Cassidy Mason and Rebecca Smith

[00:06] CASSIE MASON: All right, so my name is Cassidy I am 20 years old. Today is November 12, 2021. I am in Double Springs, Alabama. My partner's name is Rebecca and my relationship is you're a one stop small step conversation start partner.

[00:30] REBECCA SMITH: Thank you, Cassidy I'm Rebecca. I am 38 years old. Today is Friday, November 12th, and I am in Birmingham, Alabama and I am looking forward to chatting with Cassie who is my partner today for the one small step conversations.

[00:56] CASSIE MASON: So why I wanted to do this interview. So, yes, it was a school project that I had to do. I am in a service learning class at Stanford University, so we had to do this. But I'm actually really excited to get to know somebody that I never would have ever had a conversation with and to learn how similar we are or how different we are and just get to know somebody else.

[01:30] REBECCA SMITH: Cassie I want to ask you a question about that first. I love the idea of a service learning class. Can you tell me more? Is that toward your major or is it a class requirement?

[01:42] CASSIE MASON: So I'm a healthcare administration major and this was required for my major. This service learning class is required for my major. But Samford, this class in there, so because it's all about learning about people that aren't like you, it's all about, you know, somebody that's different, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, anything. And I'll be working in healthcare. I'll come across a ton of people that are different than myself and it's just how to respect their beliefs and at the same time respecting mine and educating myself on their practices and maybe their religion or what they prefer in religion or anything like that. So, yeah, it's pretty interesting.

[02:37] REBECCA SMITH: I love it. I love it. That sounds like a class we could all take right now. So thank you for sharing for me. I had gotten an email through an organization that I had volunteered with before that was looking for volunteers to be a part of this and I was really excited about it. Just I feel like in a time when our country feels so divided, it's a goal of mine to have meaningful conversations to try to find common ground and a deeper understanding with people that I don't know and maybe people that believe a little differently than I do.

[03:07] CASSIE MASON: That's awesome. I totally. So your bio, Rebecca. Most of who I am teaching children opens up possibilities of empowering the next generation to be great thinkers and problem solvers that will our future brighter. I love to travel, taking a natural beauty in our world and meeting people from different places and backgrounds. For myself, I'm rooted in Alabama with Family surrounding me and supporting me. I love that.

[03:52] REBECCA SMITH: Thank you. I really couldn't remember what I had even put, so thanks for reading. And, Cassie your bio said, hey, I am 20 years old and I am originally from Georgia, but moved to Alabama for college. Fiance. I am adopted. And my parents saved me from a biological mom that was heavily doing drugs before, during the first part and after her pregnancy with me. And I am so happy I am with my adopted parents. I also became a stepmom to my fiance's two beautiful sons that I love with my whole heart. And I am so blessed. Oh, my goodness, Cassidy that is amazing. Can I ask about. I want to know more about the adoption. It sounds like you're in a great situation now. And can I ask first off, like, when your parents were open with you about your adoption?

[04:44] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, of course. My whole prerogative with being adopted is it shouldn't be a secret. It should be nothing that anybody's ever ashamed of. My parents are ashamed of it. And so, you know, why should I, you know, pretty much. So my mom, my adoption mom, she's my mom, she had a pitched uterus, so she had my blood naturally, biologically, I guess I should say. And then they couldn't get pregnant again, so they decided to adopt and they went to a Christian organization. And it follows, it's kind of geared towards the moms and they get to choose who they want to know more and interview more about. And so, so I had an open adoption. I was born. As soon as I was born, I was taken from my biological mother to my adopted parents. And they sent yearly updates and photos to my biological mother and she could to the adoption agency. So she was able to go to the adoption agency and see the photos and know more about me if she chose to. And my parents, I grew up in a relationship with them. They let me know as soon as I could understand what adoption actually is. So they were always open with me and honest and never lied about anything, always told the truth. And let me ask any questions I wanted to ask.

