S2E35: Seattle Colleges Conversations with! International Student Sharanpreet Kaur Bath of India

In this our thirty-fifth (35th) episode of Season 2, Seattle Colleges host Evan Franulovich interviews international student Sharanpreet Kaur Bath of India about her experience here at Seattle Colleges and about life in the United States. 

(Originally recorded November 2023)

1:19 - Meet Sharan!

Copyright © Seattle Colleges International Programs 2023. All rights reserved. For more information about being an international student at Seattle Colleges, please visit intl.seattlecolleges.edu

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Transcript

Evan Franulovich: 0:05

Welcome to Seattle Colleges International Programs and our show Conversations with! where we talk to people that help you understand how you too, can be an international student in the United States and why Seattle Colleges should be your first choice. We'll talk to students and staff and agents and government folks, all kinds of people, about what you can expect when you're getting ready to apply or travel here, what you'll experience while you're with us and how it can all lead to an amazing life. Don't forget to check out the Seattle Colleges International Programs website at intl.seattlecolleges.edu where you can find a treasure trove of information about the school, the programs here and, best of all, fill out and submit your application. Again, that's intl.seattlecolleges.edu. Hey, everybody, it's Evan Franulovich here in Seattle, Washington. Welcome back to"Conversations with!" we are here to welcome. You want to introduce yourself?

Sharan: 1:19

Yeah. Hi, everyone. I'm Sharan. I'm from India, and right now I'm here to study in Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 1:28

Yeah. Ah, how long have you been here?

Sharan: 1:31

Like, near about one and a half year.

Evan Franulovich: 1:34

You've been here quite a while then.

Sharan: 1:35

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 1:36

Wow. And you came directly from India? Or did you have... were you here already?

Sharan: 1:42

No. I came to Texas, in Texas Wesleyan University, and I did one semester over there, and then I transferred from there to here.

Evan Franulovich: 1:52

That's right. I remember seeing that in your... in your file. So you went to Texas? Why did you go to Texas?

Sharan: 2:00

Because I got a visa over there.

Evan Franulovich: 2:03

Yeah, you got a visa there. But that's a four year university. Right?

Sharan: 2:07

Yeah. But I...I transfer from there to here because I didn't like the area. It was like, more like desert area, and I didn't like it.

Evan Franulovich: 2:19

I used to live in Texas, so I know what you're talking about. There are things I like about Texas, but I wouldn't want to live there for a long time. Why? So which part of Texas were you in?

Sharan: 2:30

I was in Fort Worth.

Evan Franulovich: 2:32

Well, that was in Fort Worth. Yeah, yeah, I understand. I think Seattle is a much better city. But it's a little cooler than Texas and you're probably used to the heat. Yeah?

Sharan: 2:44

Yeah, I was used to the heat, because in India, it's like more hot temperature, but I was not like that much used to the heat.

Evan Franulovich: 2:53

Right.

Sharan: 2:54

Like Texas is too much for me.

Evan Franulovich: 2:56

Yeah.

Sharan: 2:57

So I moved here.

Evan Franulovich: 2:58

So why, so how did you hear about Seattle Colleges? If you were in Texas, how did you hear about us?

Sharan: 3:07

I heard about this college from one of my friends. She was studying here, and now I think she completed her study.

Evan Franulovich: 3:16

So she graduated.

Sharan: 3:17

And I applied by myself.

Evan Franulovich: 3:20

Cool.

Sharan: 3:20

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 3:21

So you applied? Was it a fairly easy process to apply and transfer?

Sharan: 3:25

I think it's too easy for me.

Evan Franulovich: 3:28

Yeah.

Sharan: 3:28

I don't know about others, I think it was easy for me, and I applied for like two or three students more.

Evan Franulovich: 3:35

Oh!

Sharan: 3:35

I had them to apply how to apply, and all.

Evan Franulovich: 3:38

They came from Texas as well?

Sharan: 3:42

Two came from Texas, and right now I'm working on one of my students, and she... she's coming from Montana University.

Evan Franulovich: 3:52

Oh, really?

Sharan: 3:53

She'll be here in winter.

Evan Franulovich: 3:54

Yeah, we should give you a commission on these guys. Nice job. Well, that's really great. I'm glad you came to Seattle Colleges. That's a... that's a really great transfer. So you've been here a year and a half. How much more do you have before you graduate then? I must be close.

