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Student deported after boarding a flight to Austin · Austin Signal

• 0:10
  A college student flying to Austin
• 0:11
  was detained and deported by
• 0:13
  immigration authorities.
• 0:14
  She was trying to surprise her
• 0:15
  family for the Thanksgiving
• 0:17
  holiday. Now she's having to finish
• 0:18
  her semester of college in a
• 0:20
  different country.
• 0:20
  Her lawyer says her deportation went against a federal court order. We're
• 0:20
  gonna have more about the reason for her deportation and what the next
• 0:20
  steps in her story are. That's coming up on today's show.
• 0:31
  The Austin Signal is a production of
• 0:33
  KUT News, hosted by Jerry
• 0:36
  Quijano.
• 0:36
  And what do you imagine when you
• 0:38
  hear dragon boat racing?
• 0:40
  Fire spewing out across Ladybird
• 0:42
  Lake, boats speeding fast across
• 0:44
  and even out of the water.
• 0:46
  Come find out what it's really all
• 0:48
  about. Plus, it's the time of
• 0:49
  season for caroling and lighting up
• 0:51
  big old trees.
• 0:52
  Find out what's happening this
• 0:54
  weekend in downtown Austin.
• 0:56
  That's up next on Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there, thank you for
• 1:09
  listening. This is Austin Signal.
• 1:11
  It's Wednesday, December third.
• 1:13
  We are halfway through the week.
• 1:14
  I'm your host, Jerry Kehonnell.
• 1:16
  Thanks for spending part of your day
• 1:18
  here with us.
• 1:19
  Just before the Thanksgiving
• 1:21
  holiday, a Boston area college
• 1:22
  student boarded a plane headed for
• 1:24
  Austin. She had plans to surprise
• 1:26
  her family for the holiday.
• 1:28
  Instead, she was taken into federal
• 1:29
  custody and deported to Honduras.
• 1:32
  Her lawyer says that deportation
• 1:34
  went against a federal court
• 1:35
  order. For more about this story, we
• 1:37
  are speaking with KUT's government
• 1:39
  accountability reporter Andrew
• 1:40
  Weber. Good afternoon, Andrew.
• 1:42
  Good afternoon, Jerry.
• 1:43
  So tell us a little bit about the
• 1:45
  student, who is Annie Lopez
• 1:46
  Bayosa?
• 1:47
  She's a nineteen-year-old business
• 1:49
  student at Babson College
• 1:51
  up in the Boston area.
• 1:53
  And like you said, on November
• 1:54
  twentieth, she tried to board a
• 1:56
  flight. She wanted to surprise her
• 1:57
  folks down here for Thanksgiving,
• 1:59
  and she was told to just go back to
• 2:01
  the the the gate.
• 2:02
  Okay. She wasn't really told why, so
• 2:03
  she did that. She went back to the
• 2:05
  gate. They said something was wrong
• 2:06
  with her ticket, and she was
• 2:08
  met by her attorney says
• 2:10
  immigration officials right
• 2:12
  there at the gate, and they detained
• 2:13
  her.
• 2:14
  Yeah, w and what was the reason that
• 2:15
  those officials gave her for the
• 2:17
  detainment in the first place?
• 2:18
  Yeah, the ICE immigration customs
• 2:20
  enforcement folks told me she had
• 2:22
  violated a final order
• 2:24
  to to leave the country, a final
• 2:26
  deportation order.
• 2:28
  She came with her family to the US
• 2:29
  when she was a kid, and she
• 2:31
  thought that she had legal
• 2:33
  status because they were seeking
• 2:35
  asylum. ICE told me she
• 2:37
  was detained lawfully
• 2:39
  for violating that that twenty
• 2:40
  fifteen order, and her
• 2:42
  attorney told me that she was
• 2:44
  taken into from the
• 2:46
  from the gate, out of the airport,
• 2:48
  into a van.
