My name is Sarai Flores and I was a journalism student at Temple University. It is my dream to become a foreign correspondent, so I decided to spend the academic year abroad in Tokyo taking communications and journalism classes at the Temple University Japan campus.  While in Tokyo I interned at The Japan Times and had an opportunity to learn more about reporting on issues in a different country. While in Tokyo I freelanced for both The Japan Times and The Tokyo Reporter. I also became a member of the Foreign Correspondent’s Club and shot a documentary about one man’s story of homelessness in Tokyo that I will be submitting to film festivals later this year and I am working on a documentary about the evacuees of Fukushima.  Living in Tokyo has been a dream for me because I have always been interested in East Asian Culture and I knew that living in a country with a language and culture completely different from my own would be a great challenge for me! After an awesome academic year I will be returning to Philadelphia in the summer to take my last class before graduating. These past few months in Tokyo have been an incredible experience that I will never forget. Living in another country and having the opportunity to completely immerse yourself in the culture is a once in a lifetime gift. Since coming to Tokyo I felt that I not only grew immensely as an individual and an aspiring journalist, but that I successfully took on a challenge that I will be able to use in the future as a foreign correspondent.

"After living in Japan and interning here I truly feel that I am once step closer to achieving my dream. I’m so thankful and proud of myself for taking this leap of faith. Don’t ever let fear of the unknown stop you from trying something new!"