Sharan: 4:11

I think I'm just left the two semesters.

Evan Franulovich: 4:14

Okay.

Sharan: 4:14

And then I'm going to transfer to Seattle University, or I have three or two for ... Like, I have three or four universities from which I'm thinking about maybe...my first preference is University of Washington.

Evan Franulovich: 4:32

Oh sure. Which campus? Because there are three UW campuses.

Sharan: 4:35

I'm thinking about to.. go to Tukwila.

Evan Franulovich: 4:39

Okay, great. Cool. So yeah, Seattle University is just down the street, University of Washington and you said that three or four... is there any others that you're thinking about?

Sharan: 4:48

Yeah, Seattle State University, and there is one more I forgot the name.

Evan Franulovich: 4:54

Okay, that's cool. Seattle State...we don't...there is no Seattle State you mean like Washington's State? Or maybe Seattle Pacific?

Sharan: 5:03

There is one more as Seattle State University..

Evan Franulovich: 5:06

Okay, but you want to stay in Seattle?

Sharan: 5:07

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 5:08

Okay, cool. So you must like it.

Sharan: 5:10

Yeah, I like it so much.

Evan Franulovich: 5:12

What do you like about it?

Sharan: 5:14

I like the weather.

Evan Franulovich: 5:15

You do?

Sharan: 5:16

Yeah. And I also like, people who are here so.

Evan Franulovich: 5:22

You mean the domestic audience? Like the just the people walking around town?

Sharan: 5:27

Yeah, people who are here, they love to meet with other people, which is the most important thing for me, because I'm new here, and I'm making new friends here.

Evan Franulovich: 5:38

Right.

Sharan: 5:38

So it's very good experience with them.

Evan Franulovich: 5:41

Right. What kinds of things do you do to make friends? Where do you find them? Are they just are you meeting people in class? Or do you... Are you involved out of the community at all?

Sharan: 5:51

No, I'm not involved in other communities, but I think most of my friends are from my classes.

Evan Franulovich: 5:58

Okay. Yeah. Domestic or international?

Sharan: 6:00

There are some domestic and some are international, too.

Evan Franulovich: 6:03

All right. So I'm always curious about your relationships with the domestic students like do they are they like super interested in who you are? Are they a little shy? I'm never sure how domestic students see our international students.

Sharan: 6:18

I tnink they are a little bit shy. And I'm also not an extrovert.

Evan Franulovich: 6:23

Yeah?

Sharan: 6:24

I'm so introvert. I can't talk to someone at first and it takes me time to do conversation with others and be so open with them. Yeah, it takes a lot of time for me.

Evan Franulovich: 6:41

Yeah. Well, that's totally fine. Yeah, take your time. We have a lot of events that we set up that involve international students, that gives them the opportunity to interact with other students, so that they can make friends. Have you been to any of our events? Like the Halloween party, or?

Sharan: 6:57

No, I didn't, didn't any kind of that game when maybe I'll attend it in future.

Evan Franulovich: 7:03

Yeah, you should I know the winter has some really great events. Last winter we took a group in a bus up to play in the snow. Oh, have you been up to the snow yet?

Sharan: 7:15

Yeah, one time I went to Snowqualmie.

Evan Franulovich: 7:18

Oh, yeah. Very nice. What did you go Tubing? Did you go skiing? snowboarding?

Sharan: 7:22

Yeah, I visit there to do a skiing but it was close.

Evan Franulovich: 7:27

Oh, no. Well, hopefully well, the season is just starting. So yeah, you can get up there now.

Sharan: 7:34

Yeah. I have been there in December, but I don't know why it was close.

Evan Franulovich: 7:38

Oh, really? Yeah. Usually there's a lot of snow at that time of year so..

Sharan: 7:42

It was so snow....but...

Evan Franulovich: 7:45

All right. Well, we'll try to get you back up there this year. Now you're from Punjab area.

Sharan: 7:50

Yeah. I'm from Punjab.

Evan Franulovich: 7:52

Punjab and is there... are there mountain? I mean, no, there are mountains in kind of the northwest corner of your province?

Sharan: 7:59

Mountains are in the Himalayan side.

Evan Franulovich: 8:03

Gotcha.

Sharan: 8:04

It's different from mine. Punjab is like plain area.

Evan Franulovich: 8:07

Oh, really? So it's really flat.

Sharan: 8:09

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 8:09

Ah, so...