• 2:49
  He said that the the agents were
• 2:50
  masked, and she was taken
• 2:53
  to a suburban ice facility,
• 2:55
  suburban Boston ICE facility.
• 2:57
  Then from there she was taken to
• 2:58
  Texas and she was deported
• 3:01
  back to Honduras within
• 3:03
  two days. And you try to board that
• 3:04
  flight.
• 3:05
  You've been speaking with her
• 3:06
  attorney, Todd Pomerlo.
• 3:07
  What else has he told you about the
• 3:08
  situation?
• 3:09
  Well, like you said at the top, you
• 3:10
  said that this was un it was
• 3:12
  completely unlawful.
• 3:13
  That before she was,
• 3:15
  you know, immigration status
• 3:17
  rather legal status aside,
• 3:19
  he said that a federal judge
• 3:21
  said, You can't deport this
• 3:23
  person until they have a chance to
• 3:24
  go before an immigration judge.
• 3:27
  And that is clearly
• 3:29
  not what happened.
• 3:30
  At the end of the day, this is a
• 3:31
  college student who came here at
• 3:33
  seven years old to seek asylum
• 3:35
  with her family. She's not
• 3:36
  responsible under the law
• 3:38
  for any decisions her parents
• 3:40
  made about her. She didn't enter
• 3:42
  illegally, like the government is
• 3:43
  claiming. Asylum is a legal
• 3:45
  process.
• 3:47
  Regardless of how much the
• 3:48
  administration may not like asylum,
• 3:50
  it's protected by federal law and
• 3:52
  they were following the law.
• 3:55
  So what do we know about Annie's
• 3:57
  location right now?
• 3:58
  Yeah, yeah. Pomerolo told me that
• 3:59
  she is in Aldados with her
• 4:01
  grandparents right now.
• 4:03
  But she, you know, doesn't know when
• 4:04
  she's gonna be able to come back or
• 4:06
  even finish the semester at at
• 4:08
  Babson.
• 4:09
  What do we know about the
• 4:10
  administration's response to the
• 4:12
  situation or to the attorney
• 4:14
  Pomerlo?
• 4:15
  Wha what happens next?
• 4:16
  What have they said?
• 4:17
  Yeah, Pablo said that ICE
• 4:19
  hasn't really spoken
• 4:21
  to him at all.
• 4:23
  But they did they did respond
• 4:25
  to a request for comment for
• 4:27
  us from us, excuse me, and
• 4:29
  they said that she went through
• 4:30
  the full due process, which is
• 4:33
  important because of that federal
• 4:34
  court order.
• 4:36
  And you know, they haven't
• 4:38
  really responded to the feds, that
• 4:40
  is, haven't really responded to that
• 4:41
  court order.
• 4:42
  Okay.
• 4:42
  There was a request for, you
• 4:44
  know, response by today.
• 4:46
  I haven't seen anything on that
• 4:49
  yet.
• 4:50
  But you know, largely Todd Pomerolo,
• 4:52
  the attorney, said that they want to
• 4:54
  continue fighting this even if, you
• 4:56
  know, the feds aren't gonna respond
• 4:57
  to to this case.
• 4:59
  They ignored my phone calls.
• 5:01
  They haven't even acknowledged the
• 5:02
  email that said we were her lawyer.
• 5:04
  I mean I mean I guess they don't
• 5:05
  have time to read emails these days,
• 5:07
  but again we're taking her
• 5:09
  to court and we're gonna seek
• 5:10
  justice for any one way or another.
• 5:12
  We're not I promised her we're not
• 5:13
  stopping till she comes back.
• 5:15
  And has he had any further
• 5:17
  communication with her since as
• 5:18
  you've been reporting the story out?
• 5:20
  Not since I talked to him yesterday.
• 5:22
  I haven't heard anything since
• 5:23
  Okay, we I've been speaking with
• 5:25
  KUT's government accountability
• 5:27
  reporter, Andrew Weber.