[06:25] REBECCA SMITH: Cassie I love that your family was so open with you, and I also love that your biological parents were able to sort of keep in touch. So I think. I think that's amazing. So you seem very young to me to have a fiance and become a stepmom. Would you tell me how you met your fiance?

[06:48] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, so I actually met him on my 20th birthday, and my friends surprised me with a cabin trip to Tennessee. And he is a construction worker, a traveling construction worker, and I met him up there at a restaurant, and I thought he was really cute. And so I went up to him and just asked for his number and got to know him. And that was back in January. So, yeah, we. We started dating that trip. We literally started talking, and we could not stop hanging out and just talking. We had so much in common. At three months of us dating, he proposed, and now, almost a year later, I have moved in with him. His two sons are my absolute world. I love them to death, and I'm so blessed.

[07:57] REBECCA SMITH: That is amazing. That is amazing. How old are the boys?

[08:03] CASSIE MASON: So the eldest one is six and the youngest one is two, so they're.

[08:12] REBECCA SMITH: Okay. My goodness.

[08:14] CASSIE MASON: My goodness.

[08:14] REBECCA SMITH: That's so fun. Had you ever done something like that before where you just went up to somebody and asked for their number? That's pretty. That's pretty brave of you. Well, then it must have been for a good reason.

[08:32] CASSIE MASON: 100%. I am not that kind of person. I. Go ahead, Cassie Okay. So you said, Rebecca, that you're a fourth grade teacher, and I love how you said teaching children opens up possibilities of empowering the next generation to be great thinkers. So you want to tell me a little bit about how you got into teaching, like why you got into it and your passions for it?

[09:43] REBECCA SMITH: Absolutely. No. Thank you for asking. I always wanted to be a teacher. Well, I think when I was really little, it was either, you know, a singer, a dancer, or a teacher. And, you know, those. Those other two don't usually work out very well, but I felt some sort of a calling. I don't have a very strong religious belief, but for me, it was still a calling. And my parents really tried to talk me out of it for a long time. They. I think it was more that they knew that teachers are not always as appreciated as they felt like they should be. But I knew it was something that I wanted to do. And I really love being with kids. I often find myself more comfortable around kids than adults. And my goal is to empower kids so that they can make a difference and our future is brighter. I'm taking a class right now, and actually, one of the things we talked about this week is that we need to quit. Quit telling kids that they can make a difference tomorrow, they can make a difference today, and we need to get that in their heads and make sure that they know that they are change makers right now. So working on that. And I love opening windows for them and opening doors and possibilities. There are certainly days that I want to pull my hair out and my patience is. Has run very Slim. But I'm very thankful for the job that I have and thankful that I feel like I'm doing what I was supposed to do.

[11:22] CASSIE MASON: That is so awesome. See, I was the same way. I wanted to be a teacher growing up and my parents actually did talk me out of it, so that's awesome. You stayed strong.

[11:33] REBECCA SMITH: I have stubbornness in both sides of my family, so I'm not sure why. My parents really tried, but I'm glad we have that in common. And it sounds like you are going to be in a fantastic profession as well, where you will also be able to make a big difference with people.

[11:51] CASSIE MASON: That's what I'm hoping for. You also said that you love to travel. Do you want to tell me where you've traveled to? What your favorite place you traveled to was? Everything.

[12:04] REBECCA SMITH: That's a really hard question. For me. I really do love to travel. I really love being outside and I love seeing really pretty places. So I love visiting big cities. But for me, that's more of a. Like you're supposed to do that. So I do that. And I love getting to places that are very different and unique. I have a friend who inspired me, so I have a goal to see 50 states and 50 countries by the time I'm 50. And I'm still in my 30s in age, but I'm in my 40s on both of those, so I'm looking forward to that. So I just have Hawaii left as far as states to see. I have done several big road trips and camped in national parks and that sort of stuff. So I favorite states would probably be Montana and Vermont and probably Oregon as well would be up there. And Utah. Utah was amazing. And then favorite countries. I did my student teaching in New Zealand. I spent a summer in Florence, Italy, and I lived for a year in England. So those all hold special places in my heart. But Thailand was an incredible country and the beauty in Scotland is just incredible.