Sharan: 8:11

It's so different from Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 8:12

It's a lot different. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Great. Okay, so when you were in India, as a high school student, did you go to a private school? Or did you go to a public school?

Sharan: 8:24

Yeah, it was a private school.

Evan Franulovich: 8:26

Private School.

Sharan: 8:27

Yeah, most of Indian people prefer private school rather than go to their public school. Education is a little bit different in public and private school.

Evan Franulovich: 8:37

Right.

Sharan: 8:38

So that's why..

Evan Franulovich: 8:39

So did you hear so did you start thinking about maybe studying in the United States while you were still in high school, or not till afterwards, and you're like, oh, maybe I should do that.

Sharan: 8:49

To be honest, my first preference was Canada. I got refused from Canada, because of my status. Yeah. It was like they banned me from Canada, and I was not aware about that. I don't know why they banned me. I applied for a travel visa when I was like 15 or 16 years old. And then they banned me and I got that news when I was applying for studying in Canada and then I forgot about, I don't want to go into Canada if they refused me or banned me.

Evan Franulovich: 9:29

That's so...

Sharan: 9:30

That's thinking about I was thinking about to go to America so I came here.

Evan Franulovich: 9:36

Well, good. Well, I'm a little surprised to hear that because getting a visa for Canada usually isn't super difficult for Indian students.

Sharan: 9:47

It's a lot easier for Indian students to get visa in Canada, but I don't know why. Maybe because of my banned for five years, but now I have Canada visa.

Evan Franulovich: 10:00

You do?

Sharan: 10:00

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 10:01

So have you traveled up to Vancouver?

Sharan: 10:02

Yeah, I traveled to Vancouver. I traveled to Toronto, three or four times.

Evan Franulovich: 10:08

Oh, that's cool. Well, actually, I'm glad you told me that because a lot of our students like to go to Canada because we're just, you know, a couple 100 kilometers from the border. And it's a great opportunity to see another country while you're in the US. So when you decided to go up to Vancouver, did you have to get a Canadian visa then in order to do it?

Sharan: 10:30

Yeah. I got a Canadian visa.

Evan Franulovich: 10:33

And where did you go to get that?

Sharan: 10:35

I applied from India?

Evan Franulovich: 10:37

Oh, you did?

Sharan: 10:38

Through my agent yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 10:39

Oh okay. And then when you got here, then. So you were already a student at Seattle Colleges when you went?

Sharan: 10:46

No, I didn't went to India. I just applied online.

Evan Franulovich: 10:50

No, no, I mean, you went to Canada while you were a student already at Seattle Colleges. So maybe you can tell the listeners... Or maybe, you know, we all have international students who have yet to travel to there. So maybe they don't understand the process, so what did you do when you went into the International Programs Office, in order to be able to travel to Canada?

Sharan: 11:08

There is just one letter that you need to apply for a Canadian visa. That's just enrollment letter. That's...

Evan Franulovich: 11:16

That's it?

Sharan: 11:17

It's not like too much difficult to apply for Canada visa.

Evan Franulovich: 11:20

Right? They have to like sign some of them on your i-20? Or do they have to?

Sharan: 11:25

That's just for traveling to Canada?

Evan Franulovich: 11:28

Gotcha.

Sharan: 11:28

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 11:29

So letting people know what it's like to like, move across the border and come back into the United States. Did you find that it was scary? Did you have any problems with like the officers at the border?

Sharan: 11:43

To be honest, I was first like ... was that what they get asked me.

Evan Franulovich: 11:49

Right.

Sharan: 11:50

And but it was not like, like too much difficult. They just asked me two or three questions, and they were like, okay, you can go..

Evan Franulovich: 11:58

Okay.

Sharan: 11:58

Yeah. They just asked, like, where do you want to go? And how much days or months you want to stay here and to whom you are going? And where do you study? What do you study? That's it.

Evan Franulovich: 12:13

And how long were you in Canada? Then? The first time when you went to Vancouver?

Sharan: 12:19

First time I went to Toronto, and It was like one week.

Evan Franulovich: 12:25

Oh Okay.

Sharan: 12:26

And how was it? It was so good. I went there to meet my dad who came there from India because he doesn't have US visa. So he came there to meet me.

Evan Franulovich: 12:36

Well, that's cool that you were able to meet in Toronto?

Sharan: 12:38

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 12:38

I've never been to Toronto. I'd really like to go. It's a big city.Yeah.