• 5:28
  You can find more about this
• 5:30
  reporting in today's podcast
• 5:32
  show notes. That is at KUT
• 5:34
  dot org slash signal.
• 5:36
  Andrew, thanks for speaking with us.
• 5:37
  Thank you, Jerk.
• 5:46
  And we've had a lot of reporting on
• 5:47
  the Austin Signal this week.
• 5:49
  And as always, as I mentioned
• 5:51
  earlier, you can listen to the show
• 5:53
  at K U T.orgslash
• 5:55
  Signal. And we are with you
• 5:57
  every single weekday afternoon
• 5:59
  from one until one thirty.
• 6:01
  We got a lot more coming up on all
• 6:02
  things considered this afternoon
• 6:04
  as well.
• 6:05
  So be sure and stay with us
• 6:07
  and subscribe to the show
• 6:09
  wherever you listen to your
• 6:11
  podcasts. We're gonna be back in
• 6:13
  just a moment.
• 6:14
  This is the signal.
• 6:17
  Thank you for listening.
• 6:19
  This is community powered public
• 6:20
  radio K U T News,
• 6:23
  and you are tuned in to Austin
• 6:25
  Signal. Joining us now is Maile
• 6:27
  Carballo from our sister station
• 6:29
  K U T X. Howdy, Maile, it's been a
• 6:30
  while since we chatted with you.
• 6:31
  Hey Jerry, I'm doing great.
• 6:33
  How are you doing?
• 6:34
  I'm doing fantastic and
• 6:35
  you know, we are getting into the
• 6:37
  spirits. There's been a lot of
• 6:38
  discussion on NPR as of late about
• 6:40
  Christmas music.
• 6:41
  You know, some so many people have
• 6:42
  so many feelings about Christmas
• 6:45
  music and we're gonna
• 6:46
  add some more to that discussion,
• 6:48
  right? Because there's A in a big
• 6:50
  event happening this Saturday in
• 6:51
  downtown Austin.
• 6:52
  A big tree is getting lit.
• 6:54
  What's happening?
• 6:55
  Absolutely.
• 6:56
  It's the annual K U T K
• 6:57
  U T X and Downtown Austin
• 7:00
  Alliance holiday sing along.
• 7:01
  It's been going on for a long time
• 7:03
  now and it's this Saturday
• 7:05
  the sixth from five to eight PM.
• 7:07
  It's gonna be a great time.
• 7:08
  Yeah, like you said, it's been going
• 7:10
  on for a long time.
• 7:10
  You know, our predecessor here at
• 7:12
  the station, John Ailey, started
• 7:14
  this tradition a long time ago.
• 7:16
  And and there's so much community
• 7:18
  investment in this event.
• 7:19
  I feel like every time I go, the
• 7:21
  people are
• 7:23
  So excited.
• 7:24
  Jones and for the carols.
• 7:27
  Yeah, and the great thing about that
• 7:29
  too, mentioning John Ailey, he
• 7:31
  started the tradition of singing,
• 7:33
  you know, cr carols of
• 7:35
  all holidays, Christmas Kwanzaa,
• 7:37
  all sorts.
• 7:38
  And the KUT and KUTX
• 7:41
  peoples, you I'm I'm sure
• 7:43
  included have sung up there before.
• 7:44
  Well you
• 7:45
  Well you know, I actually have not
• 7:46
  sung before up on the stage.
• 7:48
  I have a little bit of stage fry,
• 7:50
  but this year I've been asked to be
• 7:51
  part of the Carolers.
• 7:53
  So I you know, I'm w apparently
• 7:54
  we have a practice tomorrow for this
• 7:56
  caroling.
• 7:57
  So I will be up there, but
• 7:59
  we have about an hour of Caroling
• 8:01
  from K U T and K U T X staff.
• 8:03
  But it wouldn't be an Austin event
• 8:05
  if we didn't have even more live
• 8:06
  music. There's some additional music
• 8:07
  happening too, right?