[13:23] CASSIE MASON: Wow, that's so awesome. My best friend, she celebrated her remission from cancer. She went to Thailand for a month. So that is. I know. That's a gorgeous place.

[13:38] REBECCA SMITH: That's amazing. What a great thing to do.

[13:42] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought it was pretty awesome.

[13:46] REBECCA SMITH: I'm so sorry that she was facing such struggles at such a young age, but I'm glad she celebrated.

[13:53] CASSIE MASON: Oh, she's stubborn. She's definitely stubborn.

[13:59] REBECCA SMITH: Good for her for celebrating.

[14:02] CASSIE MASON: So the next question is, who has been the most influential person in your.

[14:06] REBECCA SMITH: Life and what did they teach you?

[14:10] CASSIE MASON: Oh, goodness. Who's the most Influential person in my life. Wow, that, that's really hard. I would probably. This is kind of cliche, but I'd probably have to. My dad, my dad is, he's such an amazing person. He's the kindest guy. You know. My mom went to work and my dad stayed at home with the kids growing up, so me and my brother. So he's a stay at home dad, which was very different from any of my friends. None of my friends had stay at home dads. And he's just goofy. He loves to laugh and giggle and he, he taught me to be such a wonderful young woman and he, he always makes sure that I'm okay. You know, he always just. He's always there for me if I'm ever struggling. And in school he was always the person up with me, especially my freshman year of college, if I was struggling in a class. He was up with me at 11 o'clock at night going over test material that I needed to study for and I needed help with. He's an engineer, so he always was great at checking my math homework as a kid. And he was my personal math tutor because I was horrible in math. He just shows the love of Christ that, that I hope to have a love of Christ just like his. He just exudes it. And he's. Nobody is ever a stranger to him. He's always called my friends, they're his kids whenever they're struggling. He's. He's the person that's saying, come on over, we got an extra bedroom, come stay with us. He, he's just so phenomenal. He is somebody that, that he always told me to go after what I'm passionate for. And I rode horses all growing up through my life. And my mom was always busy with work and my dad was the person that was always there at every lesson, every time I fell off every show. He was the person right there taking photos and everything. He has just been an amazing stronghold in my, in my life. So I would say that's who's influenced me. The most and most important person to me.

[16:46] REBECCA SMITH: That's awesome. I love hearing about a stay at home dad because. No, there are not especially. You know, 10, 15 years ago when you were growing up, there really were not many. So I love hearing that. What did your mom do? Can I ask?

[16:59] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, you can ask. My mom is an accountant. She specializes in tax, so she works for racetrack, gas station and she works in their corporate office. And so you wouldn't think that they have a lot of long hours, but she's only there until 11 o'clock at night. Every single night, keeping the lights on pretty much.

[17:20] REBECCA SMITH: Okay. Okay. For me, I agree. It was my parents and I don't know if I could separate necessarily pick one. They. My dad was a working dad and traveled a fair amount for work, but when he was home his attention was on me. So. And mom was a stay at home mom and involved in PTO and at soccer games and all of those sorts of things. They are both incredibly giving people. They're selfless. They have supported me through everything that I've wanted to do, pushed me sometimes when I needed a push and were shoulder to cry on when I needed that. And they inspired my love of travel too, I have to say too. I think as an adult they are still influential to me. But as an adult I befriended somebody and she is just an amazing person. But she. I think her name is Rachel and she's taught me what it means to serve and just ways to get involved. She. She got me involved and I sponsored like a Girl Scout troop and we've traveled to the border together to help people who are crossing. And she just has her hands in so many different organizations. And I love watching her, how smoothly she does everything that she does and how much she does to give back to the community. So I'm very thankful for her. And because of her I feel like I've gotten involved in more things and met more people in Birmingham.

[18:57] CASSIE MASON: That's awesome. It's always so wonderful when you have those people that just. You feel like they just give and give and give until their heart can't take it anymore. They're always friends with people to sit down and talk with.