Sharan: 12:41

eah. It's big. It's so beautiful.

Evan Franulovich: 12:45

Is it?

Sharan: 12:45

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 12:46

I know. I'd like to go to Toronto. I have never had the opportunity...someday. So your dad got to come. That's really great.

Sharan: 12:53

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 12:54

And does he have plans to try to get into the United States, again? Has he tried to get a visa?

Sharan: 13:00

No because it takes so much time to apply for him. And the interview date is...

Evan Franulovich: 13:08

I know it's crazy. Yeah. Well, let's talk about we have a lot

Sharan: 13:10

Yeah. of students from India, and we have you met many of them? And not many.

Evan Franulovich: 13:19

Really, that's interesting. I run into them fairly regularly around the hall, so I don't know, you know, everybody has different class schedules. So maybe you just don't meet them.

Sharan: 13:27

Because I'm not like too much into school activities. Maybe if I go there, maybe I'll meet them.

Evan Franulovich: 13:35

Right. In you're... in which campus again?

Sharan: 13:38

I'm in Seattle Central.

Evan Franulovich: 13:39

You're at Central. So all right. Yeah. This is the most probably the most Indian students that are here at Central I think.

Sharan: 13:45

Yeah, right now. Um, but, but I'm taking classes at North Seattle.

Evan Franulovich: 13:49

Oh, you are?

Sharan: 13:50

Yeah, I'm taking classes over there. But my main admission was in Seattle Central.

Evan Franulovich: 13:58

So do you take classes at both campuses?

Sharan: 14:00

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 14:00

Oh, see, that's really good for people to know. The nice thing, we have three campuses, south, north and central and you can take classes at multiple campuses at once.

Sharan: 14:10

It makes it easier for us to apply for the classes because sometimes it's full in Seattle Central, so it's easy for us to apply at North Seattlle, because, anyhow, we have to take class.

Evan Franulovich: 14:24

Right, right. Exactly. Yeah. Um, did you have to do any special paperwork or anything in order to be able to take classes there?

Sharan: 14:31

No, there's not nothing like that. But I think to transfer your credits, you have to do something. I never did that. But I think in future I'll do that.

Evan Franulovich: 14:41

Sure. Well, definitely talk to your advisors is... let them know what you're doing. I'm sure your advisor knew what you're up to so that's really great. Well, going back to the visa thing, a lot of our students from South Asia especially India are interested in the visa process because some have difficulty with it. So you were in India, you decided to come to the United States, you applied to Texas.

Sharan: 15:05

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 15:06

Got your I-20. And then how long did it take from the time you got your I-20. Until the time you got your interview?

Sharan: 15:14

It take me like four months.

Evan Franulovich: 15:16

Four months? That is pretty long. Okay...

Sharan: 15:19

But right now the waiting time is like 2 years. You have to wait for the interview 2 years. It's too long.

Evan Franulovich: 15:27

It is a long time. I know they're trying to speed up the process. So check with your... and there are quite a few consulates throughout India. So check with your closest consulate or any of the consulates within India to see if you can... Did you have the option? Like could you have traveled to like Nepal, in order to do your interview to speed up the process? Or did you even?

Sharan: 15:49

I don't think so, that was no. Because obviously, I really definitely ask that why you came here.

Evan Franulovich: 15:58

Right?

Sharan: 15:58

And what's the point? You come here? Well, maybe that they will reject your visa.

Evan Franulovich: 16:04

I don't know. We have...We have West African students like I have some students from Ghana. They traveled to Cote d'Ivoire in order to do their visa interview, because it was right next door is really close.

Sharan: 16:15

I travelled to Kolkata from Punjab.

Evan Franulovich: 16:17

Oh, you did?

Sharan: 16:18

It take me like four hours flight.

Evan Franulovich: 16:22

That's quite a ways.

Sharan: 16:23

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 16:24

Why not? Why not New Delhi or Mumbai?

Sharan: 16:26

Because I was not being able to find days for the interview.

Evan Franulovich: 16:31

Oh gotcha. So you had to go all the way to Kolkata. Wow.

Sharan: 16:34

Yeah. The nearest place for me was New Delhi, but I was on...

Evan Franulovich: 16:42

If you'd had gone to New Delhi, would you have driven or would you have had to.. fly? I know it's a big province. You're in?

