{"id":6752,"date":"2026-01-17T00:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/?p=6752"},"modified":"2026-01-17T00:19:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T00:19:40","slug":"conrad-ragsdale-in-tokyo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/2026\/01\/17\/conrad-ragsdale-in-tokyo\/","title":{"rendered":"Conrad Ragsdale in Tokyo"},"content":{"rendered":"  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-intro \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-intro\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-highlights \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-highlights\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--section-title\">\n\n    \n  <h2>\n          Conrad Ragsdale in Tokyo\n      <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n      <ul>\n              <li><p><strong>Program:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/studenttravelabroad.usc.edu\/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgramAngular&amp;id=10069\">Tokyo International University<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Term:<\/strong> Fall 2025<\/p>\n<p><strong>Major: <\/strong>Human Biology<\/p>\n<p><strong>Minor:<\/strong> East Asian Languages and Cultures<\/p>\n<\/li>\n          <\/ul>\n  <\/div>\n  \n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>Studying abroad has always been my dream. Growing up in Hawaii, I naturally picked up Japanese, and I continued learning it in high school. I then enrolled in Japanese at USC and decided to pursue it further with a minor in East Asian Languages and Cultures and Studying Abroad.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-6758 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2026\/01\/IMG_1859-Conrad-Ragsdale-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2026\/01\/IMG_1859-Conrad-Ragsdale-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2026\/01\/IMG_1859-Conrad-Ragsdale-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2026\/01\/IMG_1859-Conrad-Ragsdale-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/64\/2026\/01\/IMG_1859-Conrad-Ragsdale.jpeg 1477w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Living with a host family while studying abroad provided me with an opportunity to immerse myself in Japanese culture and language. Every evening, after returning home, we would engage in Japanese conversation and dinner together. This unique living situation gave me the opportunity to practice Japanese much more, enabling me to experience Japan in an authentic way.<\/p>\n<p>My advice would be to put yourself out there as much as possible, even when it is uncomfortable. Just being open to new experiences led me to have such a good experience that I am glad I put myself out there because there were many times I was unsure, but it was always worth it in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Studying abroad was an incredible experience, and all the people I met there truly made it amazing. It is not only possible to go abroad, but you also have the tools necessary for a successful experience from USC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1041,"featured_media":6756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trojans-abroad","category-ta-asia"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Conrad Ragsdale in Tokyo<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/overseas-studies\/2026\/01\/17\/conrad-ragsdale-in-tokyo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Conrad Ragsdale in Tokyo - Office of Overseas Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Studying abroad was an incredible experience, and all the people I met there truly made it amazing. 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