallmark movie. Yeah, yeah. And I met. I think 00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:06.259 for a month I went every weekend because I live 00:34:06.259 --> 00:34:08.639 close to Crown Center. So I would look up online 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:11.300 who is lighting their street at night and then 00:34:11.300 --> 00:34:13.719 go behind the stage where they come up the stage 00:34:13.719 --> 00:34:15.800 and take pictures with Hallmark stars. And I 00:34:15.800 --> 00:34:17.579 also had a ticket for one panel where they're 00:34:17.579 --> 00:34:20.219 talking about behind the scenes. So I think I've 00:34:20.219 --> 00:34:22.460 met like a dozen Hallmark stars in three weeks. 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:26.340 So that was amazing. That is so cool. That is 00:34:26.340 --> 00:34:28.679 so cool. Well, before we say goodbye, is there 00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:30.400 anything else that you would like to share with 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:33.920 our listeners? Maybe some wisdom? or some advice 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:39.010 that you've carried with you from home? Anything 00:34:39.010 --> 00:34:41.070 else you'd like to share about your home country? 00:34:41.130 --> 00:34:43.889 We were actually talking offline about how my 00:34:43.889 --> 00:34:45.849 family and I are saving to go to Paris next year. 00:34:45.909 --> 00:34:48.269 So very, very excited. Yeah, I hear a lot of 00:34:48.269 --> 00:34:52.190 people are telling me that their dream is to 00:34:52.190 --> 00:34:55.650 go to Paris. Yesterday, I had some information 00:34:55.650 --> 00:34:57.849 to get through. Is it payroll? That's the way 00:34:57.849 --> 00:35:01.070 you say it in English? And the lady that went 00:35:01.070 --> 00:35:04.190 there is like, oh, we're going to go to Paris 00:35:04.190 --> 00:35:07.440 for a month. And so, yeah, every time I hear, 00:35:07.480 --> 00:35:09.400 I want to go to Paris or did you go to Paris? 00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:14.699 Yeah, I've been to Paris. I don't know. Caught 00:35:14.699 --> 00:35:16.880 me off guard. No, I'm sorry. No, no, I'm sorry. 00:35:18.539 --> 00:35:21.639 Wisdom. I'm not that wise. If you want to think 00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:23.719 on the wisdom question, what classes are you 00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:25.699 taking in the fall? And are you taking anything 00:35:25.699 --> 00:35:29.000 this summer? So in the spring, you said? I meant 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:31.679 for the upcoming fall and then in this upcoming 00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:33.860 summer as well. So in the summer, I'm not taking 00:35:33.860 --> 00:35:40.739 classes. I'll enjoy what the U .S. has to offer 00:35:40.739 --> 00:35:43.159 and maybe spend a little time in France. And 00:35:43.159 --> 00:35:46.320 then next fall, I'm going to have to take a math 00:35:46.320 --> 00:35:52.260 class. I haven't done math since 2016, which 00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:55.119 was when I graduated high school, and I did not 00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:57.000 pass math to graduate high school. I don't like 00:35:57.000 --> 00:35:59.159 math either. I get it. So that's scary, and I 00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:01.179 hope to be able to take – I was supposed to have 00:36:01.179 --> 00:36:03.780 it this semester, but I guess not enough people 00:36:03.780 --> 00:36:06.619 signed up for it – a broadcast performance class. 00:36:06.840 --> 00:36:09.440 Oh, nice. Which, if you want to work on TV, I 00:36:09.440 --> 00:36:11.880 think that's pretty interesting and important 00:36:11.880 --> 00:36:15.289 to be a part of. And I heard – I hope I'm not 00:36:15.289 --> 00:36:18.170 wrong, that the guy who is teaching the class 00:36:18.170 --> 00:36:21.849 is the guy that does the announcements at Arrowhead 00:36:21.849 --> 00:36:24.369 during the games. Yeah, I hope I'm not wrong. 00:36:24.429 --> 00:36:27.590 That's what someone told me. So yeah, I hope 00:36:27.590 --> 00:36:30.590 to be able to take that class because I think 00:36:30.590 --> 00:36:33.280 that's probably the most important one. for what 00:36:33.280 --> 00:36:36.039 I want to do in the future. So there'll be that 00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:37.699 class. There'll be a science class too. Math 00:36:37.699 --> 00:36:40.360 and science are not my friends. And I was dumb 00:36:40.360 --> 00:36:42.619 to put them together next semester instead of 00:36:42.619 --> 00:36:46.639 taking one this semester. But yeah, that's what 00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:49.079 I'll have next. And probably two other classes, 00:36:49.139 --> 00:36:53.219 but I don't know yet. Wow. That's amazing. I'm 00:36:53.219 --> 00:36:55.820 like you. I'm not science or math friendly. I'm 00:36:55.820 --> 00:36:58.119 more of a, you know, singer speaker kind of girl. 00:36:58.239 --> 00:37:00.579 So I completely understand what you're saying. 