Sharan: 16:48

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 16:48

Or state? You guys call it a state?

Sharan: 16:50

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 16:50

Yeah. Okay.

Sharan: 16:52

So I think if I want to go to Delhi, I can try...I can, like, fly from Punjab to Delhi. Or I can take train too.

Evan Franulovich: 17:03

Oh, you can take the train? Yeah, of course. Great trains in India!

Sharan: 17:07

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 17:08

That's cool. So you went to your interview? And how long was it? What kinds of questions did they ask you?

Sharan: 17:15

They asked me like, few questions. That was not difficult for me to answer. They just asked me: "what kind of degree are you going to take? And have you ever been to America? Is there any relatives there? And why you've been to UK before? And why you don't want to go there right now?"

Evan Franulovich: 17:40

So you had traveled to the UK?

Sharan: 17:41

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 17:42

As a tourist, or...?

Sharan: 17:44

I've been there, like three or four times?

Evan Franulovich: 17:49

Right, right. Just for fun, or do you have family there?

Sharan: 17:52

Spending time with my family, who's living there.

Evan Franulovich: 17:55

Oh, gotcha. Gotcha. Wow. Well, you have family in the Seattle area?

Sharan: 18:00

I have my uncle here.

Evan Franulovich: 18:02

You have your uncle here.

Sharan: 18:03

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 18:03

And does is he a naturalized citizen of the United States now?

Sharan: 18:08

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 18:08

Okay.

Sharan: 18:08

He is.

Evan Franulovich: 18:09

What does he do?

Sharan: 18:10

He's a trucker.

Evan Franulovich: 18:11

Oh, that's right. He's a trucker. Wow. And he likes the area, he's been here for how long?

Sharan: 18:17

Yeah, he's been here like 20 years.

Evan Franulovich: 18:20

Oh, long time!

Sharan: 18:21

He likes this area.

Evan Franulovich: 18:23

Right!

Sharan: 18:23

He's in Auburn.

Evan Franulovich: 18:25

Wow. So is he your father's brother or your mother's brother?

Sharan: 18:28

He's my father's brother.

Evan Franulovich: 18:30

And had you met him before you came to the United States?

Sharan: 18:33

Yeah, I have met him like three or four times in

Evan Franulovich: 18:37

Oh okay. Because I've talked to some India. students where they have family in Seattle, but they've never met them. So when they came here to be a student, it's the first time they met, which I think is kind of interesting.

Sharan: 18:46

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 18:47

Well, that's great. You also...okay, so you did your interview. How long was it?

Sharan: 18:56

It was like half an hour.

Evan Franulovich: 18:58

Oh, that's a pretty long interview.

Sharan: 18:59

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 19:00

Wow. Interesting. Normally, I don't hear it...taking that long....

Sharan: 19:07

There was some problem of my photograph on my biometrics, there was something problem like that. So that's why it takes me like half an hour. Mostly it takes 5or 10 minutes.

Evan Franulovich: 19:21

Yeah, right. It usually is pretty fast.

Sharan: 19:23

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 19:24

All right. Good to know. Is there any advice about that? Like what was wrong with your photograph in...? Is there advice that we can give other students so they don't run into that problem?

Sharan: 19:32

I also don't know about that because they didn't clear my doubt. I asked them and they were like, do you don't have to worry about that.

Evan Franulovich: 19:40

Okay. Well pay attention to the directions because I think there's dimensions it has to be it has to be a certain background, so be careful when...

Sharan: 19:47

Yeah they take my photo again.

Evan Franulovich: 19:50

Oh, they did?

Sharan: 19:50

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 19:51

Okay. That's good to know. So you applied to Texas. Did you use an agent in order to do that?

Sharan: 19:59

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 19:59

Oh, you did! Tell us about your aid! Some students applied directly and some students use agents, tell us about your agent experience.

Sharan: 20:08

So mostly in Punjabi, mostly people apply for Canada visa not for the American visa. And I was the one from my area who applied for American visa and got it. And people were

shocked, like: 20:22

"Is it true?" that people aren't getting the study visa for America?" And it was like: "Yeah, it's true".

Evan Franulovich: 20:32

So did your agent only help you with the visa part? Or did they also help you with applying to the University?

Sharan: 20:38

Yeah, they have me in all process, from applying to university, from preparing for the interview and all the paperwork. He did everything, and he was so good in that...

Evan Franulovich: 20:50

He was?

