“The world is wide, and my roots just met my wings.”

Being a Southern girl from Mississippi, I was never encouraged to travel. Passports are seen as an unnecessary luxury, and vacations are spent just a state or two over. From comfort food to comfort shows, we’re a state known for not going outside our normal routine and day-to-day living. I’ve always loved sushi and even thought anime was cool, yet I could not imagine experiencing these things in the birthplace of my favorite culture. Therefore, Japan was never a dream — because it was never seen as possible.

Right now, I’m living and studying abroad in Japan, splitting my time between Tokyo and Fukuoka. And if there’s one thing I’ve realized, it’s that studying abroad doesn’t just change your surroundings—it changes you. So if I were talking to another student preparing to study abroad, or someone already in the middle of it, here’s what I’d tell them—straight from what I’m experiencing right now.

During my time in Tokyo, I had the privilege of visiting several top-tier public relations agencies and media organizations, including Kyodo News, Kyodo PR, and Weber Shandwick Tokyo. These visits offered more than a behind-the-scenes look—they opened a cultural lens into how communication strategies, journalism, and corporate storytelling differ (and converge) between Japan and the United States.