[19:11] REBECCA SMITH: Yeah, I don't know how she does it. So I try to just watch with amazement and learn a little bit that I can.

[19:20] CASSIE MASON: That's awesome. The next question, the last one that I'll be asking y'all is could you briefly describe in your own words your personal political values? Oh, goodness. My personal political values. So I think a lot of it stems from the way I grew up. Maybe I'm not real sure I would say personally for me, maybe, yeah. So I grew up in Georgia, in the suburbs. I went to private Christian school from K4 to 12th grade and I'm at a private Christian college as well. So my views are very much conservative Christian views. You know, I have very Christian morals. I am, you know, a pro life woman who always. What's the word I'm looking for? Who has traditional values such as like man is the head of the Household women should dress modestly, you know, and act modestly. And I go to church every Sunday and my boys are involved in church. You know, I. Other than just, you know, religion, I think that church is a great way to meet new people and to hold your friends accountable for things. And so I would say, you know, your typical, very typical Southern Christian values. That's pretty much what I exhume in every way. Yeah, that's probably what I would say mine is.

[21:13] REBECCA SMITH: I understand. And in the south, that's, that's what we're going to find most places. I grew up going to a Methodist church and was very involved as a kid and I loved that because I loved. I think what I enjoyed most was the relationships of people that I built there because I had friends that were 95 and friends that were 5 years old, you know, and I just loved the range of people and I loved, I loved those relationships. I also went to a private school, but I did not go to a private Christian school. And my high school was really very liberal minded. And I was surrounded by people that were some obviously very similar to myself, but many were of different faiths and backgrounds. Many of them had parents who were immigrants and had come to the United States. And as a kid, I would have said that I was Republican. My family owns a small business and typically voted Republican for fiscal minded or more economic reasons. And I think as I aged and I think part of it was probably that my parents became more involved with who I went to school with. And also I think that they took some steps back and sort of looked at some of their beliefs about things. And really all three of us, I think probably sort of made the change. And maybe our mindset didn't change, but the voting ticket that we typically voted for did change. I would consider myself very liberal minded, definitely Democratic leaning. I'm not sure I don't vote a street ticket or anything like that, but definitely Democratic leaning and independent thoughts more so. But. And I think that's sort of as your beliefs come from your background. I think mine really come from my background as well. So.

[23:15] CASSIE MASON: I think that's awesome. I think that that's what makes America so great. I think that I don't think that one view is any better than any other view. And just because I believe some way does not mean that I should not accept anybody else's view, like, for example, stemming from a Christian background. You have a lot of Christians that are hateful towards your LGBTQ community. Now, as a Christian woman, I would say that personally, my Views say that that is a sin. But you are a human being who is loved by God and you should still be respected. And even though it does not align with my views does not mean that I shouldn't love you, I shouldn't be friends with you, I shouldn't accept you. And I don't think it should be. Well, you don't believe what I believe, so I don't want anything to do with you. And you're just wrong.

[24:20] REBECCA SMITH: I think that is.

[24:24] CASSIE MASON: Go ahead.

[24:24] REBECCA SMITH: I think you've got the right out. No, excuse me. I think you've got the right outlook there, Cassidy That's gotta be accepting. And I think in a way the Christians that you spoke of, that is, no, this is wrong. I think that's almost what has pushed me from the church. And no, that is not all Christians at all. Because the God that I love loved everybody, no matter who they were. And I think that's so important to remember. And we talk about how horrible the world would be if we were all the same and all thought in the same way. No, we need those. And so that we can have good conversations and push each other into a greater understanding of our own thoughts too. And I have to say I'm very impressed that you have strong political views, no matter what they are. At the age of 20, I don't think I had thoughts, so I certainly do now, but I did not when I was 20. So good for you.