Sharan: 20:51

Yeah

Evan Franulovich: 20:51

So you so like, some students question whether they should use an age or not, but you had a really good experience?

Sharan: 20:56

Yeah, I had really, really good experience with him.

Evan Franulovich: 20:59

And do they? Do they charge you for the service? Or is it free?

Sharan: 21:03

No, it was not free. But he didn't charge me like too much. It was like... not that much.

Evan Franulovich: 21:10

All right. Well, I know that there are many Education USA offices throughout India. Did you ever visit one of the Education USA offices?

Sharan: 21:19

No, I've never been there.

Evan Franulovich: 21:21

Gotcha. Well, if you are thinking about coming to school in the United States, keep Education USA in the back of your mind. It's a free governmental organization. It's not affiliated with Seattle Colleges at all but it's a great place to go and talk to someone to learn how to plan, to get ready for it. So if you're coming overseas, but if you have an agent, they'll definitely usually help you prepare.

Sharan: 21:43

Yeah, they help a lot and just preparing interview and to got visa and everything.

Evan Franulovich: 21:50

Right, right. So when you flew here, you flew here by yourself?

Sharan: 21:53

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 21:54

How was that?

Sharan: 21:55

And it was my first time that I was flying alone.

Evan Franulovich: 21:59

When you went to the UK, you were always with family.

Sharan: 22:01

Yeah. I always with my brother and my mother.

Evan Franulovich: 22:05

So this is your first int... That's a big international flight.

Sharan: 22:08

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 22:09

Did you go to the west? Like, did you go through London to get to the United States? Or did you go east? Like go through Singapore? Which way did you go?

Sharan: 22:19

My state was in Doha, Qatar.

Evan Franulovich: 22:21

Okay. So you went west? Okay. How long was that flight? It must have been a long flight.

Sharan: 22:26

Yeah, it was like, from New Delhi to Doha, Qatar, It was four and a half.

Evan Franulovich: 22:32

That's not too bad.

Sharan: 22:33

Yeah. Four and a half hours flight, and after that, it was long-17 hours flight!

Evan Franulovich: 22:41

17 hours!

Sharan: 22:42

Yeah

Evan Franulovich: 22:42

That's brutal. That is a flaunt long flight. I'm flying to Pakistan, in January. So that trip is coming up, and I have almost the exact same route. I think I fly Turkish Airlines to Doha, and then I fly to Karachi. And it's a really long flight. I was like: Oh my gosh.

Sharan: 23:02

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 23:03

Yeah. So when you arrived here? Well, you would have arrived to Texas. And then when you transferred, how did you get from Texas? to Seattle? Did you drive? Did you fly?

Sharan: 23:14

I got to fly.

Evan Franulovich: 23:15

You did fly. And then when you arrived in Seattle, what did you do for housing? Did you already have an apartment waiting for you? Or did your uncle just pick you up and you started living with him? Or what did you decide to do for housing?

Sharan: 23:27

I was I didn't even know that my uncle is here.

Evan Franulovich: 23:30

Oh you didn't!

Sharan: 23:31

No I was not aware about that. Then, one of my friend helped me to live here for like, a week. I tried to find an apartment, and one of my friend also came with me, so we both were living together, and then we were able to find one apartment in just one week.

Evan Franulovich: 23:55

Wow. That's pretty fast.

Sharan: 23:56

Yeah!

Evan Franulovich: 23:57

That's good in is that apartment near the campus? Is it near..?

Sharan: 24:01

No. It was at the north side.

Evan Franulovich: 24:03

Oh, okay. So like near North Gate?

Sharan: 24:06

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 24:06

Okay.

Sharan: 24:07

It was at the ... street.

Evan Franulovich: 24:09

Oh, yeah. That's okay. So near the high school?

Sharan: 24:12

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 24:13

Right. Oh, that's a nice part of town. I like that area.

Sharan: 24:15

Yeah, I also like that area, but it's easy for me to live here. Now. Right now. I'm living in Downtown.

Evan Franulovich: 24:26

Wow. Okay. But before you did you use public transit transportation to get to and from your apartment...? And how was that? a lot of people ask about

Sharan: 24:32

Yeah how will I get around Seattle once I'm there. I think Seattle's public transport is very, very good.

Evan Franulovich: 24:41

Oh, yeah?

Sharan: 24:42

Yeah. You have an option to travel through train or through buses, and Uber. Definitely.