• 8:08
  That is correct.
• 8:09
  So at if you arrive at five PM,
• 8:11
  you can walk down. There's vendors,
• 8:13
  there's music happening.
• 8:14
  Amber Blue Music, which is a
• 8:16
  children's entertainer, will be
• 8:17
  there. Entertaining the kiddos.
• 8:19
  So feel free to bring them out.
• 8:21
  It is free for them as well.
• 8:23
  And yeah, the K U T and K U T
• 8:25
  Xers will begin a holiday sing along
• 8:27
  starting at six and then we'll sing
• 8:29
  into the tree lighting at
• 8:31
  seven PM.
• 8:32
  Yeah, it's always a great time.
• 8:33
  It's a great event for your
• 8:34
  children, and it looks like it's
• 8:36
  shaping up to be a really good one
• 8:37
  weather wise as well this Saturday.
• 8:39
  Nice and chilly.
• 8:40
  I was saying yesterday on on the
• 8:42
  show that sometimes these events are
• 8:43
  kind of like I'm wearing like a t
• 8:45
  shirt and shorts to these events,
• 8:46
  but this year it'll actually be
• 8:48
  chilly. Again, that's happening from
• 8:49
  five until eight o'clock this
• 8:51
  Saturday night.
• 8:52
  The K U T and K U T X holiday
• 8:54
  sing along and stroll downtown.
• 8:56
  Okay, Maile, let's switch planes a
• 8:57
  little bit.
• 8:58
  As we're beginning to wrap up twenty
• 9:00
  twenty five, it's only the third of
• 9:02
  December, but we still have some
• 9:03
  time to go.
• 9:04
  It seems like AI is creeping into
• 9:06
  more and more industries.
• 9:07
  We're hearing about how more and
• 9:09
  more companies and organizations are
• 9:10
  partnering with AI or or bringing
• 9:12
  AI into the mix.
• 9:13
  Music is not exempted from that
• 9:15
  discussion. And one of the bigger
• 9:17
  music companies in the world is
• 9:18
  partnering with an AI company, but
• 9:20
  I got your notes.
• 9:21
  You're saying this is a company that
• 9:23
  that was s they were suing and now
• 9:24
  they're bringing on board.
• 9:25
  What's the story here?
• 9:26
  Yeah, so we're talking about Warner
• 9:28
  Music Group.
• 9:29
  They have been in a massive
• 9:32
  copyright lawsuit with the AI
• 9:34
  program Suno.
• 9:35
  Suno is known for kind of
• 9:37
  music oriented AI creation.
• 9:39
  And Warner has basically been
• 9:41
  saying, you know, Suno, you're
• 9:43
  using our music, all of our artists
• 9:46
  unappropriately, inappropriately,
• 9:48
  and we want you to pay us basically.
• 9:50
  We we want our musicians to be paid.
• 9:52
  So they just settled
• 9:54
  this massive copyright lawsuit
• 9:57
  and pitchfork Pitchfork
• 9:59
  reported this last week that they're
• 10:01
  partnering with them and they're
• 10:03
  actually gonna launch a brand new
• 10:05
  legal licensed AI
• 10:07
  model in association with Warner
• 10:09
  starting in twenty twenty six.
• 10:11
  One question that made me think
• 10:12
  about was like the the artists or or
• 10:14
  associated signed to Warner.
• 10:16
  Do they have do they have to
• 10:17
  participate in this?
• 10:18
  How does this work with the artists
• 10:19
  that work under them?
• 10:20
  They do not. So what this means for
• 10:22
  the musicians that we listen to, so
• 10:24
  Warner represents, you know,
• 10:25
  Coldplay, Ed Sheeran, Madonna,
• 10:27
  all of the big
• 10:28
  Some pretty big names.
• 10:29
  Pretty big names, they will now have
• 10:31
  the option to opt in or out
• 10:33
  of using AI with their
• 10:35
  music creation.
