Meet our Students

1. What is your full name?
Emilio Coyra.

2. What country do you come from?
Spain.

3. What is your favorite place in Seattle?
Benaroya Hall, because the acoustics are incredible. Symphony, jazz, everything - it's all great there.

4. What do you enjoy most about Seattle Central?
The best thing about SCCC is the diversity of the students - all kinds of people go here. There are different ages, ethnic groups, & classes. I also really like the teachers. We have a personal relationship and I don't feel just like one more student... it feels more like I am a special person. Teachers try to keep in touch with you.

5. What are your plans for the future?
I want to transfer to Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island and study Culinary Arts. I want to run a tapas restaurant someday.

6. What are the biggest differences between life in your country and life in Seattle?
Social life in Spain is mainly focused outdoors. People are used to meeting each other in the streets, as well as in clubs and restaurants. In Madrid, streets are crowded at 3:00 a.m. during the weekends because of the nightlife. This fact is very common, even during the wintertime. In Seattle it is difficult to see people around after 5:00 p.m. Life in Seattle is mainly indoors. People prefer staying inside places instead of walking around. This may be due to the rainy weather.

7. What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishments? Why?
My main accomplishment in my life has been going back to college. When I was 16 I dropped out of high school to join a zarzuela company (theatre/opera company) where I worked for about 13 years. I traveled all over the world, and I learned from every place I went. However, at the age of 30, I decided that I wanted to settle down and pursue my life goal: to be a Chef. In order to do so, I had to go back to school and after 16 years of being away, it is hard. Nevertheless, I am getting used to the tight schedules, the nights of study and the student life.

8. What do you consider to be an interesting fact about you?
I have traveled a lot around the world, and I have met a lot of people from so many different countries. The customs in the various places I have traveled to are so different... the customs in Japan, for example, are so different from those in Greece, and customs in Israel are so different from those in South America. I have tried to learn from each place I visit and from each culture, as they all have so much to offer.

(Editor's note: Emilio began singing as a boy, learning opera from his grandmother. He began singing professionally in Madrid, Spain when he was 18 years old. He sang baritone in a uniquely Spanish kind of opera called "zarzuela". He has shared the stage with some of opera's greatest performers: Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, and Alfredo Kraus [who sang with Maria Callas]. Emilio loves performing but eventually he got tired of living out of a suitcase. He still loves to listen to opera and can be found singing along to La Traviata or Carmen when he thinks he is alone. Though Emilio didn't mention this part of his life to answer the question, the Editor thinks it is a very interesting fact!)

9. What are your hobbies?
My hobbies are singing, painting, making sculptures out of clay, and I love cooking (especially paella). I also practice yoga. I enjoy the meditation that I can do with yoga.

10. What were you doing prior to coming to Seattle to study at Seattle Central?
I was working at the zarzuela theatre company I talked about earlier. Though most of my time with the company I was a singer, during the last year I was working as an actor.