Evan Franulovich: 24:51

Yeah, Uber is definitely on the more expensive side. So I don't recommend that.

Sharan: 24:55

If you don't want to spend too much money...Try to use public transit.

Evan Franulovich: 25:00

Yeah, like the buses, I have found the buses to be really... pretty reliable sometimes not so reliable, but generally really reliable and the subways always great. Wow, that's really cool. To hear that, that means it's Trivia Time! All right, is the part of the program where we asked five questions relating to our school and if you get them all right here on the wall of fame, and if not sad. Let's see how it goes.

All right, question number 1: 25:30

Since you go to Seattle Central, we have an animal associated with our campus. "What is the mascot here in Seattle Central?"

Sharan: 25:39

Tiger.

Evan Franulovich: 25:40

Yes, Tiger. Question number 2: "What country can you find tigers in?"

Sharan: 25:49

In India

Evan Franulovich: 25:50

India! that was super easy for you. That's right. You guys have tigers in Punjab?

Sharan: 25:55

Oh no.

Evan Franulovich: 25:56

Oh, you don't?

Sharan: 25:57

No. It's on other States.

Evan Franulovich: 25:59

I figured. I just thought they were everywhere. I've only been to Delhi and then I went out to see the Taj Mahal. And then I then I took a trip, 40 kilometers west. So I know I was in your state, but probably not close to where

Sharan: 26:15

You should got to the Golden Temple. you live.

Evan Franulovich: 26:18

Yeah?

Sharan: 26:19

Yeah. It's all made of good.

Evan Franulovich: 26:21

Wow. It was awesome. Everything I saw... If you have never been to India, I highly recommend. It's just amazing.

Sharan: 26:27

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 26:28

Yeah. It's really great. What do you miss most about India?

Sharan: 26:32

My food.

Evan Franulovich: 26:35

That's okay. But we have a lot of Indian restaurants in Seattle area. Have you tried them?

Sharan: 26:39

Yeah, I tried them, but the taste is not like to similar what I got in.

Evan Franulovich: 26:46

Do you cook?

Sharan: 26:47

Yeah, I do. I am so good in cooking.

Evan Franulovich: 26:50

There you go. Very nice. All right. Question

number 3: 26:53

"What is the name of the body of water just to the west of Seattle?" It's a big body of water.

Sharan: 27:04

Ocean?

Evan Franulovich: 27:05

Well, so there's the ocean. There's the Pacific Ocean and then there's water right next to Seattle. Starts with a "P"...

Sharan: 27:15

Pond?

Evan Franulovich: 27:17

It's the Puget Sound. Okay, the Puget Sound. Alright, great. What are we on? Question number four, I think.

Question number 4: 27:23

. Seattle is known for its professional sports. There are many professional sports teams in Seattle. Can you name one of those professional sports teams?

Sharan: 27:36

I know the team name but I forgot this... It's Seahawks?

Evan Franulovich: 27:40

The Seahawks!! Exactly! The Seattle Seahawks. Have you gone to see a game?

Sharan: 27:46

No I haven't been there.

Evan Franulovich: 27:48

Well, you should check it out before you leave. It's a good cultural experience for sure. Yeah, the Seattle Seahawks. There's also the mariners hey're American baseball. We have the Sounders there, the soccer team/football team here, so lots of things to check out. All right, great. Last question. What was the last movie that you saw?

Sharan: 28:10

Right now? I'm watching Netflix series. Oh, you are? Yeah, I'm watching Money heights.

Evan Franulovich: 28:16

I don't know this one. What's it about?

Sharan: 28:19

It's about robbery.

Evan Franulovich: 28:20

Oh, cool.

Sharan: 28:22

It's pretty interesting.

Evan Franulovich: 28:23

Yeah. Yeah. Did you... Do you go? Do you go out to the theaters much or do you pretty much just stay home and watch?

Sharan: 28:30

No, I stay at home.

Evan Franulovich: 28:31

Stay at home and watch.

Sharan: 28:33

I watch...

Evan Franulovich: 28:34

Oh, so? Not with your family?

Sharan: 28:38

No.

Evan Franulovich: 28:38

No. All right. Fair enough. Well, you should get out there. It's pretty cool. There's some really nice theaters.

Sharan: 28:44

Yeah. I have been to some of the theaters to watch Punjabi movies.

Evan Franulovich: 28:49

Oh, really?