[25:22] CASSIE MASON: Well, I think that, you know, so even though I grew up in a private Christian school from K4 to 9th grade, I went to a school that was 96% African American and the rest of the percentage was a small percentage of white and Hispanics. And I was very liberal leaning, extremely, extremely liberal leaning. And I changed schools and I was still very, very liberal leaning. And I had a teacher that said, you know, this is the time in your life that you need to figure out what you believe and what you stand for. And so I just, you know, over a period of few weeks I asked myself, okay, what do I believe? You know, what, outside of what my friends believe and everything like that, what do I personally believe? And some of my views changed, whereas, you know, I'm very much conservative. But a lot of them stayed the same in sort of the way of, you know, you have a lot of your conservatives that are very close minded and I'm still the opposite in that effect where I think that you should accept everyone if, you know, if there are injustices happening in the system to one particular race or multiple races. Or ethnicities. You should stand up for those races, no matter what race you are, and fight those injustices. Because it doesn't matter if you're white, blue, black, green, gray. You believe in Buddha or in the Quran or in, you know, in the Bible, you're still a human at the end of the day. And that's the thing that should be driving you, is that these are your fellow man. You know, these. These people are valuable. And you should never just close yourself off to them or hate them because they don't believe what you believe.

[27:20] REBECCA SMITH: Absolutely. Absolutely. I love it. And I think that's. I think that's where we find our common ground. Is that humanity amongst all of us. No. Thank you for sharing.

[27:37] CASSIE MASON: I was going to go ahead and say you all can feel free.

[27:41] REBECCA SMITH: I mean, you all are already deep.

[27:42] CASSIE MASON: In discussion, but feel free to ask your own questions.

[27:46] REBECCA SMITH: It's free from here. Did you have any. These are going to be more just logistical questions. But you're living in Double Springs. Yes.

[28:00] CASSIE MASON: Yep.

[28:01] REBECCA SMITH: Okay. But you're going to school at Samford.

[28:05] CASSIE MASON: Yes.

[28:06] REBECCA SMITH: Are those virtual classes or in person?

[28:09] CASSIE MASON: No. So they are in person. I drive Monday through Friday, 87 miles one way.

[28:16] REBECCA SMITH: Okay.

[28:18] CASSIE MASON: Yeah.

[28:18] REBECCA SMITH: Wow. Wow. I went to school. My high school was 40 miles away from my home, so I only have a taste of that. I was used to that, but good heavens, that is a lot to do every single day. I'm impressed.

[28:33] CASSIE MASON: It is. I lived in the dorms, freshman and sophomore year over at Samford, and I was going to move into an apartment with some of my friends. And they, because of my background with my biological mother, who was an addict, I try and keep myself away from any alcohol, drug use, anything like that. So they started to go down a path that made me uncomfortable, that I had personally experienced, even though I knew about what was in my genes. And so I decided, you know, hey, I want to move in our next step in our relationship with me and my fiance. So I asked him, I said, you want to move to the next step and move in together? And he was like, absolutely. I was waiting on you to ask. So then I just moved on in.

[29:31] REBECCA SMITH: Well, good. And from a conservative Christian household. Did your parents take that okay, or what was that conversation like?

[29:41] CASSIE MASON: So my parents. So from the time I was sophomore in high school, they told me, get a job, you know, kind of thing. So I've worked my entire life, and except for this year, this is the first time in my life that I've never had a job. So when I told them that I was moving in with him. They said, okay, well, we were going to pay for you to have an apartment, but if you're going to be moving in with him, we will. We won't pay for anything. So it kind of went from getting an allowance and extra stuff, you know, insurance, gas money, all that kind of stuff, to I see very little of it. They liked that we were engaged when we decided to move in together. And so they're very much like, let's speed up the process of getting married. But yeah, it went, it went from, hey, can I have 50 bucks real quick? I just need some extra gas. Oh, they're not going to give me anything.

[30:45] REBECCA SMITH: Oh. Oh, that hurts. That's hard. That's a hard step to make. Well, when is the wedding planned for?

[30:54] CASSIE MASON: So I want to graduate college. I want my last name on my diploma.

[31:03] REBECCA SMITH: Good for you. Good for you.