• 10:36
  So it's kind of still a little
• 10:38
  bit vague, a little bit gray and
• 10:40
  weird, especially as we kind
• 10:41
  of grow into a season
• 10:44
  of and maybe it a new
• 10:45
  lifetime of AI generated
• 10:47
  music. I don't know.
• 10:49
  People are not happy about it.
• 10:51
  Yeah. Me included.
• 10:52
  What are some of the concerns that
• 10:53
  we're hearing from folks about about
• 10:55
  this potential or about this
• 10:56
  partnership that is going to happen?
• 10:58
  Yeah, for sure. I mean it blurs the
• 11:00
  lines of, you know, originality,
• 11:02
  what's real, what's not, what
• 11:04
  can Suno claim as,
• 11:06
  you know, original music in
• 11:08
  terms of, you know, let's say Ed
• 11:10
  Sheeran wants to opt in and use
• 11:12
  it for his music.
• 11:13
  It's it's still kind of the
• 11:15
  the lines are not quite there yet.
• 11:18
  But it's definitely gonna
• 11:21
  be a necessity for a lot of the
• 11:22
  bigger groups coming up.
• 11:23
  They're gonna opt in and actually
• 11:25
  alongside Warner, other
• 11:27
  big groups have been associated
• 11:29
  with Clay, which is another AI.
• 11:32
  Okay.
• 11:33
  Sort of music integration
• 11:35
  system and it's just kind of freaky.
• 11:37
  It's a lot of freaky stuff.
• 11:39
  Lot of freaky stuff and I'm sure I I
• 11:40
  can see maybe it has some
• 11:42
  possibilities for a smaller name as
• 11:44
  you're trying to expand and
• 11:46
  you know, kind of a a slippery slope
• 11:48
  there. We have been speaking with
• 11:50
  Maile Carbio from our sister
• 11:52
  station K U T X with
• 11:53
  the great update.
• 11:54
  As always. Maile, thank you.
• 11:56
  Thank you, Jerry.
• 12:01
  This is Austin Signal.
• 12:02
  Thanks for being with us today.
• 12:04
  For the most part, everybody's got a
• 12:06
  thing, my least thing is in music.
• 12:08
  Something that they, you know, just
• 12:09
  do for themselves, not a job,
• 12:11
  not a responsibility.
• 12:13
  It's just something that brings them
• 12:14
  joy or feeds their soul.
• 12:17
  Mike Lee is the host of the This
• 12:19
  Is My Thing podcast.
• 12:20
  He says in their latest episode when
• 12:22
  we hear about dragon boat racing,
• 12:24
  you know, this is really a
• 12:26
  thing.
• 12:29
  My name is Beth Rowan
• 12:31
  and I'm a member of Austin's
• 12:34
  first and only breast cancer
• 12:35
  survivor dragon boat team.
• 12:37
  It's called Paddles with a Purpose.
• 12:41
  Reach.
• 12:42
  Reach you guys.
• 12:45
  It's the traditional Asian
• 12:47
  longboat, the dragon
• 12:49
  boat. It's been around for thousands
• 12:51
  of years, but it
• 12:53
  has been recently within
• 12:55
  the last 30 years discovered to
• 12:57
  be very helpful
• 12:59
  for breast cancer survivors
• 13:01
  because it's moves the
• 13:02
  lymph node system.
• 13:04
  So when we're paddling, we get a
• 13:06
  good workout of upper body
• 13:08
  movement. So it's extremely helpful
• 13:10
  for breast cancer survivors.
• 13:14
  Were you seeking out some form of
• 13:16
  exercise that would help you in your
• 13:18
  continuing recovery?
• 13:20
  Well yes, I saw the flyer in the
• 13:21
  gym. I was going to the gym
• 13:23
  regularly and saw the flyer
• 13:25
  and I have done some canoeing
• 13:28
  before, which I love.