Sharan: 28:49

Yeah. It's in Federal Way.

Evan Franulovich: 28:53

If you're from India, and you're missing home?

Sharan: 28:55

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 28:55

Do they do show Indian films here?

Sharan: 28:57

Yeah, in Federal Way.

Evan Franulovich: 28:59

That's really great. Actually, I live near Northgate where you were before and I've seen, I just assume they're Indian films. I'm not really sure where they're from exactly. But the title suggests that they're probably from South Asia somewhere.

Sharan: 29:13

Okay.

Evan Franulovich: 29:13

I don't know if they're...

Sharan: 29:14

I don't have any idea about that.

Evan Franulovich: 29:16

Yeah, I don't know. But I've seen some, but that's good to know. So if you miss home and you just want to hear the language, you can go check out the movies. Well, really cool. Yeah, we have a lot. We have a really big Indian community, don't you think in Seattle?

Sharan: 29:30

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 29:30

Like everywhere I go. I run into people from India.

Sharan: 29:34

There is more Indian community at Lynnwood, in Renton...

Evan Franulovich: 29:41

So if you get sad and want to speak your language, it's no problem finding people.

Sharan: 29:46

There is no problem.

Evan Franulovich: 29:48

Well, that's good. Well, I always like to end the show with final words of advice. You are in India thinking about coming overseas to go to school. You there's probably a lot of kids over there that are thinking about it what kind of advice would you give them?

Sharan: 30:02

I advise them to definitely come here because it's a different experience from India, and you should definitely go for that, and don't think about it like too much.

Evan Franulovich: 30:14

Just go.

Sharan: 30:15

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 30:16

Yeah. So what is the? They'll say, Oh, well, how is it different? Like, what do you think is the big difference in the far as the education goes?

Sharan: 30:25

Firstly, the education is too different from India, I think in Indian education is more like, on difficult side, but American education is easy, but it's like little complicated to understand the process and all. I was not aware about prerequisites.

Evan Franulovich: 30:44

Oh, yeah.

Sharan: 30:45

And I was like, what's that? And it took me like, four months to understand what's prerequisites.

Evan Franulovich: 30:53

Oh, really?

Sharan: 30:53

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 30:54

No one explained it to you.

Sharan: 30:55

No, no, people tried to explain to me. But, I was like, I didn't understand it.

Evan Franulovich: 31:02

Just a different concept. That's true.

Sharan: 31:04

Yeah.

Evan Franulovich: 31:04

Oh, that's really cool. All right. Well, the last thing I like to do is give you the opportunity to say something in your own language. People have maybe never heard your language, so on to give them the opportunity. But the truth of the matter is, she speaks more than one language. So..

Sharan: 31:20

I speak Hindi Punjabi. I'm aware about Gujarati too...

Evan Franulovich: 31:27

Yeah. Well, but you generally are speaking in Punjabi.

Sharan: 31:31

Yeah. I'm Punjabi. I'm from Punjab, so speak Punjabi.

Evan Franulovich: 31:35

There we go. So maybe you could say something to you know, either the kids back home or to family or whatever you want to do.

Sharan: 31:42

~Sharan speaking in Punjabi.~Thank you so much.

Evan Franulovich: 32:06

So cool. That sounds great. Thanks.

Sharan: 32:09

Thank you.

Evan Franulovich: 32:09

Wow. All right. Well, that's great. Thanks for all your time. Thanks for coming down and meeting you. That's really great.

Sharan: 32:15

Thanks for doing podcast.

Evan Franulovich: 32:17

Yeah. Well, hopefully, it's helpful to everybody out there. You know, a lot of people are thinking about coming, but you know, it gives them a really easy way to get some information and stuff and hearing about your experience, because if I talk to him about it, they're like, oh, he of course, he's supposed to tell us Seattle, so great, but you're a student here so you can tell them the real deal. All right, fantastic. Have a great holiday, and we'll we'll see you again soon. Bye! Conversations with! is painstakingly crafted for you by the Seattle Colleges International Programs department and supported by the lovely folks here on our campus. This show is produced and edited by me Evan Franulovich. We welcome your emails and questions about coming to Seattle Colleges. Please reach out to us via our website or just give have us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts as this helps others discover the show. Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok or YouTube at SeattleCollegesIntl, that's SeattleCollegesIntl. And be sure to check out all of the shows here on Conversations with! Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.