[31:05] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, I mean, I earned this diploma. It's my last name. And then also, I don't really want to plan a wedding my junior and senior year of college. That just seems like a ginormous stress that could be avoided easily. So I am waiting.

[31:23] REBECCA SMITH: Good for you.

[31:24] CASSIE MASON: Good for you.

[31:27] REBECCA SMITH: And can I ask how old your fiance is?

[31:31] CASSIE MASON: Oh, sorry, what were you saying?

[31:33] REBECCA SMITH: No, you're good. And do you. Can I ask how old your fiance is?

[31:39] CASSIE MASON: So he just turned 27 September 30th. So he is. Yes, yes, he is. Most times a year he's six years older than I am. And this little, little part from September to January, he's seven years older than me.

[31:54] REBECCA SMITH: Okay. Okay.

[31:59] CASSIE MASON: Yeah. I was gonna ask, do you live near where you teach or do you, do you have a long commute? Are you in more of a rural area or city or what does that look like for you?

[32:14] REBECCA SMITH: I am, I am in a suburb and I teach in a suburb. Not the same one I live in, but it's only about a five mile drive, so I'm very thankful for that. But I do sometimes miss the commute. My. I grew up out in the country and my parents recently took a big trip. So I went out to house and cat sit while they were gone. And it was about a 45 minute drive in each morning and each afternoon. And as much as I hated like only being at their house during dark hours, I really realized how much I enjoy that downtime and sort of it was time I could be on the phone or I listen to audiobooks nonstop. And so I enjoy going through those or podcasts and things. So it was a time that I could kind of debrief and kind of pump myself up for the day as well. So I miss that part of it. But I like being able to sleep a little bit more too. You don't have.

[33:18] CASSIE MASON: I do, I do, Yeah. I leave at 6:30 in the morning to get there on time.

[33:28] REBECCA SMITH: I actually leave at 6:30 in the morning too, but I don't have as far to drive. So I'm sorry.

[33:34] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, no, it's okay. It's so true what you said about just having a second to relax. And when I'm waking up in the morning I'm like, oh my gosh, my fiance is calling me like, hey, let's go. And he's all energy, all the time. And so just having a moment to just be like, okay, give me a second, let me get my thoughts in order. It's really early and after a long day to be like, okay, that was stressful. But I'm going home now. I'm relaxing and I'm good by the time I'm going home.

[34:09] REBECCA SMITH: Good, good. That's important to have that. Are your. Are the boys with you all the time or are they back and forth?

[34:20] CASSIE MASON: So I wish they were with me all the time. I love them to death. They live with their mom primarily, which we're working on getting more time with. So normally she lets us see them every other weekend, but we're hoping to get them every weekend and then during the summer we do week on week off and. Yeah.

[34:47] REBECCA SMITH: Well, so you picked up and you moved from a whole nother state and to a small town. Have you had an opportunity to make friends that are yours?

[35:01] CASSIE MASON: So that's actually really interesting. I talked to my fiance about that a little bit. So I moved first off, I moved, you know, two and a half hours away to Stanford from Georgia, from where I lived in Georgia. And I left my best friends there and funnily enough, so I had a best friend, she lived in my neighborhood. I met her when I was four. We became instantaneous best friends. But she moved back to Alabama when we were in ninth grade. We still kept in contact, but we could still only see each other during the summer or long Christmas breaks. And so I told her when I graduated high school, I said, I'm going to Stanford. And she said, well, I think I'm going to go to Auburn. And very last minute she said, you know what, actually I'm going to go to Stanford. Do you want to be roommate? And I said, absolutely, yes. So I moved in with my best friend since I was 4 years old. We were, you Know, freshly out of high school in the real world, kinda. And so I became friends with a few of her friends that she had over here. And through some girls in my hall, I became best friends with them. And then. But then moving to Double Springs, it's been very hard because I've lost touch with a few of them or they went down just some paths that they didn't want. I didn't want to go down or. So I've kind of lost touch with a lot of them. So it's really just my friend that I. Her name is Lydia that I met when I was 4. So it's just Lydia and this other girl, Mary Ellis, who I met through a mutual friend who I see. But here in my small town, I live with my fiance's sister, so. And her two kids, or they live with us and her husband. And so they're my friends. But I really don't get out much just because I'm driving all day to school and I'm a. I'm friends with a few of my fiance's friends, but not super close. Just kind of when we go over to their house, you know, for dinner or something. But other than that, no, no texting or going out and getting. Grabbing lunch or anything like that.