• 13:29
  I love being on the water.
• 13:31
  It's extremely
• 13:33
  good for my soul to be on
• 13:35
  the water.
• 13:36
  So paddling with
• 13:39
  twenty other women in the boat
• 13:41
  with me for practice and then
• 13:43
  doing racing is
• 13:45
  so fulfilling
• 13:47
  and just so wonderful.
• 13:49
  It's a wonderful group of supportive
• 13:51
  women and we encourage
• 13:53
  each other to stay healthy.
• 13:57
  So you already had some experience
• 13:59
  with boating and I I feel
• 14:01
  like I should mention the elephant
• 14:03
  in the room, which is that your last
• 14:04
  name is Rowan.
• 14:07
  Which is a big part of the activity
• 14:08
  that you're I know I'm not the first
• 14:10
  person to mention this.
• 14:11
  You might be, actually.
• 14:15
  That's surprising to me.
• 14:16
  Yes, yes, that's really funny.
• 14:19
  But rowing is something that is not
• 14:20
  only good for you, but you something
• 14:22
  you already enjoyed.
• 14:23
  Yes, indeed.
• 14:24
  Indeed. I have done a little bit
• 14:26
  of rowing in a skull
• 14:28
  on Ladybird Lake, but this is
• 14:29
  paddling because we only have one
• 14:31
  paddle and we use it
• 14:34
  on the side and we all
• 14:36
  paddle in sync.
• 14:37
  So the key part about
• 14:39
  being fast in the boat boat
• 14:41
  is that we all are in
• 14:43
  sync absolutely as much
• 14:45
  as possible and that makes us go
• 14:47
  really fast.
• 14:48
  Stroke is feeling a bit rank heavy.
• 14:50
  So again.
• 14:52
  It feels so great to be
• 14:54
  on the water exercising
• 14:56
  and being with a this group that
• 14:58
  has grown to be some of my closest
• 15:00
  friends.
• 15:02
  Our first race, I believe, was 2022,
• 15:05
  and we have competed in the Austin
• 15:07
  Dragon Boat Festival,
• 15:09
  Oklahoma City, Dallas,
• 15:12
  Houston, Kansas
• 15:14
  City, Miami,
• 15:15
  and we were in
• 15:18
  a race in Vancouver
• 15:20
  in June, which
• 15:22
  was our biggest race.
• 15:23
  There were 33 breast cancer
• 15:25
  survivor teams, and we got third
• 15:27
  place overall.
• 15:29
  So exciting.
• 15:30
  What did it feel like to see that
• 15:32
  many other people
• 15:34
  who have gone through this?
• 15:35
  It's powerful.
• 15:36
  But another thing that's even more
• 15:38
  powerful is typically
• 15:40
  when there's breast cancer teams in
• 15:42
  a dragon boat race, we will take
• 15:44
  a break to
• 15:46
  honor and remember
• 15:48
  the breast cancer
• 15:50
  folks that have passed on.
• 15:52
  And so in Vancouver
• 15:55
  we had two heats
• 15:57
  of breast cancer survivor
• 15:59
  boats lined up together, raft
• 16:01
  up, so connect, hold
• 16:03
  on to each other, and we
• 16:06
  have pink carnations.
• 16:08
  Somebody usually sp speaks some
• 16:10
  words or some music and then we
• 16:11
  throw the pink carnations into the
• 16:13
  water, remembering those that have
• 16:15
  passed on.
• 16:17
  It is very powerful.
• 16:19
  It really is.
• 16:21
  I would think that there's an
• 16:23
  element that's a little bittersweet
• 16:25
  to see that many people who
• 16:27
  have had to go through this.
• 16:29
  It is. But to also see that many
• 16:30
  people who survived and are
• 16:32
  thriving now.
• 16:33
  Yes, it is.