00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:04.119 As we tape this today, it is the Wednesday before 00:37:04.119 --> 00:37:07.380 spring break and it is beautiful outside. So 00:37:07.380 --> 00:37:09.179 we certainly hope when you're listening to this 00:37:09.179 --> 00:37:12.119 that it's gorgeous and warm. What are you doing 00:37:12.119 --> 00:37:14.380 next week for spring break? Anything fun? Yeah. 00:37:14.400 --> 00:37:17.699 So I'm not going to be traveling far, unfortunately, 00:37:17.900 --> 00:37:22.969 but I'm probably going to drive to Branson, Missouri. 00:37:23.170 --> 00:37:26.070 I wasn't able to go last Christmas, which is 00:37:26.070 --> 00:37:28.170 probably the time of the year you have to go 00:37:28.170 --> 00:37:32.050 there. But with finals and then going back to 00:37:32.050 --> 00:37:34.730 France, I didn't have time. So probably go there. 00:37:34.829 --> 00:37:37.289 And then maybe, I don't know, drive up to Nebraska 00:37:37.289 --> 00:37:39.809 or Iowa, just to say I've been to another two. 00:37:40.110 --> 00:37:43.329 My goal is to go to all 50 states. So I'm at 00:37:43.329 --> 00:37:47.570 19 right now. So I want to add more states. And 00:37:47.570 --> 00:37:49.929 then hopefully I'll have some plans with friends. 00:37:50.510 --> 00:37:52.989 And I have movies I want to go see in theaters. 00:37:53.210 --> 00:37:55.250 Nice. What was the last movie you saw in the 00:37:55.250 --> 00:37:59.329 theater? It was The Unbreakable Boy, I think. 00:37:59.469 --> 00:38:03.110 Okay. With Zachary Levi. Okay. My daughter took 00:38:03.110 --> 00:38:06.969 me to see Wicked, which was wonderful. I still 00:38:06.969 --> 00:38:09.750 don't know how I felt about it. Really? Why? 00:38:09.849 --> 00:38:15.409 Tell me. Why not you? I don't know. I gave it 00:38:15.409 --> 00:38:17.510 – I'm on the letterboxd. I think I gave it three 00:38:17.510 --> 00:38:22.179 and a half stars, which isn't bad. The musical 00:38:22.179 --> 00:38:24.340 performances were amazing. Ariana Grande was 00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:29.039 amazing. Sandy Arrivo. Oh, my God. What I loved 00:38:29.039 --> 00:38:33.199 is the comical aspect of Glinda's role. And I 00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:36.599 loved the Idina Menzel and Christian Chenoweth 00:38:36.599 --> 00:38:42.719 cameos. And I guess... Defying gravity. You don't 00:38:42.719 --> 00:38:45.219 cut the momentum of defying gravity like that 00:38:45.219 --> 00:38:47.320 when she's about to hit that most important part 00:38:47.320 --> 00:38:49.980 and then it cuts to talk. One of my friends who, 00:38:50.059 --> 00:38:53.480 like, movies his life, he said it doesn't need 00:38:53.480 --> 00:38:57.500 to take 20 minutes to sing that song. But those 00:38:57.500 --> 00:38:59.380 of us that are singers, though, we love that. 00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:04.139 But I guess I haven't seen The Wizard of Oz. 00:39:04.659 --> 00:39:06.800 And so I felt like the whole time I was like, 00:39:06.840 --> 00:39:09.019 am I missing something? I didn't get the part 00:39:09.019 --> 00:39:10.960 with the animals. I didn't really get that part. 00:39:11.039 --> 00:39:13.280 Like, why are we talking about animals and why 00:39:13.280 --> 00:39:15.380 don't we want, they don't want animals anymore. 00:39:15.500 --> 00:39:17.059 Am I missing something because I haven't seen 00:39:17.059 --> 00:39:20.199 The Wizard of Oz? So that's the part. Now, a 00:39:20.199 --> 00:39:22.619 few months later, so I did November. I keep going 00:39:22.619 --> 00:39:24.480 back to the songs, of course. And I want to see 00:39:24.480 --> 00:39:26.679 it again. And I'll go back. I go to see part 00:39:26.679 --> 00:39:29.639 two, obviously. Oh, yeah. And I was cheering 00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:31.980 in front of the Oscars when they opened it with 00:39:31.980 --> 00:39:35.860 Defying Gravity. Me too. Me too. I'm one of those 00:39:35.860 --> 00:39:37.599 people. And I'm glad that you said that about 00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:40.199 award shows. I get so geeked out and excited 00:39:40.199 --> 00:39:42.880 about them. And I think somebody's life is going 00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:44.760 to change tonight. You know, like they're going 00:39:44.760 --> 00:39:46.639 to win their first big award. And that's the 00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:49.050 way I feel, too. It's not an award show. NFL 00:39:49.050 --> 00:39:51.650 draft I will watch the whole three days of the 00:39:51.650 --> 00:39:53.889 NFL draft and don't talk to me like don't ask 00:39:53.889 --> 00:39:56.349 me to do something else because I'm it's exciting 00:39:56.349 --> 00:39:58.449 for the teams but I'm also excited for the young 00:39:58.449 --> 00:40:02.750 men that their dream is being realized at that 00:40:02.750 --> 00:40:05.010 moment and it's such hard work and all that that 00:40:05.010 --> 00:40:06.889 it's just emotional I cry watching the NFL draft 00:40:06.889 --> 00:40:10.570 so yeah it's pretty cool it's pretty cool well 00:40:11.239 --> 00:40:14.260 I could keep you here for hours. I am so glad 00:40:14.260 --> 00:40:16.699 that I got to meet you. Thank you for joining 00:40:16.699 --> 00:40:19.559 us on the podcast. Have a wonderful spring break. 00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:23.039 To all of our listeners, be well, be kind to 00:40:23.039 --> 00:40:25.219 yourselves and one another, and we will see you 00:40:25.219 --> 00:40:27.219 next time. Bye. Bye.