[37:29] REBECCA SMITH: Cassie I think making friends as an adult is one of the hardest things because as a kid you're sort of thrown together and as an adult you have to like, make efforts. It's hard. And then when life is busy, putting forth, that effort gets harder.

[37:47] CASSIE MASON: Oh yeah.

[37:48] REBECCA SMITH: It's hard to make friends as you, as you age. So I'm sorry. Oh, no, no. I feel pretty fortunate, you know, I. Changing schools like when I was a kid, you know, I had to make new friends then and I went to Auburn, pretty close, close by to here. But I really didn't have many friends that went there. So I definitely made a new set of friends at Auburn. I had a couple people there who could kind of ground me if I needed it. And then moving to Birmingham, I still had some high school friends that were around here and all my family is here and I'm really close with my cousins who are pretty close to my age. So it was suddenly their group of friends that I melded into. And then since then, it's really just been co workers. Those are, those are big friends. But like when I lived in England for a year, it was. I obviously didn't know anybody and it was people that were in the same program that I was with, so that we're doing the same Thing because it's really nice to have that commonality. Something that, oh, my gosh, I can't believe this is happening, you know, and we could talk about it. And then my colleagues at work, which were fantastic and thankfully welcoming, but it's hard to make friends as an adult.

[39:06] CASSIE MASON: It definitely is. But do you want to tell me a little bit about that? England. How did you get involved with going to England? How was that? I've always thought. I've always thought, like, the idea of doing a study abroad, but could never just totally get into it, you know, just jump into it. So I'd love to hear about that.

[39:29] REBECCA SMITH: Well, I would say jump. I know you've got a fiance, but it doesn't sound like the wedding is anytime soon. So I would say jump. And even if you were married, I would say jump. Because there are not. You're not going to get many opportunities like that that you get in college. So. And that's only. Even though it sounds like forever, it's only three or four months to go for a semester. And it's. I think the amount of growing that you do as an individual is amazing. Not only, like, you have to figure out, you know, the things at the grocery store that are different and the money that's different and those little things, but you have to step out of your comfort zone. And I think that's so important. And, hey, you did that when you met your fiance, and it worked out really well, right?

[40:16] CASSIE MASON: That is very true.

[40:20] REBECCA SMITH: I would say jump, leap as much as you can. I did. It's a Fulbright. Fulbright was a program set up by a senator whose last name was Fulbright, I think, in, like, the 60s. And their goal is to. It mostly has to do with education. So a lot of it is college students or professors that are traveling to other countries to learn from each other. But they had a program for years that's actually no longer, but where they did a teacher exchange program. So I actually went and lived in a teacher's apartment in England, and she lived in my house, and I drove her car and she drove mine, and she taught in my classroom and I taught in hers, and we traded cell phones and everybody asked if she had a brother, like in the movie the Holiday, but she did not. I was a little disappointed, but we. It was an amazing year. I grew a lot professionally because I was way out of my comfort zone as a teacher. Just a whole new curriculum to learn, a new way of teaching. And it was more of a middle school, even though it was about the same age. So that was very different. And then personally just learning to drive a stick shift on the other side of the road and all of that, I think it's a great way to grow England. The culture is not necessarily terribly different from here, but they kind of do that on purpose, partly because I only speak English and I was going to be teaching, you know, in an elementary classroom, so. And they want you to be really successful, so they don't want to throw you in an environment that's terribly different. So I sort of taught in a suburb school there too.

[42:06] CASSIE MASON: That sounds awesome. That sounds like so much fun. I don't know if I could trade the cell phone, so that would stress me out.