• 16:34
  I mean it is t bittersweet is
• 16:36
  the exact right word because
• 16:38
  I mean, you know, I'm
• 16:40
  talking about how upbeat it is,
• 16:42
  but we do remember
• 16:44
  those and we have had people
• 16:45
  on our team that have passed on.
• 16:48
  But we do
• 16:50
  feel like it is
• 16:52
  one of the best things we can do to
• 16:54
  stay connected and stay
• 16:56
  strong and to
• 16:58
  stay together.
• 17:00
  Oh
• 17:02
  When you started doing this six
• 17:03
  years or so ago, did you think it
• 17:05
  would be this big a part of your
• 17:06
  life?
• 17:07
  Oh, I had no idea.
• 17:09
  I had no idea that it would be such
• 17:11
  a focus for me.
• 17:14
  Definitely had no idea
• 17:16
  that these women
• 17:18
  that I didn't know I would
• 17:20
  come to just
• 17:22
  love, you know, they're some of
• 17:24
  my closest friends and
• 17:26
  that I'm out there practicing
• 17:28
  absolutely as much as I can.
• 17:30
  I would ha I hate missing a
• 17:31
  practice 'cause it just brings
• 17:33
  joy and energy to me.
• 17:35
  But to imagine that I would
• 17:37
  have this connection, I had
• 17:39
  no idea.
• 17:40
  Did it originally just feel like
• 17:42
  like an exercise, something that,
• 17:44
  you know, you should do and it'd be
• 17:45
  good for you, but then the emotional
• 17:47
  connection came as a little bit of a
• 17:48
  surprise?
• 17:49
  Absolutely.
• 17:50
  Absolutely. I mean, you
• 17:52
  know, working out feels
• 17:54
  good, but working out with women
• 17:56
  that I'm totally
• 17:58
  connected and we're in
• 18:00
  sync paddling
• 18:02
  and I know that they have
• 18:04
  my back.
• 18:05
  Like if something comes up with
• 18:07
  anybody on our team, we're there for
• 18:09
  each other. You know, we have
• 18:10
  each other's back in all
• 18:12
  ways.
• 18:13
  And so that has been
• 18:15
  so fulfilling for me.
• 18:17
  That community is
• 18:19
  just really wonderful.
• 18:21
  And I'm guessing you didn't realize
• 18:23
  you were going to be given that
• 18:24
  gift.
• 18:24
  Absolutely, absolutely.
• 18:26
  I would never say that having breast
• 18:28
  cancer would be a gift, but I would
• 18:30
  definitely say that
• 18:32
  this team is
• 18:34
  the silver lining for
• 18:37
  sure.
• 18:37
  It's special.
• 18:39
  These are probably women that you
• 18:41
  you might not have a lot else in
• 18:43
  common with or you might not have
• 18:44
  run across in your in your normal
• 18:46
  day to day life.
• 18:47
  Yeah. But you have two things that
• 18:49
  that really connect you the love of
• 18:50
  the sport and having gone through
• 18:52
  a similar experience.
• 18:54
  Yes.
• 18:55
  And maybe the other stuff
• 18:57
  doesn't matter so much.
• 18:58
  Yeah, that's true.
• 19:00
  The connection is the most
• 19:02
  important thing and definitely,
• 19:05
  you know, we have grown close
• 19:08
  during, you know, practices,
• 19:10
  races, the traveling that we've done
• 19:12
  together and we have like
• 19:14
  this amazing bond now.
• 19:17
  D you feel like you're gonna keep
• 19:18
  doing this for a long time?
• 19:19
  Oh yeah, absolutely.
• 19:20
  For the rest of my life.
• 19:22
  And if I was ever to move anywhere
• 19:24
  else, the very first thing
• 19:26
  I'd want to do is find a dragon
• 19:28
  boat team. And if I couldn't find
• 19:30
  a team, I would do everything I
• 19:31
  could to start one.
• 19:32
  I mean, it's really that powerful.
