# @ggxnews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DNQ9tUABYql
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/33344972-ggxnews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/c1f0e0d11c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2025-08-12T18:29:53.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Golden Gate Xpress (@GGXnews) — https://gondola.cc/GGXnews

## Caption

Three years ago, I landed at San Francisco International Airport with one backpack, two suitcases, a little excitement — and a lot of anxiety. I was a soon-to-be 19-year-old, alone in a foreign country, and about to start a life I had dreamed of since childhood. 

Growing up in Japan, I had always been fascinated by American life. I watched American TV shows and imagined myself walking through American cities, chatting in English, and becoming someone bigger than who I was. Now, standing in a place by myself, a place I had seen on screens, I wondered, "Can I really do this?"

Looking back now, as I enter my final year at San Francisco State University, the answer is yes — but not because everything went smoothly. My journey has been far from perfect. But through every challenge, I’ve grown into a version of myself I never thought possible — one who is more confident, expressive, joyful, grateful and curious than ever before.

🔗 Read more at link in bio.

✍️: Takumi Sugawara (takumi_s_2003)
📸: Courtesy of Takumi Sugawara

#studyabroad #sfsu #sfstate #japaneseinamerica #studyinus

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 127
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- **Comments:** 9

## Tags

studyabroad, japaneseinamerica, sfstate, studyinus, sfsu

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