Sydney Daviston-Atkins | Student Affairs Advisor

All my family lives in Pennsylvania. We are scattered between Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Needless to say, as a child I did most of my traveling in-state, and the farthest I had ever traveled was to neighboring states. I knew the world was bigger than Pennsylvania, but as a kid the furthest I could see was New York. I was dead set on moving there one day. I remember waking up early in the morning to watch Saturday cartoons. Some of the shows I watched were Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and Pokemon. I thought that they were just regular cartoons, but when I became a teenager, and the internet became a thing, I realized that these were shows from Japan, they were foreign.

I became more interested in the country of Japan, its culture, and its history. At the age of 13, I started to self-study Japanese, and once I got to college I was able to join some Japanese-focused clubs, study the language, and eventually study abroad there. It was a dream come true, the entire experience was everything I imagined and so much more.

Once I stepped foot on foreign soil I realized how big the world actually was and made it my mission to see as much of it as possible. Although going to Japan was my ultimate goal, I was blessed to have the opportunity to study abroad in England, and Seoul, South Korea. I eventually moved to South Korea where I taught English for four years. It was an amazing experience and I am so excited to be able to help others realize their dreams and full potential as well.

I am from Harrisburg Pennsylvania, and I went to college in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

My first travel abroad experience was to London, England. It was amazing, full of adventure, and a great first country to travel to, since there were no language barriers.

I have been to Canada, Mexico, China, The Bahamas, Jamaica, England, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and The Philippines.

I have taught and lived abroad in South Korea and Japan.

One of my favorite travel stories was when I was teaching in South Korea, and someone posted in a Facebook group that they needed backup dancers for a famous Korean rapper, Jay Park. Now at the time, I was a really big fan of Jay Park, but not so much a dancer. I messaged the person back and asked if they were looking for professional dancers or just people who had rhythm and could stay on beat. She said that either would work, so I signed up. I was so excited, I bought a cool outfit, watched dance tutorial on youtube, and headed to the venture an hour earlier than was necessary. I met the other dancers, we practiced the routine, but Jay Park was not there. As we are chatting backstage, the audience heads to their seats and the opening act gets started. Jay Park comes backstage and he is pleasant, talks to the dancers and takes photos with us. I am so nervous, but excited at the same time. We get into positions and I give it my everything. We had a blast, I got to meet my favorite Korean celebrity, and I made a lot of friends that I still talk to this day.

I can’t narrow it down to a specific food since I am a big foodie, but my favorite cuisines are Korean, Japanese, and Thai.

Moving abroad to live and work is such a big decision. When I first moved abroad I was scared, had a lot of questions, but mostly excited to try something new. I am most excited to be able to help others do the same. I am looking forward to being to be able to offer them advice, answer their questions and concerns ,but most importantly, help them make one of the best and most impactful decisions of their lives.