• 19:34
  So you're not gonna move anywhere
• 19:36
  where there's not a river or a lake
• 19:37
  that you can
• 19:39
  It's really fun.
• 19:40
  We had of a team member who
• 19:42
  came from the Pacific Northwest and
• 19:44
  she said there were so many teams up
• 19:46
  in Portland area.
• 19:48
  And there's many teams in
• 19:50
  Canada, believe it or not.
• 19:52
  Lots of teams in
• 19:55
  Florida and in
• 19:56
  the Northeast, there's teams.
• 19:59
  There's a team in Dallas,
• 20:01
  Houston.
• 20:02
  They have a big race in Arizona
• 20:05
  every year.
• 20:06
  So it's growing.
• 20:09
  And you know, there's teams
• 20:11
  in France and Italy
• 20:13
  and New Zealand.
• 20:16
  And so it's
• 20:17
  worldwide and growing.
• 20:22
  Remember to breathe.
• 20:24
  We had an exciting thing in
• 20:26
  Vancouver. Oh tell me.
• 20:27
  One of our
• 20:30
  our drummer who
• 20:32
  was there for the first day,
• 20:34
  she had to leave
• 20:36
  and so her to
• 20:38
  take her son to a summer camp.
• 20:39
  So we were short one person, and for
• 20:41
  a race it's mandated that you have
• 20:43
  to have a drummer.
• 20:44
  So the next race we were in the next
• 20:46
  day, we were short.
• 20:47
  We had to move one of our paddlers
• 20:49
  to drumming.
• 20:50
  So we had nineteen
• 20:52
  paddlers instead of twenty.
• 20:54
  And in that race, previously
• 20:56
  we had come in first
• 20:59
  in two races, and then
• 21:01
  that one where we were short a
• 21:02
  paddler, we came in sixth
• 21:05
  place. And so
• 21:07
  Luckily our manager
• 21:09
  realized that she could go
• 21:11
  talk to the
• 21:13
  race people and they had a
• 21:15
  steersperson that they
• 21:16
  could loan us for
• 21:18
  the race, so that meant we could
• 21:20
  move one of our paddlers back into
• 21:22
  the seat to paddle.
• 21:24
  So we had a temporary
• 21:26
  steersperson and all of our paddlers
• 21:28
  and our drummer and so in that one
• 21:30
  we came in third, which was so
• 21:31
  exciting.
• 21:32
  That really shows you how
• 21:35
  how important every person
• 21:37
  on that boat is.
• 21:38
  Yes. If I mean, if you've got twenty
• 21:40
  paddlers, a lay
• 21:42
  person might think, You could
• 21:43
  probably do without one and you'd
• 21:46
  be fine, right? Right.
• 21:47
  But obviously made a huge
• 21:48
  difference.
• 21:49
  Huge difference. We went from first
• 21:51
  to sixth.
• 21:51
  So we really need every single
• 21:53
  one of our paddlers doing their
• 21:55
  best. One person,
• 21:57
  there's just as important as
• 21:59
  everybody else on the team.
• 22:01
  Right. That's a there's a lesson
• 22:03
  in there somewhere, isn't there?
• 22:04
  Yeah.
• 22:06
  Long and strong.
• 22:09
  Reach into that front.
• 22:10
  I'm sixty years old.
• 22:12
  So there aren't that many
• 22:14
  opportunities for women
• 22:16
  of a certain age to
• 22:18
  do competitive team sports.
• 22:20
  So to have that chance
• 22:23
  and to feel the joy that we feel,
• 22:25
  it's pretty dang exciting.
• 22:28
  To hear more from that episode, we
• 22:30
  have a link at K U T.org
• 22:32
  slash signal.
• 22:33
  Thank you to KUT's Andrew Weber
• 22:36
  and to KUTX's Maile Carballo.
• 22:39
  This is Austin Signal.
• 22:40
  We will talk to you tomorrow.
• 22:41
  Thanks for listening.