[42:14] REBECCA SMITH: You know, cell phone plans are complicated overseas, so it just worked. It was easier.

[42:19] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, I guess that's understandable. I can understand that. So can I ask, are you married? Do you have kids?

[42:27] REBECCA SMITH: No, I am not married. I have 21 kids this year, thankfully. I say goodbye to them at three o'clock every day. But no, not married. I am single. I would like to have a family one day, but that just hasn't been in the cards just yet.

[42:43] CASSIE MASON: So I get that. I was the opposite. I grew up saying, I don't want to get married, I don't want any kids, I don't want any of that. I want to be a businesswoman and make money and move on. And the Lord said, no, that's not the card for you. Sorry.

[43:11] REBECCA SMITH: Well, I think that's fantastic and I'm glad you listened. I think for me, I know that I would not be able to give to my students what I give right now if I had my own family. So I'm going to take that as my direction until that life direction changes.

[43:30] CASSIE MASON: Yeah, I can completely understand that. Yeah, you can. Only kids are hard. So when you're giving to kids at school all day long and then coming home to your own kids, then it's just a lot, a lot to handle.

[43:45] REBECCA SMITH: Yeah. I don't know how so many people do that and do it so well. I'm very envious. My patience is usually pretty shot by the end of the day and I don't know how they do it, but there are a whole lot of really excellent teachers who can do both. So. Yeah, and you had, you had a mom that, that showed you that you were supposed to be a businesswoman, so you had that role model to look up to you.

[44:09] CASSIE MASON: I did, I did. I. I do like that, you know, So I know I said traditional in the sense of like, man, it's the head of the household and all that kind of stuff. But I don't. I don't think that necessarily, you know, like, I grew up, you know, dad stayed at home. It doesn't matter to me where man stays at home. I make more money, he makes more money. I mean, right now, I'm in college, so he makes more money than I do.

[44:35] REBECCA SMITH: Right.

[44:36] CASSIE MASON: But one day he'll. I'll make more money than he does. And so, you know, I've talked to him about, you know, if we. If we can't afford babysitters or anything like that, he'll stay home, and he's okay with that. He's got 40 acres right now, and his uncle's going to give him another 100 acres, just waiting for a house to be put on it. So he said he can. He can just live on that and hang out there. And he is a. Okay if he's gonna stay home and drop kids off and pick kids up. But there is a side to it where, you know, if your mom stays home, a lot of times you get, you know, more of that maternal instinct that they say that comes so easily to women or whatever. And, you know, you kind of see that side of it. Whereas, you know, your dad, even though he can be a maternal figure, in a way, it's harder to get that. You're more. You kind of. You're kind of more analytical in ways. In, like, relationships and the way you act towards your kids and everything like that. So, I mean, there's good sides and there's downsides to all of it.

[45:52] REBECCA SMITH: Of course. Well, Cassie I'm afraid that our time is just about up. But I have to say I was a little anxious about this. I didn't know what we would have in common or how our conversation would go. But I want to thank you. This has been fantastic. I have loved talking to you and getting to know you, and I am so impressed with all that you are doing right now and the leap that you have made. So. And I really appreciate your thoughts on finding that commonality between all sorts of people. So I really thank you for that and I thank you for the conversation.

[46:34] CASSIE MASON: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I was. Again, I was nervous about this, too. I'd never done anything like this, and I was super, super nervous. And I just have loved getting to know you and talking about this and you being so open with your life and allowing me to ask you as many questions as I wanted, and you just being so willing and giving with all of that information. So I really appreciate it. Thank you.

[46:58] REBECCA SMITH: Thank you. And thanks for great questions, too. And best of luck on your long drives and on your college career. So. And on the upcoming.

[47:08] CASSIE MASON: Thank you.

[47:09] REBECCA SMITH: Congratulations.

[47:11] CASSIE MASON: Oh, thank you. You, too. I hope your school year goes great and all your kids just maybe give me one less headache than they normally would. Thank you. Thank you.